Make Your Community Safer on National Wildfire Community Preparedness Day

WASHINGTON – Wildfires can occur anywhere in the country with the potential to destroy homes, businesses, infrastructure, natural resources, and agriculture. Last year, the United States experienced over 63,000 wildfires that burned more than three million acres. National Wildfire Community Preparedness Day is Saturday, May 2, and people across the nation will dedicate time to making their communities a safer place should a wildfire occur.

Wildfires can start in remote wilderness areas, national parks, or even your backyard.  They can start from natural causes, such as lightning, but most are caused by humans, either accidentally—from cigarettes, campfires, or outdoor burning—or intentionally. 

“When our citizens prepare and adopt the principles of fire-adapted communities, the loss of life and property from wildland fires is greatly reduced,” said United States Fire Administrator Ernest Mitchell.  

Protect your family and community from a wildfire by taking action before one happens.  On National Wildfire Community Preparedness Day, join your friends, family members, faith-based group or youth organization, and volunteer your time to improve your community’s ability to withstand and recover from a wildfire, which also may improve the safety of firefighters.

There are many ways to help protect homes, neighborhoods, businesses, and entire communities:

  • Reduce the amount of flammable materials and brush that can burn around your home or business;
  • Create a fire-free area within the first five feet of your home using non-flammable materials and high moisture-content plantings;
  • Maintain an area that is clear of flammable materials and debris for at least 30 feet on all sides from your home or business; and
  • Move wood piles and propane tanks to at least 30 feet from your home or business.

National Wildfire Community Preparedness Day is part of America’s PrepareAthon! a grassroots campaign for action to get people better prepared for emergencies through group discussions, drills and exercises.  You can take steps to prepare to reduce the devastating effects of any disaster by creating a family communication plan and practicing how you will evacuate and communicate with friends and family members in an emergency. Register your action at www.ready.gov/prepare.

Learn more about National Wildfire Community Preparedness Day. Visit the ready.gov and learn how to prepare for a wildfire.

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FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate all hazards.

Follow FEMA online at www.fema.gov/blog, www.twitter.com/fema, www.facebook.com/fema and www.youtube.com/fema.  Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate’s activities at www.twitter.com/craigatfema.

The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.

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Make Your Community Safer on National Wildfire Community Preparedness Day

Citizenship Status May Not Limit Disaster Assistance Eligibility

CHICAGO – Illinois residents who are not United States citizens may be eligible for federal disaster assistance for damage from the severe storms and flooding between April 16 and May 5.

Only one member of a household needs to be eligible to qualify the entire household for assistance, so parents and guardians may apply for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency on behalf of a minor child who was born here. The child’s information, including his or her social security number, will be needed to register for assistance.

Any citizen living in the affected household can apply for FEMA aid. FEMA does not collect information on the immigration status of other household members who are not registering for disaster assistance.

Non-citizen nationals, including those born in American Samoa or Swains Island, or those whose parents are U.S. non-citizen nationals (subject to certain residency requirements) also may qualify to register.

Applying for FEMA disaster assistance will not affect one’s eligibility to become a U.S. citizen.

Undocumented immigrants from a household with no one eligible to apply for federal financial assistance may still be eligible for programs run by state, local or voluntary agencies.

Those in the United States with temporary tourist visas, student visas, work visas and temporary resident cards are not eligible for disaster assistance.

To register for disaster assistance, go to www.disasterassistance.gov, via web-enabled phone at m.fema.gov or call 1-800-621-3362 or (TTY) 1-800-462-7585. Those who use 711 Relay or Video Relay Services may call 1-800-621-3362. The toll-free numbers operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.

Under the presidential declaration, disaster assistance is available for residents in the following counties: Bureau, Cook, Crawford, DeKalb, DuPage, Fulton, Grundy, Henderson, Kane, Kendall, Knox, Lake, LaSalle, Livingston, Marshall, Mason, McDonough, McHenry, Peoria, Rock Island, Schuyler, Stark, Tazewell, Will and Woodford counties.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Follow FEMA online at twitter.com/femaregion5, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema.  Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate’s activities at twitter.com/craigatfema. The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.

Media Contact: 571-408-1835

 

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Citizenship Status May Not Limit Disaster Assistance Eligibility