Statements by FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate and US Fire Administrator Ernest Mitchell on the Wildfire in Arizona

Statements by FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate and US Fire Administrator Ernest Mitchell on the Wildfire in Arizona

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Release date:

July 1, 2013

Release Number:

HQ-13-069

Statement by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate:
 
“Yesterday the emergency management community lost 19 of our family. When wildfires threaten lives and communities, firefighters bravely face some of the most unpredictable and dangerous conditions that mother nature has to offer. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who lost their lives fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona. FEMA stands behind the first responders who continue to fight the blazes across the West.”
 
Statement by U.S. Fire Administrator Ernest Mitchell:
 
“It is with great sorrow that I received news of the loss of 19 firefighters responding to the Yarnell Hill Fire in Yavapai County, Arizona. This is a tragic loss for the citizens of Arizona and the nation as a whole.  These brave firefighters were responding to a wildfire with the potential to destroy homes and structures in a wildfire season among the worst in many years.
 
“The U.S. Fire Administration remains in close coordination with the fire-fighting communities in Arizona, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Department of Interior and the National Interagency Fire Center. FEMA recently awarded a fire management assistance grant for the Yarnell Hill Fire, making financial support available for ongoing efforts to fight and mitigate the volatile wildfire conditions.”

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.

Last Updated:

July 1, 2013 – 14:52

Excerpt from – 

Statements by FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate and US Fire Administrator Ernest Mitchell on the Wildfire in Arizona

Arizona To Receive FEMA Funding For Deadly Yarnell Hill Fire in Yavapai County

OAKLAND, Calif. —FEMA approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant on June 30 for the now deadly Yarnell Hill Fire in Yavapai County, Arizona, approximately 85 miles northwest of Phoenix, Arizona. The authorization makes FEMA funding available to reimburse 75 percent of the eligible firefighting costs under an approved grant for managing, mitigating and controlling the fire that has claimed the lives of 19 firefighters.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) joined all Americans in sending our thoughts and prayers to the families of the brave firefighters and all whose lives have been altered dramatically by the wildfires in central Arizona.

 “I would like to express my deepest condolences to all the family, colleagues and friends of the professional Arizona firefighters who lost their lives to protect lives and property,” said Nancy Ward FEMA IX Regional Administrator. “It is a truly heartbreaking loss.”

At the time of the request for federal assistance, the fire was threatening 578 homes in and around the community of Yarnell, Peeple’s Valley, and Model Creek/Double A Bar Ranch with a combined population of over 1,220. The State of Arizona further reported that the fire at one point burned in excess of 800 and 1000 acres of state, and private land, and also threatened a rail line 3 miles west of the fire and State Highway 89.

 FEMA continues to be in close contact with Arizona Division of Emergency Management (ADEM), U.S. Forest Service, and the National Interagency Fire Center. FEMA stands ready to further support the state as requested and needed.

The President’s Disaster Relief Fund provides funding for federal fire management grants made available by FEMA to assist in fighting fires that threaten to cause a major disaster. Eligible costs covered by the grant can include expenses for field camps; equipment use, repair and replacement; tools, materials and supplies; and mobilization and demobilization activities.

 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.

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Read article here:  

Arizona To Receive FEMA Funding For Deadly Yarnell Hill Fire in Yavapai County