FEMA Funds to Assist Wildfire Fight in North Carolina
The state requested a Fire Management Assistance Grant and it was granted Nov. 11. Mandatory evacuations were taking place for some 800 people and were expected to increase, even as 20 other large fires were burning uncontrolled in the state as of Nov. 11, according to FEMA.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced it has authorized federal funds to reimburse costs to North Carolina to fight the Party Rock Fire burning in Rutherford and Buncombe counties. The grant funding will reimburse 75 percent of the eligible firefighting costs for managing and controlling the fire, costs that can include labor, equipment, and supplies used for fighting the fire and costs for emergency work such as evacuations and sheltering, police barricading, and traffic control.
"This wildfire constitutes a major threat to lives and property. FEMA has approved this request to ensure that North Carolina has the resources to fight this fire," said FEMA Regional Administrator Gracia Szczech. "State and local partners are the front-line responders battling this wildfire, and we will work closely with them."
The state requested a Fire Management Assistance Grant and it was granted Nov. 11. The fire began six days earlier in Chimney Rock State Park and had burned more than 1,100 acres of state and private land by the time the request was made, threatening more than 500 homes. Mandatory evacuations were taking place for some 800 people and were expected to increase, even as 20 other large fires were burning uncontrolled in the state as of Nov. 11, according to FEMA.