Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) News

Texas A&M Task Force 1 (TX-TF1) received a perfect score of 100 on its 2023 Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) Task Force Administration Readiness Evaluation (ARE) that was recently completed. This marks the first time that any of FEMA’s 28 Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) teams has earned a perfect score since the agency began the task force evaluations in 2010. The ARE is an evaluation that examines each team’s compliance in three areas: 1) Operational Readiness...

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) has launched an online, searchable directory of behavioral health professionals ready and able to help firefighters, EMS providers, rescue workers, and their families. This new tool replaces the previous PDF directory and will make it easier for responders and their families to find the assistance they need. Emergency responders face unique challenges that can have a significant impact on their mental wellbeing, and it is important that they have acces...

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. announced that FEMA awarded a $22.4 million grant to the city of Philadelphia, paying for 72 firefighters’ salaries and benefits for three years, allowing three city fire stations to reopen: Engine 6 in Fishtown, Ladder 1 in Fairmount and Ladder 11 in South Philadelphia. In 2022, Philadelphia suffered its highest number of fire fatalities in a decade with more than a dozen of those deaths occurring from a single fire in the Fairmont neighborhood, which was...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) allocated over $786 million to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) to replace nearly 1.5 million meters damaged by Hurricane María. These will have Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), a two-way communications technology that collects detailed metering information for all of PREPA’s service areas.  situational awareness AMI will improve the operation of the electric system, as well as the metrics and situa...

The US state of Oregon’s request for a federal Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) was approved by FEMA Region 10 Administrator - Willie G. Nunn on Wednesday, August 23, 2023, at 10:00 p.m. PT. He determined that the Liberty Fire threatened to cause such destruction as would constitute a major disaster. This is the second FMAG declared in 2023 to help fight Oregon wildfires. At the time of the state’s request, the wildfire threatened homes in and around the communities of Liber...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) regional administrator authorized the use of federal funds on August. 9 to assist the state of Hawaii to combat the Pulehu Fire burning in Maui County. On August. 9, the state of Hawaii submitted a request for a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG). At the time of the request, the fire threatened approximately 375 homes in and around Kihei, with mandatory evacuations in place for approximately 750 people. The fire also threatened local b...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) regional administrator authorized the use of federal funds on Aug. 9 to assist the US state of Hawaii to combat the Mauna Kea Beach Fire burning in Hawaii County. On Aug. 9, 2023, the US state of Hawaii submitted a request for a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG). At the time of the request, the fire threatened approximately 100 homes in and around Mauna Kea Beach, with mandatory evacuations for approximately 100 people. The fire also...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Regional Administrator authorized the use of federal funds on Aug. 8 to assist the US state of Hawaii to combat the Kohala Ranch Fire burning in Hawaii County. On Aug. 8, the US state of Hawaii submitted a request for a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG). FEMA authorizes FMAG funds for State of Hawaii At the time of the request, the fire threatened approximately 200 homes in and around Kohala Ranch, with evacuations taking place for...

FEMA announces that President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. made additional funds available for the state of New Mexico to help local communities in Los Alamos and Sandoval counties recover from the 2022 Cerro Pelado Fire. The state of New Mexico received a major disaster declaration on May 4, 2022, following the wildfires, straight-line winds, flooding, mudflows and debris flows that occurred from April 5 to July 23, 2022. Emergency protective measures Under the President's order, federal funds for F...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) regional administrator authorized the use of federal funds on August 9 to assist the state of Hawaii to combat the Lahaina Fire burning in Maui County. On August 9, the state of Hawaii submitted a request for a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG). At the time of the request, the fire threatened an unknown number of homes in and around Lahaina, with mandatory evacuations for approximately 7,500 people. The fire also threatened local busi...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs for the Eagle Bluff Fire burning in Okanogan County, Washington. The state of Washington’s request for a federal Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) was approved by FEMA Region 10 Administrator Willie G. Nunn on Sunday, July 30, 2023, at 8:55 a.m. PT. He determined that the Eagle Bluff Fire threatened to cause such destruction as would constitute a major disaster. This i...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs for the Newell Road Fire burning in Klickitat County, Washington. The state of Washington’s request for a federal Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) was approved by FEMA Region 10 Administrator Willie G. Nunn on Sunday, July 23, 2023, at 12:14 a.m. PT. He determined that the Newell Road Fire threatened to cause such destruction as would constitute a major disaster. This...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs for the Golden Fire burning in Klamath County, Oregon, USA. The state of Oregon’s request for a federal Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) was approved by FEMA Region 10 Administrator - Willie G. Nunn on Sunday, July 23, 2023, at 4:34 p.m. PT. He determined that the Golden Fire threatened to cause such destruction as would constitute a major disaster. This is the fir...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs for the McEwan Fire burning in Mason County, in the US state of Washington. The state of Washington’s request for a federal Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) was approved by FEMA Region 10 Administrator - Willie G. Nunn on Tuesday, July 4, 2023, at 11:28 p.m. PT. He determined that the McEwan Prairie Fire threatened to cause such destruction as would constitute a major...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Regional Administrator has authorized the use of federal funds on June 27, 2023, to assist the US state of Arizona to combat the Diamond Fire burning in Maricopa County, in Arizona, USA. On June 27, the US state of Arizona submitted a request for a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG). At the time of the request, the fire threatened 100 homes in and around Scottsdale and required the mandatory evacuation of more than 1,100 people. T...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs for the Tunnel Five Fire burning in the state of Washington, USA. The state of Washington’s request for a federal Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) was approved by FEMA Region 10 Administrator Willie G. Nunn on Sunday, July 2, 2023, at 10:01 p.m. PT.  He determined that the Tunnel Five Fire threatened to cause such destruction as would constitute a major disaster....

Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro N. Mayorkas and U.S. Fire Administrator, Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell delivered remarks during the 42nd National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) Memorial Weekend on May 7, 2023, in Emmitsburg, Maryland, USA. The Homeland Security Secretary and the U.S. Fire Administrator paid tribute to the 79 firefighters who died in the line of duty in 2022 and 65 firefighters who died in previous years.  Paying tribute to fallen firefighters The emergencies to wh...

The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) announces the launch of the modernization effort to develop a new, interoperable fire information and analytics platform, known as the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS), for the American fire and emergency services. This effort is being carried out as a partnership between USFA and the US Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T). National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS) The goal...

Integrations will enable alerting authorities to disseminate wireless emergency alerts to the public in near real time through vehicle navigation and entertainment systems. The Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate concluded a proof-of-concept demonstration of the wildland urban interface (WUI) integration model that integrates next generation technologies with FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) and GPS navigation applications and cutting-ed...

North Coast Opportunities, Inc. (NCO), located in Lake County, received a $22.2 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to create defensible space and harden 500 homes over a three-year period, which will save lives and reduce the severity of property damage from wildfires. Defensible space helps keep the area around a home free of excess or dead vegetation like grasses, shrubs, trees, leaves and fallen pine needles. When defensible space is maintained, there is less f...

The Biden-Harris administration’s Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission has released a report outlining a strategy to meet aerial firefighting equipment needs through 2030. As climate change fuels longer and more intense wildfire seasons, aerial assets bring unique response capabilities to wildland fire suppression. The report re-examines existing approaches to aviation fleet procurement, mobilization, composition and quantity to set aviation management on a new trajectory fo...

The Head of the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), a component of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and principals of America’s national fire service organizations traveled to New York City and Philadelphia to honor those lost to fires in the past year, including the 29 victims of the tragic fires in the Bronx and Philadelphia. During her visits, U.S. Fire Administrator - Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell shared steps to reduce the risk of fire in local communities and launch the USFA Nation...

Fire Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has published an Interim Final Rule in the Federal Register implementing the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act on Nov. 14, 2022 and is now seeking public comment on this Interim Final Rule. The public comment period will run from Nov. 14, 2022, through Jan. 13, 2023, and comments can be submitted at Regulations.gov. The Federal Register Notice docket number is FEMA-2022-0037. Hermit’s Peak/Canyon Fire Assistance Act The Hermit&rs...

With EV sales expected to increase drastically in the next few years, there are growing concerns in the firefighting community about how to deal with EV fires. Cause of concern One area of concern is EVs that have been flooded by salt water. According to the NHTSA, residual salt within the battery or battery components can form conductive “bridges” that can lead to short circuits and self-heating of the battery, resulting in fires. The time frame in which a damaged battery can...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs for the Nakia Creek Fire burning in Clark and Skamania Counties, in the state of Washington, USA. The US state of Washington’s request for a federal Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) was approved by FEMA Region 10 Administrator, Willie G. Nunn on Sunday, October 16, 2022, at 10:21 p.m. PT. He determined that the Nakia Creek Fire threatened to cause such destruction,...

A new version of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) Program Planning Toolkit has been designed to aid alerting authorities and alert originators at federal, state, local, tribal and territorial levels in developing an alerting program plan using best practices. The new interactive, web-based toolkit walks the user through an alerting plan template in 5 steps, resulting in a downloadable, formatted draft of a comprehensive alerting plan tailored to their agency's operational...

FEMA announced that its High Hazard Potential Dam Grant and the National Dam Safety State Assistance Grant programs awarded US$ 33 million in the fiscal year 2022 grants to 49 states and one territory for non-federal dams. This includes US$ 15 million through President - Joesph R. Biden, Jr.’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The funding will provide technical, planning, design, and construction grants for rehabilitating eligible high-hazard potential dams. rehabilitating dams “Da...

Violence is the second most frequent cause of nonfatal injuries to emergency medical services (EMS) providers according to 2020 data from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) data tracking. Most of these injuries are caused by the patient's EMS providers are treating. Recommendations Recommendations for personal safety vary from department to department and include: Understanding that emergency scenes are dynamic and that violence to emergency responders is alwa...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs for the Milo McIver Fire burning in Clackamas County, Oregon. Threats due to Milo McIver Fire The state of Oregon’s request for a federal Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) was approved by FEMA Region 10 Administrator Willie G. Nunn on September 10, 2022, at 5:05 p.m. PT. He determined that the Milo McIver Fire threatened to cause such destruction as would constitute...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) regional administrator authorized the use of federal funds to assist the state of California in combatting the Mosquito Fire burning in Placer and El Dorado counties. Mosquito Fire On Sept. 9, the state of California submitted a request for a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG). At the time of the request, the fire threatened approximately 3,600 homes in and around Foresthill, CA. The fire also threatened a high school, middle schoo...