FEMA Authorizes Funds to Fight Wyoming’s Pleasant Valley Fire

DENVER - FEMA has authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs for the Pleasant Valley Fire burning in Platte County, Wyoming near Hartville following a request from the state last night.

FEMA Region 8 Deputy Administrator Katherine Fox approved the state's request for a federal Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) after receiving the request last night and determining that the fire threatened such destruction that it would constitute a major disaster.

At the time of the request, the Pleasant Valley Fire was threatening 100 primary homes near Hartville as well as threatening buildings, infrastructure, utilities and watersheds in the area. The fire started July 30 and has burned more than 100 acres of state and private land with zero-percent containment.

The authorization makes FEMA funding available to pay 75-percent of the state's eligible firefighting costs under an approved grant for managing, mitigating and controlling designated fires. It is a reimbursable program. These grants do notprovide assistance to individual home or business owners and do not cover other infrastructure damage caused by the fire.

Fire Management Assistance Grants are provided through the President's Disaster Relief Fund and are made available by FEMA to assist in fighting fires that threaten to cause a major disaster. Eligible items can include expenses for field camps; equipment use, repair and replacement; mobilization and demobilization activities; and tools, materials and supplies.

When there is an FMAG authorization, additional funding is made available through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) Post Fire for the mitigation of wildfire and related hazards, such as flood after fire or erosion. Eligible wildfire project types include defensible space measures, ignition-resistant construction, and hazardous fuels reduction.

For more information on FMAGs, visit https://www.fema.gov/fire-management-assistance-grants-program-details. For HMGP Post Fire, visit https://www.fema.gov/hazard-mitigation-grant-program-post-fire.