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(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 23, 2007 ) Oakland — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has authorized the use of federal funds to help California fight the Santiago Fire in Orange County, which started late Sunday night, October 21. At 1:23 p.m. PDT Monday, when the grant was approved, the fire had consumed 16,000 acres and threatened 2,500 homes near Irvine and Lake Forest. The County Emergency Operations Center was also threatened. Emergency officials ordered 2,300 residents to shelter in place and are calling for 2,000 residents to voluntarily evacuate. "FEMA is committed to assisting firefighters in getting them the resources they need as quickly as possible to extinguish the fires in Southern California,” said FEMA Region IX Administrator Nancy Ward.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. Federal fire management assistance is provided through the President’s Disaster Relief Fund and is made available by FEMA to assist in fighting fires that threaten to cause a major disaster. Eligible state firefighting costs covered by the aid must first meet a minimum threshold for costs before assis-tance is provided. Eligible costs covered by the aid can include expenses for field camps; equipment use, repair and replacement; tools, materials and supplies; and mobilization and demobilization ac-tivities. FEMA coordinates the federal government’s role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror. RIX-NR-07-45Contact: FEMA Public Affairs (510) 627-7079
Joseph Nchor
info@groupweb.com 
Source: EmailWire.com
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