Colorado Politics

FEMA sends Colorado $10 million to offset costs from Cameron Peak wildfire

Colorado is set to receive a $10 million windfall from a Federal Emergency Management Agency program to help offset the some of the costs brought on by the Cameron Peak wildfire.

As both the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome wildfires scorched their way through hundreds of thousands of acres in northern Colorado last fall, Gov. Jared Polis requested a major disaster declaration from FEMA, which was approved in the waning days of former President Donald Trump’s time in office.

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That declaration allowed FEMA to release funds to the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control under the Public Assistance program, a cost-sharing scheme that sees the federal agency cover 75% of costs with the state held responsible for the remainder.

In total, FEMA estimated the costs springing from emergency work and restoration of infrastructure after the Cameron Peak fire to be in the region of $13.8 million and awarded Colorado $10.3 million to cover a portion of the costs of multiple federal agencies battling the fire.

According to a FEMA release, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, National Weather Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Forest Service were all involved incident management and fire suppression activities.

The allocation brings the total approved by FEMA to more than $16.6 million in Public Assistance grant funds for recovery efforts from both fires.

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