Boneyard Fire & Battle Mtn. Complex to receive FEMA funding
By Logan Bagett on Monday, July 22nd, 2024 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories
GRANT/MORROW/UMATILLA COUNTIES – (Press Release from FEMA)
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs for the Boneyard Fire burning in Grant County, Oregon, and the Battle Mountain Complex Fire, which includes the Monkey Creek, Snake, and North Fork Owens Fires burning in Grant, Morrow and Umatilla counties, Oregon.
The state of Oregon’s request for a federal Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) for the Boneyard Fire was approved by FEMA Region 10 Administrator Willie G. Nunn on Saturday, July 20, 2024, at 11:07 p.m. PT. The Region 10 Administrator approved the state’s request for an FMAG for the Battle Mountain Complex Fire on Sunday, July 21, 2024, at 5:15 p.m. PT. He determined that the Boneyard and Battle Mountain Complex Fires threatened to cause such destruction as would constitute major disasters. These are the fifth and sixth FMAGs declared in 2024 to help fight Oregon wildfires.
At the time of the state’s request, the wildfires threatened homes in and around the communities of Mountain, Kimberly, Dale, Ritter and Ukiah. The Boneyard Fire also threatened Highway 402, cell towers, communications sites, private cooperative utilities, watersheds, irrigation infrastructure, cultural resources and recreational sites. The Battle Mountain Complex Fire threatened Highway 395, cell towers, communications towers, private cooperative utilities, irrigation infrastructure, watersheds and cultural resources.
FMAGs 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. This 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. These grants do not provide assistance to individual home or business owners and do not cover other infrastructure damage caused by the fire.
In addition to the firefighting funds authorized under these FMAGs, another $1,970,222 will be available to Oregon through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) Post Fire for the mitigation of future wildfires and related hazards, such as flood after fire or erosion. Some eligible wildfire project types include defensible space measures, ignition-resistant construction and hazardous fuels reduction. The Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 authorizes FEMA to provide HMGP Post-Fire funds to eligible states and territories that receive Fire Management Assistance declarations and federally recognized tribes that have land burned within a designated area.
