Dubois (670 KBOI News) – Help will be coming in to Clark County, which has its hands full fighting the Grassy Ridge Fire. It has burned over 117,000 acres so far, and forced evacuations in Dubois over the weekend.
So the Federal Emergency Management Agency has issued a Fire Management Assistance Grant for the County, says FEMA Region 10 spokesman Peter Sessum.
“This is something that potentially become a larger disaster,” said Sessum. An FMAG differs from a traditional disaster declaration, which goes from a Governor to the President, but Sessum says the process is more streamlined. “This one, the state can request to the Regional administrator, and he can approve the FMAG. That lets the community know there will be financial assistance.”
Sessum says the money can be used for things like fire camps, deploying and redeploying firefighters, equipment for firefighters, and other supplies.
FMAG funds are meant to reimburse counties and states after the fact, so no word yet on how much the total assistance will be, or when it will come in.
An evacuation order in Dubois put in place Saturday has been lifted.
