FEMA wildfire official facing questions after claims of receiving priority payout for New Mexico wildfire

A senior FEMA official is facing questions after media published the claim he received wildfire relief payments from the fund he was administering for victims of a 2022 New Mexico fire.

According to the report in Source NM and NMPBS, Jay Mitchell is in charge of FEMA’s multi-billion-dollar fund to compensate victims of New Mexico’s 2022 Hermits Peak Fire, which remains New Mexico’s most destructive wildfire with 430 homes impacted in communities northwest of Las Vegas. The report claims he received a six-figure payout over the past year for damages the fire caused, despite the properties in question being over an hour’s drive from where the fire actually burned.

Documents produced by Source NM appear to show Mitchell was paid $266,000 for smoke and ash cleaning costs for his house and guest home in Angel Fire, New Mexico, a ski resort town over 40 miles north of where the fire burned. The same documents show that Mitchell’s wife, reportedly a licensed real estate broker selling property in Angel Fire, got more payments totaling over $250,000 for business-related losses she allegedly incurred during the fire.

Other homeowners in Mitchell’s neighborhood told Source NM that smoke from the Hermits Peak Fire did not cause any discoloration or damage to their homes or to those of anyone they knew.

The payouts to Mitchell were made as 74 people or families who lost their homes in the wildfire are still awaiting compensation nearly four years after the fire burned, according to recent estimates from the claims office reported by Source NM. Michell was placed in charge of the compensation fund approved by Congress after it was determined that the wildfire was caused by two botched prescribed burns overseen by the U.S. Forest Service.

Multiple New Mexico lawmakers have since called on Michell to resign after Source NM’s reporting was released, including senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján, along with representatives Teresa Leger Fernández and Martin Zamora.

Two years ago, another FEMA director resigned amid criticism of the government’s mishandling of relief payments to victims of the same New Mexico wildfire.

Click here to read the full article.

FEMA director resigns after fire fund failure

Longtime federal agency official Angela Gladwell has “overseen” the $4 billion compensation fund that was supposed to pay victims of a disastrous 2022 New Mexico wildfire accidentally started by the Forest Service. Her resignation follows resounding criticism of FEMA’s handling of payments that were funded and due residents for damages caused by the Hermit’s Peak / Calf Canyon Fire, which destroyed over 400 homes and racked up literally billions of dollars in suppression costs and damages.

Angela Gladwell’s actually being “reassigned,” because the Federal Emergency Management Agency is “restructuring” its disaster response in New Mexico — in part because of loud and long criticism of its handling of disaster aid and damage payments — which Source New Mexico and ProPublica have followed for the past year.

A year after the fire, the FEMA claims office had paid less than 1 percent of its total funding allocated.

In a news release announcing Gladwell’s departure, Deborah Martinez with the claims office said she “successfully built a compensation program from the ground, assembling a team of locally hired staff with knowledge of New Mexico and the communities affected by the wildfires.” Martinez said Gladwell will now “transition to a new role” as FEMA consolidates recovery programs in the state. She would not, however, answer questions about what that “consolidation” might entail.

Deadline extended for Hawai’i disaster assistance

KA ‘OIHANA PILI KAUA
Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency

The FEMA deadline for private nonprofit groups and government agencies to apply for disaster assistance has been extended to October 25.

“The extension gives applicants two more weeks to complete their requests,” said James Barros, administrator of the Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA). “Many nonprofits have been deeply involved in the disaster response, but they’ve been busy helping the people of Maui to apply for these federal funds; the extension gives them a bit more time to seek these vital resources.”

Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency

The disaster declaration covering the August wildfires authorizes funding to reimburse and pay for protective measures and hazard mitigation, including fire mitigation and environmental and historic preservation projects. Private nonprofit organizations — including houses of worship and community groups — may be eligible for financial reimbursement for emergency protective measures, debris removal, or restoration of facilities.

Eligible organizations include those that have provided services during the wildfire response, or those that want to participate in recovery/mitigation efforts, including environmental and historic preservation.

“HI-EMA is the state agency that serves as the connection between FEMA and applicants for Public Assistance funds,” said Barros, “and our personnel can answer questions about the types of expenses and projects that may be eligible.”

To learn more about available grants, check the FEMA assistance page and the Hawai’i Emergency Management Agency site. For details, contact Brian Fisher with HI-EMA’s Resilience team at brian.j.fisher@hawaii.gov.

UPDATE:
The Lahaina Banyan seems to have survived.
This is a DHS photo from Wikipedia.

Lahaina Banyan tree, DHS photo from wikipedia.
Lahaina Banyan tree, DHS photo from wikipedia.

The 2-acre Banyan tree in October 2014:
(by Nvvchar – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0)
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Senate unanimously passes bill to improve FEMA’s response to wildfires

The Camp Fire, November 8, 2018
The Camp Fire, November 8, 2018. NASA (Joshua Stevens) – NASA Landsat 8.

When most people think of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) what comes to mind is the assistance the agency provides before and after hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. Part of their mission and the ways in which the assistance is supplied has been specified by the 1988 Stafford Act and before that, the Disaster Relief Act of 1974.

FEMA’s current procedures and requirements don’t always work for post-wildfire recovery needs, and a bill passed unanimously by the Senate Wednesday will help close some of those gaps. The FEMA Improvement, Reform, and Efficiency (FIRE) Act, S.3092, would help ensure that FEMA’s disaster preparedness and response efforts fully address the unique nature of wildfires and their impacts on communities.

If the bill is passed by the House of Representatives and signed by the President, FEMA would be able to pre-deploy resources during red flag warnings – periods of high fire danger, when catastrophic wildfires are most likely to start – just like they already do in advance of hurricane warnings.

The bill would also help ensure relocation assistance is accessible for public infrastructure in fire prone areas. It would improve FEMA’s response to wildfire-specific damage, such as repairing and mitigating contamination from damaged infrastructure.

If passed, it would have FEMA provide culturally-competent crisis counselors and case managers to ensure that underserved and disadvantaged communities receive equitable treatment when accessing federal disaster assistance. Tribal governments would be able to access financial assistance to upgrade their emergency operation centers, putting them on an equal standing with state and local governments.

Sometimes they just need a hug

Marshall Fire, Louisville, Colorado, by WxChasing/Brandon Clement
Marshall Fire, Louisville, Colorado. Photo by WxChasing/Brandon Clement, Dec. 31, 2021.

By Pete Baston

When you have been impacted by a disaster of any kind you are frightened, scared, often very angry and the last thing you need is to fill out forms and answer numerous questions from strangers clamoring to HELP you. So why is it that the majority of our disaster assistance and recovery programs at all levels fail to understand that emotional issues can seldom be resolved by analytical processes?

At a hazards mitigation conference I once attended, one subject kept coming up (albeit often in side conversations): how can we do better with natural hazards preparedness and mitigation? At all levels of government and private industry, the fact that billions of dollars are being spent annually often with very little result is becoming a major concern. That the largest risk companies now estimate that the cost of hazards damage is starting to become incalculable is scaring even the wealthiest countries. The big elephant in the room was the fundamental question of whether it is even possible to understand a subject with massive emotional dynamics through analytical means.

Should this be approached in a very different way? Any victim of a disaster in which their world has imploded in 5 minutes is naturally frightened, upset, and scared. To introduce a program of any kind, no matter how well-intentioned, that does not explicitly recognize this adds additional trauma, leading to complex issues lasting for years.Chitimacha many waters

Two of the presenters at the conference made a huge impact: elders from the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana; and Sallie Clark, a Commissioner for El Paso County, Colorado. Their messages were different, but interconnected. In sum, they both stressed the importance of knowing your community and reacting in both a human and efficient systems way, or as Sallie stated so eloquently “Yes, indeed we need to be efficient in our response to a disaster — but let’s not forget that sometimes they just need a hug.”

The Chitimacha (Sitimaxa, “people of the many waters”) are famous because when the FEMA team got to their reservation three weeks after hurricane Katrina, they had already taken care of most of the damage. Communication in the tribe took place mostly by word of mouth, with CB radio assistance. Within 24 hours after the storm had passed, all 1,100 members of the tribe had been contacted by a tribal council team and all needs, both physical and emotional, were being attended to. Rebuilding had started, and in many cases was complete. A major focus of the tribal council was on emotional support, and this ran consistently throughout everything they were doing.

Sallie Clark, a Commissioner for El Paso County, Colorado
Sallie Clark, a Commissioner for El Paso County, Colorado

Sallie was doing something similar after the 2012 Waldo Canyon fire devastated her Colorado Springs community. That wildfire was one of the most destructive in Colorado history. It took two lives, destroyed 347 homes, forced tens of thousands to evacuate, and insurance claims topped $450M. Sallie’s response: identify everyone impacted, ensure they have a case officer attending their needs both physical and emotional, and simply make sure they have a shoulder to cry on. She personally drove to evacuation shelters and made sure this was being done and gave anyone a hug who needed it. A truly shining example of “WE CARE!”

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Application period opens April 28 for Assistance to Firefighters Grant – COVID-19 Supplemental Program

FEMA

This week first responders can begin applying for $100 million in funding for the Fiscal Year 2020 Assistance to Firefighters Grant – COVID-19 Supplemental Program (AFG-S) to help provide personal protective equipment to firefighters and first responders who are managing emergencies during the Coronavirus pandemic.

FEMA will begin accepting AFG-S applications at 8 a.m. ET on Tuesday April 28, 2020. The application period will close at 5 p.m. ET on Friday, May 15, 2020, so start planning your application now by reviewing the information below. These tools were produced to help potential applicants begin to plan their AFG-S applications ahead of the application period. These documents can be viewed on the AFGP website at FY 2020 AFG-S COVID-19 Guidance Documents or can be downloaded to your computer.

If you have questions about the technical assistance tools listed above, call or e-mail the AFG Grants Help Desk at 1-866-274-0960; or firegrants@fema.dhs.gov . The AFG Help Desk is open Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time.