EXCLUSIVE: Senator Merkley speaks with KTVZ News about Oregon wildfires, FEMA funding, and more
(Update: adding comments from Senator Merkley)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Three federal grants are helping Oregon cover wildfire costs, but US Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) says a change in FEMA’s process is leaving other fires without the same help.
Across Oregon, more than 1.75 million acres have burned this season, and nearly 5,000 residents are under evacuation orders.
FEMA has approved grants for the Akawa Butte, Grasshopper, and Lower Dry Creek fires, making federal funding available for up to 75% of firefighting expenses. But two other requests were denied, including one for the massive Rowe Creek Complex.
Merkley said the issue is not whether the fires are serious, but whether FEMA’s process is moving fast enough.
“In the past, it was a simple process. We, state of Oregon, call up and say, ‘look, we’ve got more than 150 families on evacuation level three, which means go now, and we need the funds, need the help.’ FEMA is now not operating in that same mode. There’s kind of a multi-day process,” Merkley told KTVZ News.
He said that delay can erase the conditions that would have qualified a fire for federal help.
“During that delay, evacuation numbers can fall below FEMA’s threshold,” Merkley said.
He said he is working with Homeland Security to close that gap and restore a faster response.
Merkley also said more upfront forest management could reduce the severity of future fires.
“What we’ve been trying to do is get a lot more basic forest management. If you think back to the Milli fire, when it was bearing down on Sisters a couple of years ago, when it reached that area where there had been this prescribed burns and the thinning, it slowed way down. It saved Sisters, and that’s what we want to do whenever possible,” Merkley said.
On the insurance front, Merkley said he wants homeowners who reduce wildfire risk around their properties to see savings.
“Basically, programs that certify that a home has been created with defensible space, then qualify that home for subsidized insurance,” Merkley added.
He also urged Oregonians to support displaced families and thank the firefighters working across the state.
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