2007 California Wildfires
Southern California Recovery from 2007 Wildfires
Southern California Recovers from Massive Wildfires (DR-1731-CA)
Twenty-three wildfires driven by powerful Santa Ana winds spread across Southern California from Malibu to San Diego County Oct. 20 and Oct. 21, 2007. A month later, in the early hours of Nov. 24, another destructive wildfire struck Malibu. These destructive fires eventually claimed 10 lives and injured 292 people. The fires burned 522,398 acres, destroying more than 3,290 structures and damaging 292 others.
FEMA began mobilizing Oct. 21, even as tens of thousands of residents were still evacuating threatened areas. By Oct. 23, President Bush had signed an emergency declaration in support of state and local agencies. The following day, the president signed a major disaster declaration for seven counties: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura.
The declarations enabled federal disaster assistance for individual and household damages and losses. All the declared counties became eligible for federal reimbursement of fire-related emergency services and debris removal. Three of the counties – Orange, San Bernardino and San Diego – also were eligible for funds to repair roads, utilities and other fire-damaged infrastructure.
From the outset of the disaster, FEMA partnered with other federal, state, and local disaster officials, tribal leaders and volunteer agencies to launch a far-reaching recovery effort. More than a hundred community relations specialists spread out through the stricken neighborhoods, providing information on available FEMA assistance and gathering information on the special needs of disaster victims, ultimately contacting more than 19,000 individuals in neighborhoods and counseling more than 22,000 through FEMA’s mitigation outreach effort at home improvement stores. FEMA personnel staffed Local Assistance Centers, one-stop centers offering victims a wide array of recovery information from federal, state and local agencies as well as insurance agencies. FEMA deployed 11 Mobile Disaster Recovery Centers to Southern California to help applicants register.
Federal assistance arrived quickly. In the first two weeks after the declaration, 16,240 people applied for FEMA aid. Nearly $6.9 million in FEMA funding was disbursed for a variety of essential needs, ranging from temporary housing and home repairs to replacement of basic items lost in the fires. By mid-December, the amount of money disbursed reached nearly $12 million. Jan 9, 2008, is the final day of registration for DR-1731-CA.
Other News and Information:
Photo gallery 2007 California fires
Video-FEMA KUSI interview on California wildfire recovery
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