The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs for the Alice Creek Fire in Lewis and Clark County.
FEMA Acting Regional Administrator Nancy J. Dragani approved the state’s request for a federal Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) after receiving the state’s request Saturday afternoon.
At the time of the request, the fire was threatening 90 businesses and residences in and around Augusta, MT. The fire is also threatening buildings, infrastructure including critical national defense infrastructure, utilities, equipment and the Blackfoot River watershed in the area. The fire started on July 22, 2017, and has burned in excess of 30,000 acres of State and private land. The fire is zero percent contained.
The 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.
Fire Management Assistance Grants are provided through the President's Disaster Relief Fund and 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.