President Biden Announces Federal Government Will Pay For 100% Of LA Fire Response Costs For 180 Days

President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that the federal government will be paying for 100% of the initial disaster response costs, covering everything from debris removal to first responder salaries.

Since January 7th, Los Angeles County has continued to be devastated by 5 wildfires blazing in different areas of the county. This includes the Palisades Fire, which is currently at around 20,000 acres and has resulted in 1 death, over 40,000 to be evacuated, and 5,300 destroyed structures, and the Eaton Fire, which is currently over 13,600 acres and has caused 5 deaths, 100,000 to be evacuated, and roughly 1,000 destroyed structures.

Response to the fires have been swift, with fire crews quickly going out to the front lines of the fires. Gov. Newsom also called for a state of emergency over the fires, as has Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. However, the response from Bass has been distressingly slower as she delayed coming back from a trip to Ghana in Western Africa, a response that has caused mass criticism of the Mayor.

The response by both Newsom and President Joe Biden has been much faster than previous fires. Both Newsom and Biden were in Southern California for a day before the fires started, planning to attend a ceremony in the Inland Empire inaugurating two new national monuments. In addition, Biden was in L.A. for the birth of his great-grandchild. On Wednesday, Newsom and Biden secured federal funds for all the fires, with Biden also approving a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for the area. However, one sticking point was what the feds would pay for fire response costs. While previous fires had the federal government foot 75% of the costs, Newsom and other leaders in California pushed for 90% for the Southern California fires because of their shear destruction.

On Thursday, President Biden surprised everyone by announcing that the federal government would be paying for 100% of all fire response costs for the first 180 days. According to Biden, this will include covering debris removal, setting up temporary shelters, and paying first responders.

Biden’s response

“I told the governor and local officials, spare no expense,” said Biden. “We are with you. We are not going anywhere. To the firefighters and first responders, you are heroes. The cost of the debris cleanup is gigantic, gigantic. The cost of replacing the housing is almost exponential. Anybody can give you a number now, they have no idea what they’re talking about. It’s big, big, big.

“I’m going to make an appeal right now to the United States Congress. They’re going to have to step up when we ask for more help to get people the kind of help they need, to get the kind of help they need. Because it really does matter.

“The damage is catastrophic. We expect there may be a temporary break in the winds, but in some areas, the winds are likely to continue well in the next week. And so, we’re going to continue to spend, sending everything, literally every resource we can find that’s appropriate, to help the governor and the first responders. To the families who have been impacted by this disaster, you’re living through a nightmare, I know. And I promise you, we’re going to help you get through this and eventually recover and rebuild.”

Officials in California praised the move on Thursday, saying that the funds saved can go towards other costs not covered by the federal funds, as well as to longer-term recovery costs

“The federal government learned their lessons from Hurricane Katrina about large disasters,” explained Greg Ericson, a fire control consultant and former wildfire firefighter, to the Globe on Thursday. “They didn’t pay for 100% of the costs, but it was the majority of the costs, and it was primarily run through FEMA rather than relying on local services. And that led to things like $100 million in unused ice and $900 million worth of trailers not being used. So, as with other disasters since, local authorities have had more of a say with emergency funds.

“What Biden announced today proves it. It isn’t a blank check, as it only has to do with things surrounding the wildfire, but it is big and will pay for a lot.”