Two Oregon state lawmakers on Thursday sharply criticized the Trump administration’s decision to deny two requests for firefighting-assistance grants.
On Wednesday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved financial assistance for the Lower Dry Creek, Awaka Butte and Grasshopper fires. But it denied aid for two more: the East Evans Creek and Rowe Creek complex fires.
In a statement, Rep. Emerson Levy, a Bend Democrat, and Rep. Vicki Breese-Iverson, a Prineville Republican, denounced the move.
“When disaster hits one part of Oregon, it hits all of us,” the two lawmakers wrote. “Central Oregon and every community battling these fires deserve the same support, the same urgency, and the same respect from the federal government. We stand together as a state, and we’re not going to stop pushing until every community gets the funding it needs.”
As of Thursday night, the East Evans Creek fire had burned nearly 16,000 acres and was 78% contained. The Rowe Creek blaze, meanwhile, had consumed more than 300,000 acres and was 42% contained.
“While I’m glad to see the Akawa Butte Fire getting the funding it needs, the relief can’t stop there,” Levy said in the release. “The Rowe Creek complex and East Evans Creek fires met the standard threshold of impacted households, but they were turned away. That’s not right.”
More than 1 million acres have burned statewide, with mid-July lightning sparking most of the largest fires and a combination of dry conditions, high temperatures, low humidity and gusty winds complicating firefighters’ efforts to douse them.
The funding denial, Breese-Iverson said, is an extra complication.
“I’ve lived in rural Oregon my whole life, and sadly this is exactly what we’ve come to expect from government — same disaster, same need, but not the same help,” the Republican said in the release. “Our communities did everything right and FEMA still shut the door. I’m calling on the federal government to quit treating rural Oregon as an afterthought and get these families the assistance they’re owed.”
The FEMA grants cover up to 75 percent of a state’s firefighting costs for blazes that threaten to become major disasters. The funding can be used for field camps, equipment use, materials, supplies, mobilization and demobilization and other activities.
Levy and Breese-Iverson weren’t the only lawmakers to protest FEMA’s move. On Wednesday, Oregon’s U.S. senators, Democrats Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, wrote to FEMA chief Robert Fenton, arguing that the two fires met the agency’s benchmarks for federal funding.
“The State of Oregon is currently in a dire wildfire situation — the worst in the nation — with 86 active fires, as of July 27th, burning over 1 million acres with over 33,000 Oregonians under some level of evacuation and widespread impacts to critical infrastructure, including water and power, affecting alert and warning and 911 capabilities,” the letter states.
FEMA has not given a public statement on its decision to deny the aid. Oregon has 30 days to appeal the denials, and officials said the state is considering its next steps.
Sophia Cossette contributed to this story.
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