Biden says feds will cover 100% of fire response costs in Southern California

Washington — President Biden announced Thursday that for the next six months, the federal government will pay for 100% of the disaster response costs from the wildfires destroying neighborhoods across the greater Los Angeles area. The president also said he’ll be asking Congress for more funding to help.

Speaking from the White House during a briefing on the fires, the president said federal funding will cover things like removing debris, setting up temporary shelters, and paying first responders. Mr. Biden said he’s surging all federal resources possible to Southern California, including 400 federal firefighters and 30 federal firefighting planes, among other assets. 

“I told the governor and local officials, spare no expense,” Mr. Biden said, calling the damage “catastrophic.” 

The 100% disaster response coverage from the federal government for the next 180 days is an increase from the current 75% the president previously allotted, and more than the 90% Mr. Biden said California Gov. Gavin Newsom requested. The damage is expected to be one of the most expensive disasters in California history. Three fires are still raging, the president said, and 179,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes. 

Congress may need to pass supplemental funding to buoy rebuilding efforts, and the president urged Congress to “step up.” 

“I’m going to make an appeal right now to the United States Congress,” he said. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been working with displaced locals to get them immediate supplies, like baby food. The president said the federal government will help people there not just recover, but eventually rebuild. 

“We are with you,” Mr. Biden said. “We’re not going anywhere. To the firefighters and first responders, you are heroes.” 

Top Biden administration officials said, aside from immediate risks to life and safety, their greatest long-term concern is the mental health strain this disaster is placing on residents. 

Vice President Kamala Harris, whose neighborhood in Southern California was evacuated, called the damage “apocalyptic.” No one was at her home when the neighborhood was evacuated, her press secretary said. 

“We are literally waiting to see which way the wind blows,” she said. 

The president also said he has a family member who lives in the affected area, and that family member said more than 200 homes in the neighborhood have burned. The president didn’t reveal the identity of that family member.  

Multiple fires have so far killed at least five people, leveling homes and scorching vegetation and wildlife in their wake. The Palisades fire along the coast is the largest one, followed by a fire in Pasadena further inand. 

Officials Thursday said more than 1,300 structures have burned, with 60,000 structures threatened, as the blazes burn largely uncontained in densely populated and expensive neighborhoods of Southern California. 

Mr. Biden was supposed to speak in Thermal, California, earlier this week, but his remarks were canceled due to excessive high winds. He was briefed on the fires while in California instead. The president canceled a trip to Italy to see Pope Francis and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni this week so he could focus on the federal response to the blazes.

The president approved Newsom’s request for a presidential major disaster declaration, freeing up federal resources to support the response. 

U.S. Forest Service air tankers and 10 federal firefighting helicopters are working to cut off the fires, and the Forest Service has positioned dozens of fire engines, the White House said Wednesday. The Pentagon has also readied firefighting personnel and capabilities. Hurricane-force Santa Ana winds, dry conditions and a lack of sufficient water have fueled the fires. High winds are expected into Friday. 

The president was briefed on the latest about the fires and response to them Thursday before the late President Jimmy Carter’s funeral.

Asked if he believes the next administration will give California the aid it needs, the president responded, “I pray to God they will.”