By Greg Kendall-Ball
The Abilene Reporter-News
ABILENE, Texas — Gov. Rick Perry announced Wednesday the inclusion of eight Big Country counties in a list of 67 state counties added to an expanded federal disaster declaration.
In a statement, Perry said 119 counties now are considered eligible to receive federal wildfire assistance funds under the updated Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declaration, The original declaration in July covered only 45 counties for fires that occurred between April 6 and May 3. The new declaration extended the wildfire window to include fires through Aug. 29.
Locally Brown, Coke, Haskell, Howard, Jones, Knox, Nolan and Shackelford counties were added to the list that originally included Callahan, Coleman, Eastland, Kent, Mitchell, Scurry, Stephens and Throckmorton counties.
According to the statement from the governor’s office, the eight new counties are eligible for up to a 75 percent reimbursement, but that applies only to Category B - or “Emergency Protective Measures” - expenses.
According to FEMA, Category B emergency protective measures are “activities undertaken by a community before, during, and following a disaster that are necessary to eliminate or reduce an immediate threat to life, public health or safety.”
It also applies to steps taken to protect public or private property.
During the current fire season, Texas spent more than $330 million fighting wildfires across the state that burned nearly 4 million acres and destroyed thousands of homes and other structures.
“Texas has experienced one of the worst wildfire seasons in recent memory,” Perry said in the statement. “This extension provides much-needed relief for counties whose first responders bravely fought the high winds and extreme heat day after day as devastating wildfires threatened their homes and communities.”
In May, Perry and other Texas political leaders were outraged when President Barack Obama rejected their first appeal for a disaster declaration.
Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock, said in May that Texans felt picked on by the rejection - and the decision felt politically motivated.
Jones County Judge Dale Spurgin said he first heard about the county’s inclusion in the expanded declaration when asked for comment by the Reporter-News.
“Maybe the word will get up here from Austin eventually, but this is good news,” Spurgin said.
“We’ve sent lots of county equipment out to help our neighbors, and our volunteer fire departments have responded to a lot of fires outside of our area. This is going to be a huge help for expenses we’ve been out for the past year.”
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