AUSTIN - Another 74 Texas counties are now eligible for wildfire assistance as FEMA has agreed to grant the state’s repeated request to expand its major disaster declaration.
Gov. Rick Perry announced Wednesday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s decision to extend the incident period from April 6 – August 29, as opposed to the original one month window, now qualifies 119 total counties.
Local counties included in the provision are Lamar and Franklin. Counties can receive up to a 75 percent reimbursement for eligible expenses.
Since last December, Texas has responded to more than 26,000 fires that have burned more than 3.9 million acres. State and local response costs are estimated at more than $330 million.