What FEMA does for Californians affected by wildfires

Written by Amy Ta, produced by Nihar Patel

A firefighter stands on a fire truck following the Palisades Fire along the Pacific coast in Malibu, California, U.S. January 13, 2025. Photo by REUTERS/Mike Blake.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is on the ground in SoCal to help people affected by the historic firestorms. The organization provides assistance to individuals, local aid organizations, and state and local agencies. In the short term, it gives people cash for urgent expenses, and helps them find temporary shelter. As for longer-term needs, it offers disaster unemployment assistance, and replaces and repairs housing. FEMA is also covering the cost of debris removal and ongoing fire-fighting efforts.

Curtis Brown was appointed by President Joe Biden to oversee the federal government’s response to the fire disaster. 

"Our No. 1 priority right now is life-sustaining and life-saving efforts. Then after that, we're really focused on getting those impacted residents registered into our program. Right now, we've registered over 30,000 impacted residents. And we've issued $5 million out of that grant," Brown explains.

People who haven't been in this situation before should first contact their insurance company, then register for FEMA aid, Brown advises.

Those who’ve been forced out of their homes are eligible for FEMA's Serious Needs Assistance program, which doles out a one-time payment of $750 per household. “That is truly designed to give to the impacted residents, if they need a hotel room … gas … baby formula. And that's delivered typically within 24 to 48 hours. And so those are things like food, water, shelter within the first 72 hours. And then they'll be given the opportunity to utilize our displacement assistance, which gives them a grant for up to 14 days for a hotel stay.” 

What if people need a hotel for more than two weeks? Brown says FEMA is trying to get their Temporary Sheltering Assistance (TSA) program ready, with coordination with the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES). This would pay for people’s contracted hotels and hotels. However, FEMA doesn’t currently cover Airbnbs — the organization hasn’t reached out to Airbnb yet. 

Brown reassures that FEMA’s assistance will continue in the same way under President Donald Trump. 

FEMA will also stay in Southern California as long needed, he adds. 

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