DENVER – The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Tuesday it had awarded another $2.6 million to Colorado to cover a bulk of the firefighting costs incurred by local and state agencies on the Cameron Peak Fire.
The Public Assistance money will go to the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control to cover incident management and fire suppression costs incurred by the Colorado National Guard and 143 other state and local agencies that helped fight what turned into the state’s largest-ever recorded wildfire.
The $2.6 million represents about 75% of the total projected costs of $3.5 million incurred in fighting the fire. The state will be responsible for paying for the rest of the emergency work and infrastructure restoration not covered by the FEMA funding.
The funding comes after former President Donald Trump declared a major disaster on Jan. 15 after last year’s Cameron Peak and East Troublesome fires in Grand and Larimer County – the two largest wildfires in recorded state history.
In September, FEMA approved just more than $3 million to help remove tree hazards and wildfire debris along public roads in Larimer County in a project that is estimated to cost $4.09 million.
FEMA said it has so far approved more than $22 million in Public Assistance grant money for the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome fire recovery efforts.
