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Ciara O'Rourke
By Ciara O'Rourke May 30, 2011

Jay Carney says the Obama admin granted all of Texas' requests for fire management grants

En route to El Paso with President Barack Obama on May 10, White House press secretary Jay Carney jumped on a reporter’s question about whether the administration’s denial of a disaster declaration for Texas was politically motivated.

In an April 16 letter to Obama, Gov. Rick Perry requested a "major disaster declaration" as a result of wildfires that have burned through the state. The request sought federal aid to be reimbursed up to 75 percent of firefighting costs already expended and to help the state fight burning fires in 252 of the state’s 254 counties, including Travis.

On May 3, the Federal Emergency Management Agency rejected the request after concluding that recovery needs did not exceed what state and local governments could handle, according to a May 4 Star-Telegram news article.

Besides, Carney told reporters, "this administration has been extremely responsive to the state of Texas’ requests for wildfire management assisting grants — 25 of them at last count," he said. "All that have been requested had been, as far as I know it, have been provided."

Indeed, the state has received 27 grants requested in connection with 27 wildfires that burned about 1 million acres in 31 counties. The grants cover 75 percent of the firefighting costs associated with the 27 fires. FEMA spokeswoman Rachel Racusen later told us the grants factored into the agency’s denial of the request for the disaster declaration because they "fund many of the same emergency response activities Gov. Perry was seeking assistance for."  

Separately, some affected Texas residents are eligible for other federal help, including low-interest loans and assistance to ranchers and farmers who lost livestock in the fires.

Texas Forest Service spokeswoman April Saginor told us that from Sept. 1 through May 15, local fire departments and the state spent about $97.5 million on wildfires. Of that, the state has pitched in $90.8 million, and expects to be reimbursed about $23 million from the 27 approved federal grants to date.

Perry isn’t placated. During an interview on NewsRadio 1080 KRLD on May 11, Perry said: "We've had over 9,000 different fires in the state of Texas, 2.3 million acres burned. If that doesn't rise to the level of a major emergency I don't know what does."

As of May 16, according to the service, 10,123 Texas fires burned nearly 2.6 million acres in 237 counties.

On May 26, Perry appealed the Obama administration's decision to deny the declaration.

But this isn’t the first time the federal government hasn’t granted Texas’ aid requests. We found that it has gone both ways on fire-related requests for disaster declarations from Texas.

— In February 2009, according to FEMA, the Obama administration denied a Perry request for an emergency declaration for wildfires, and his subsequent request for a major disaster declaration. According to an April 2009 Abilene Reporter News article, Perry requested the declaration after wildfires burned through 400,000 acres, destroying 200 homes.

— In 2008, the Bush administration denied Perry’s request for a major disaster declaration due to wildfires that had burned, according to Perry’s office, nearly 940,000 acres in 215 counties, the San Antonio Express-News reported March 20, 2008. The reason: "We just didn’t see that the state’s capacity to respond was overwhelmed," said FEMA spokesman Earl Armstrong, according to the Express-News article.

After the state appealed the rejection, the government granted a emergency disaster declaration, which is more limited in scope and doesn’t have the long-term federal recovery programs that can come with a major disaster declaration. Texas also received fire management assistance grants for 22 fires that year, according to FEMA.

— In January 2006, President Bush issued a major disaster declaration after at least 450 fires, blamed largely on a long drought, burned across north and west Texas. At the time, Perry wrote the federal government: "Based on these extreme conditions, the magnitude of response required is beyond the resources and capabilities of the state and the affected local governments," according to a January 2006 Fort Worth Star-Telegram news article.

Since 1953, Texas has received more major disaster declarations than any other state — 84 — mostly for severe storms, flooding and tornadoes. California, the largest state, has received the second most (78) followed by Oklahoma (68) and Florida (63). Rhode Island has received the least (8).

So far, Obama has issued one major disaster declaration for Texas — in August 2010, for Hurricane Alex, according to FEMA. Before that, President George W. Bush issued two major disaster declarations after hurricanes hit the state in July and September 2008.

Carney correctly summed up the Obama administration’s approval of fire-fighting grants for Texas but he glosses over its denial of the disaster declaration, which could have covered more counties and provided retroactive assistance.

We rate his statement as Mostly True.

Our Sources

The White House, Press gaggle by Press Secretary Jay Carney aboard Air Force One en route to El Paso, Texas, May 10, 2011

Federal Emergency Management Agency, The declaration process, last modified Aug. 11, 2010, accessed May 10, 2011

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Texas disaster history, accessed May 10, 2011

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Declared disasters by year or state, accessed May 17, 2011

Federal Emergency Management Agency, The disaster process and disaster aid programs, accessed May 17, 2011

Office of the Governor, Press release: President approves Gov. Perry’s disaster declaration, Jan. 11, 2006

Office of the Governor, Letterfrom Gov. Rick Perry to President Barack Obama, April 16, 2011

Office of the Governor, Press release: Gov. Perry requests major disaster declaration as extreme wildfire danger continues, April 17, 2011

Texas Forest Service, Resources to assess wildfire risk, accessed May 12, 2011

Texas Forest Service, Incident Management Situation Report, May 12, 2011, accessed May 12, 2011

Texas Forest Service, Current Texas wildfire situation

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Texas NRCS offering assistance following wildfires, March 14, 2011

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency, Livestock indemnity program benefits available to producers suffering wildfire losses, April 12, 2011

U.S. Small Business Association, SBA offers disaster assistance to Texas residents and business affected by Texas panhandle wildfires, March 14, 2011

U.S. Small Business Administration, Incident: Texas panhandle wildfires, March 14, 2011

U.S. Small Business Administration, Incident: Rock House wildfire, April 26, 2011

U.S. Small Business Administration, Incident: Wichita County Complex wildfires, May 9, 2011


El Paso Times, SBA offers disaster loans to Texas wildfire victims, April 28, 2011

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Bush declares disaster in Texas, Jan. 12, 2006, accessed via NexisLexis on May 12, 2011

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, FEMA defends response to Texas wildfire disaster request, May 4, 2011

KRLDinterviewwith Gov. Rick Perry, May 11, 2011

Reuters, Texas county official says "supid" feds sparked fire, May 13, 2011

San Antonio Express-News, Perry pressures feds to approve disaster status; The declaration could reimburse millions spent on S. Texas wildfires, March 20, 2008

San Angelo Standard-Times, Federal officials defend denial of fire disaster status, May 10, 2011

The Texas Tribune, Texplainer: What does it cost to fight Texas wildfires?, April 27, 2011

Interview with Rachel Racusen, spokeswoman, Federal Emergency Management Agency, May 10, 2011

Interview with Nick Shapiro, assistant press secretary for President Barack Obama, May 10, 2011

Interview with Lucy Nashed, deputy press secretary for Gov. Rick Perry, May 10, 2011

E-mail interview with Linda Moon, communications manager, Texas Forest Service, May 12, 2011

Interview with April Saginor, communications specialist, Texas Forest Service, May 16, 2011

Interview with Alex Contreras, public information officer, U.S. Small Business Administration, May 17, 2011

Interview with Mark Harbiger, assistant state conservationist for programs, May 17, 2011

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Jay Carney says the Obama admin granted all of Texas' requests for fire management grants

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