New York, N.Y. - The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Region 2 Administrator authorized the use of federal funds on Nov. 15 to assist the state of New York in combating the Jennings Creek Wildfire, currently burning in Orange County, New York.
FEMA Region 2 Administrator David Warrington approved the state’s request for a federal Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) this morning. The fire threatened approximately 650 structures in the state, including approximately 500 homes mostly within and around the towns of Warwick and Tuxedo Park, with a combined population of over 32,000. The fire started on Nov. 8, 2024, and has burned more than 2,100 acres of state and private land in New York. The authorization makes FEMA funding available to pay 75 percent of the state’s eligible firefighting costs under an approved grant for managing, mitigating and controlling the designated fire.
Fire Management Assistance Grants are provided through the Disaster Relief Fund and are made available by FEMA to assist in fighting fires that threaten to cause a major disaster. Eligible costs covered by FMAGs can include expenses for field camps, equipment use, materials, supplies and mobilization and demobilization activities attributed to fighting the fire. These grants do not provide assistance to individual home or business owners and do not cover other infrastructure damage caused by the fire. For more information on FMAGs, visit fema.gov/assistance/public/fire-management-assistance.