Federal support crept slowly into Texas this past summer during the height of wildfires scorching the state, and the federal government felt the wrath of Texas in a congressional hearing recently held at the Texas State Capitol.
“A lot of people are very angry with your response,” U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul told federal officials. Representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Forest Service said their agencies will review McCaul’s complaint of the government taking two days to get federal aircraft from California to Texas to fight the fires.
More than 24,000 wildfires sparked across the state since the fire season started Nov. 15, 2010. Those fires accounted for a third of all wildfires in the country this year, said W. Nim Kidd, assistant director of emergency management at the Texas Department of Public Safety. He also said the loss to Texas stands at an estimated $304 million, but the state expects federal reimbursement of only about $39 million. “There is much room for improvement,” Kidd commented.
Five people testified at the hearing, including Kevin Starbuck, emergency management coordinator for the city of Amarillo. The main frustration for Amarillo and other smaller counties rested in the recovery process, not the federal response to the wildfires of February 27 and May 23 and 29. “The paperwork places a heavy burden on sparsely populated counties with small staffs,” Starbuck said.