State Secures Federal Assistance for Apple Fire in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties

The community of Forest Falls (pictured) is under an evacuation warning as of Monday. – Courtesy photo / Facebook, @SanBernardinoNF

Governor Gavin Newsom announced Sunday that the state has secured a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help ensure the availability of resources to fight the Apple Fire burning in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

The FMAG will also assist local, state and tribal agencies responding to the fire to apply for 75-percent reimbursement of their eligible fire suppression costs. 

The Apple Fire has burned over 26,450 acres of local, state and federal land since it started on Friday and remains at 5% containment, causing mandatory evacuations and threatening homes, businesses and critical infrastructure in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

The governor has activated the state’s Southern Region Emergency Operations Center in Los Alamitos to coordinate the response to the fire with local, state and federal officials including Cal OES Fire and Rescue, Law Enforcement and Southern Region personnel, CAL FIRE, and others working to address emergency management and mutual aid needs on the ground.