Florida Division of Emergency Management Requests Fire Management Assistance Grant, Monitors Adkins Road Fire in Bay County
The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) requested a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in response to the Adkins Road Fire in Bay County. FDEM requested a FMAG in coordination with the Florida Forest Service.
The Adkins Road Fire was reported to the State Watch Office Friday afternoon. Following the notification, FDEM response personnel deployed to Bay County to provide support to local responding agencies and coordinate available state resources.
Governor DeSantis issued Executive Order 22-54 to ensure that state and local governments have ample time, resources and flexibility to respond to the fire and enact life-saving measures.
At the time of the request, the Adkins Road Fire was at approximately 800 acres and more than 1,000 homes were evacuated. The FDEM meteorology unit continues to monitor conditions in cooperation with the National Weather Service and provide updates to responding agencies.
FDEM has disaster recovery staff on standby to conduct damage assessments, if necessary.
The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) is assisting with evacuations of impacted residents and supplementing local law enforcement agency efforts with increased patrol in Bay County. FHP is also on-scene monitoring Highway 231 for smoke and low-visibility conditions. The roadway remains open at this time; however, FHP is prepared to close it if necessary.
Fire Management Assistance, under FEMA, is available to states, local and tribal governments, for the mitigation, management, and control of fires on publicly or privately owned forests or grasslands, which threaten such destruction as would constitute a major disaster. More information is on FMAG is available here.
Updated: Saturday, March 5, 2022
