President Joe Biden says the federal government will cover 100-percent of the cost of the Calf Canyon - Hermits Peak fire.
Mr. Biden made the announcement Saturday just prior to receiving a briefing on the fire and the others currently burning in the state.
The Calf Canyon -Hermits Peak fire began in April when a prescribed burn by the US Forest Service got out of control due to high winds. Since then, it has burned over 500 square miles
Biden says the Forest Service has put all prescribed burns on hold to reevaluate the practice.
“Every year the Forest Service, to put this in perspective, does a pretty damn good job, conducts 4,500 prescribed burns, 99.8-percent go as planned. But this time tragically it did not.”
The Forest Service is conducting a 90-day review of the prescribed burn policy. Biden can only control the FEMA funding for fire victims. A bill for total federal compensation for fire damage has been introduced on Capitol Hill.