As County Costs Climb to $600,000 in Mountain Fire, Supervisors Request Aid

With costs estimated at around $600,000 for recent efforts related to the Mountain Fire near Idyllwild, Riverside County officials are requesting state and federal assistance.

Palm Desert's county supervisor John Benoit, along with Supervisor Jeff Stone who represents part of Southwest Riverside County, asked the board to formally declare two local emergencies this week: one for the Mountain Fire itself, and the other for recent and future potential flood damages.

The board did indeed declare the emergencies Tuesday, and now they hope they'll get most of the money reimbursed-- a figure that has grown to more than a half million dollars, Patch has learned.

"As of right now, we're just under $600,000," Peter Lent, who is the deputy director of the Riverside County Fire Department's Office of Emergency Services, told Patch on Thursday.

Those costs are not for the actual firefighting efforts, according to Lent.  Rather, they encompass costs associated with things like evacuations, shelters, law enforcement personnel expenses, county roads and animal services.

Cost for fighting the fire and dealing with its aftermath was estimated July 30 at $25.8 million by the U.S. Forest Service.  The $600,000 figure also doesn't include the costs borne by the local cities and school districts that hosted evacuation shelters.

"The proclamations ask for relief for these [county] expenses through a presidential declaration, Small Business Administration disaster declaration and California Disaster Assistance Act funds," a statement from Supervisor Benoit's office said. 

Though the immediate costs are in, county officials fear the price tag left behind by this fire will continue to grow-- since flooding will now be more severe in the area.

"For the next three to five years, county officials anticipate further flooding effects on fire-damaged areas and also Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and Palm Springs land and the flood control channels of the Tahquitz Dam and Outlet Channel and Palm Canyon Wash," Benoit's statement said.  "Potential ramifications include flooding, mud and debris flows, road closures and evacuations of citizens and critical facilities."

In addition to calculating county costs for the fire and its aftermath, the office of emergency services is trying to determine how much money was lost in business to the affected mountain communities.

"As of this morning, we're estimating that figure at 1.5 to 2 million," Lent told Patch.  "We're sure that number is going to go up."

Lent says the county is gathering information from affected businesses in the San Jacinto Mountains, to pass on to the federal Small Business Association.  It's not guaranteed that they'll step in an help the businesses, but Lent is hopeful they will provide some relief.

If the county gets the approval is seeks from the state, they'll get approximately 75 percent of their costs recouped, according to Lent.

The 27,531-acre Mountain Fire was caused July 15 by an electrical equipment failure on private property in the Mountain Center area, according to the U.S. Forest Service.  The fire spread east  through the Apple Canyon and Bonita Vista areas and along the Desert Divide and southern portion of the San Jacinto Wilderness, forcing the temporary evacuations of more than 4,000 people.