Arizona AG advocates for FEMA to address extreme heat and wildfire smoke

PHOENIX — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes wants the federal government to recognize extreme heat and wildfire smoke as major disasters.

Doing this will make these events eligible for emergency federal funding, according to a press release her office sent on Tuesday.

“Extreme heat and wildfire smoke events are devastating because of their severe impact on public health and the environment, yet they are not currently recognized as major disasters by FEMA,” Mayes said in the release.

She is now leading a coalition of 14 attorneys general that urged the Federal Emergency Management Agency to take proactive measures to ensure states get federal support during times of crisis.

“Updating FEMA’s regulations to include these events will provide much-needed resources and help us better protect our residents,” Mayes said.

How attorneys want FEMA to recognize extreme heat, wildfire smoke

In a letter sent to FEMA on Tuesday, the attorneys asked FEMA to do two things:

1. Recognize extreme heat and wildfire smoke can be declared as major declarations under the Stafford Act.
2. Say wildfire smoke events are eligible for funding through Fire Management Assistant Grants.

These two steps are necessary to mitigate deadly heat in Arizona and beyond, Mayes said.

“In 2022, Arizona recorded 1,030 deaths related to or caused by heat statewide,” she said in her release. “Arizona is also in a long-term drought, which increases wildfire hazards exponentially.”

The lawyers’ letter to FEMA came after the Center for Biological Diversity urged the agency to designate extreme heat and wildfire smoke as major disasters.

Gabriela Sarri-Tobar, an energy justice campaigner with the Tucson-based center, said her organization petitioned FEMA over a month ago.

“Arizona has been extremely burdened by extreme heat,” Sarri-Tobar told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Tuesday. “We’re very excited to see a good contingency of attorney generals join together on this letter and putting pressure on FEMA to act.”

How would this help the environment in Arizona?

Millions of Americans suffer due to wildfires and toxic smoke they billow into the atmosphere, Sarri-Tobar said.

Furthermore, extreme heat is a deadly threat.

“Heat is the leading weather-driven cause of death in the United States,” Sarri-Tobar said. “There’s been a real lack of leadership at the national level, the federal level, to address this crisis.”

If FEMA responds positively to requests for change, Americans could experience positive health results, she added.

For example, this funding could help authorities create more accessible cooling centers and solar battery storage systems in the Valley, Sarri-Tobar said.

This could help prevent heat-related deaths, which reached record highs in metro Phoenix in 2023, she added.

“Also, in response to wildfire smoke, equipping homes with air filtration systems,” Sarri-Tobar said. “So people are not breathing in all that toxic smoke that leads to respiratory illness and other serious health impacts.”

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Balin Overstolz McNair contributed to this report.