State, county and federal partners describe joint field office, task forces and recovery programs for Los Angeles wildfires

State, county and federal officials told a California State Assembly joint oversight hearing on Feb. 26 that coordinated recovery operations for the January Los Angeles wildfires are underway from a Joint Field Office in Pasadena and through multiple task forces focused on housing, debris removal, infrastructure and other priorities.

Bob Troy, assistant director for interagency recovery coordination at the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), said, "Cal OES launched an immediate whole of government recovery effort to support Los Angeles area as soon as these fires began." He described a Joint Field Office (JFO) in Pasadena that serves “as the coordinating hub for recovery operations for this disaster” and said the presidential major disaster declaration on Jan. 8 enabled FEMA individual and public assistance programs to begin.

The nut graf: Officials said the JFO and integrated task forces are the operational backbone for short‑ and long‑term recovery — coordinating federal programs such as FEMA individual assistance and public assistance, SBA disaster loans, and HUD CDBG‑DR funding with county and city partners to restore housing, utilities, schools and public infrastructure.

Among the priorities identified at the hearing were transitional sheltering and rental assistance for displaced households, debris removal and hazardous‑waste abatement, restoration of public utilities, watershed and erosion mitigation, and support for impacted schools and students. Troy said the state activated all six National Recovery Support Functions under the National Disaster Recovery Framework and that FEMA is leading the community assistance RSF while HUD leads housing, the Army Corps leads infrastructure and the Small Business Administration leads economic recovery functions.

Kevin McGowan, director of emergency services for Los Angeles County, said the county has stood up nine joint task forces covering rebuild and long‑term recovery, debris removal, interim housing, schools, health and social services, economic development, watershed recovery and natural and cultural resources. "Debris removal operations are fully operational," McGowan said, noting that 10 properties had completed both phase 1 (household hazardous waste) and phase 2 (fire ash and debris) removal and more than 9,400 rights‑of‑entry forms had been submitted.

Troy and county officials also summarized federal aid activity the state is coordinating: Troy reported more than 132,000 FEMA registrations totaling about $77,850,000 in assistance as of the day before the hearing, and he described SBA lending, saying the agency had approved more than 10,000 loans totaling more than $1.03 billion to homeowners and renters and $106.8 million to businesses. Troy said SBA loans can reach up to $500,000 for home rebuild and repair and up to an additional $100,000 for personal property replacement.

Officials repeatedly emphasized that recovery work spans immediate and long‑term phases and relies on continued intergovernmental collaboration. Troy said the long‑term recovery and rebuilding task force will “develop a comprehensive long range recovery plan that aligns with the community’s vision,” while McGowan said synchronization of infrastructure restoration — for example, coordinating utility undergrounding through a single‑trench approach — is a priority to avoid repeated excavation and delays.

Ending: Speakers closed by urging continued coordination and by noting that the scale of needs will require sustained federal, state, local and private support. "Continued collaboration and sustained joint efforts will be essential to ensuring a full and resilient long term recovery," Troy said.