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Mono County extends Pac Fire emergency while weighing county‑run debris removal
Summary
The board voted to continue a local emergency for the Pac Fire and asked staff to return with options after staff warned state reimbursement (CDAA) is unlikely; officials said phase‑2 hazardous cleanup could cost up to about $100,000 per parcel and that a county‑run program would carry financial risk.
The Mono County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 13 voted to continue the county’s local state of emergency for the Pac Fire while staff pursues additional information about state thresholds and cleanup options.
Assistant CAO Christine, briefing the board, said her conversation with Cal OES that morning suggested the county “doesn’t look likely” to meet the dollar threshold for CDAA reimbursement and that, if the county ran a phase‑2 debris removal program, property owners would have to assign insurance debris‑removal proceeds to the county. “Preliminary estimates indicate that phase‑2 cleanup could cost up to approximately $100,000 per parcel depending on contamination levels, access, and site conditions,” Christine said.
The board heard from LaMonica Lacey of the U.S. Small Business Administration, who said the SBA had 24 applicants for disaster loans and urged residents to complete paperwork before in‑person services end on Jan. 15. Christine said staff will use the Ready Mono lists and direct outreach to reach applicants who still need to upload documents.
Environmental Health’s Jill Kearney told the board that prior fire cleanups in the county were run by the state; “OES actually was the responsible party for the cleanup,” she said, stressing that state‑run operations funded those previous efforts.
Supervisors pressed staff about options and next steps. Supervisor Dugan asked for a follow‑up agenda item laying out a detailed county plan and whether private contractors could be reimbursed directly by the county. Supervisor Peters asked why the state would not reimburse the current event, noting prior examples where the state covered a large share of cleanup costs; Christine said Cal OES would send the county the threshold data and staff will bring additional information back to the board.
The board adopted the proposed resolution extending the local emergency declaration by roll call vote, 5–0. Staff said the declaration preserves the county’s ability to seek reimbursement if Cal OES changes its position and gives the county flexibility to act while options are developed.
Next steps: county staff will report back with the Cal OES threshold data, an assessment of county‑run program costs and risks, and recommendations for whether and how the county should act on phase‑2 debris removal.
