PHOENIX — Amid the extreme heat in Arizona, Attorney General Kris Mayes is renewing calls for FEMA to recognize extreme heat as eligible for major disaster declarations.
Tuesday's petition from her office signed by other Attorneys General comes after Phoenix city leadership and a Valley representative called for the change last year.
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"I think it's a matter of both urgency because we have so many deaths and because we have so many vulnerable people who we could maybe reach and save their lives if we had more federal resources," said Joellen Russell.
Russell is a distinguished Professor and Climate Scientist at the University of Arizona.
Russell echoed many of the concerns AG Mayes wrote in a petition that was also signed by 13 other Attorneys General. The group also asked for the addition of wildfire smoke events and clarification that wildfire smoke events are eligible for Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) funding.
"These are disasters at a national scale, and we should be able to access the same sorts of emergency management services that anybody else would," said Russell.
According to the National Weather Service, heat is the top cause of weather-related fatalities nationwide.
"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," said AG Mayes in an online release from her office. "Updating FEMA's regulations to include these events will provide much-needed resources and help us better protect our residents."
Tuesday’s petition comes on the same day, Maricopa County put out new 2024 numbers that show there are now 23 deaths confirmed as heat-related and over 320 now under investigation. Those numbers are both up from where the county was last year at this time.
"We're taking all that data to really help inform the heat relief network, which is, again, those cooling centers," said Dr. Nick Staab last week in an interview with ABC15. "So that we know where the need is where people living with high risk are."
Dr. Staab is the Assistant Medical Director for the county's Department of Health. He told ABC15 that Maricopa County is relying on cooling centers and stepping up the use of the 211 service.
He also said they are looking at other data like heat-related illness to see where resources are needed. But he noted they have space available at cooling centers, something we saw firsthand last week at one of the "cool-tainers" deployed by the state.
Phoenix this year also opened an overnight respite center.
'We have this many deaths, we really need the nation to help us with this," said Russell. "It shouldn't just be every person for themselves."
As Maricopa County watches those numbers, ABC15 will continue to ask local and state agencies about any changes to their heat plans.
ABC15 did reach out to FEMA, but they have not responded yet.
AG Mayes office told ABC15 the hope is FEMA does move forward to initiate the rule-making process and update regulations.
