Congressman LaMalfa Announces Funding for Paradise Emergency Early Warning System

Paradise, CA. – Today, Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R – Richvale) announced a $2,270,156 FEMA Hazard Mitigation grant for the Town of Paradise. This grant will fund the installation of emergency early warning sirens to provide early detection and rapid notification of an impending wildfire for the Town's residents. The system will be linked to a hazard monitoring and warning implementation operation managed by the Town, which will be responsible for implementing warnings.

During the 2018 Camp Fire a series of communications errors including limited and overloaded cellular networks, cell phone tower damage, notification lag times, and alert zoning issues caused many residents to not receive emergency alerts. Nearly 30,00 people were forced to evacuate from Paradise, but many people didn't receive emergency alerts and were unaware of the impending fire until they saw it themselves. The Camp Fire is the most destructive and deadliest fire in California history, killing 86 residents. After the fire, the displaced town residents identified an early warning system as a top recovery project.

"Following the destruction of the 2018 Camp Fire, the necessity of early warning emergency sirens became clear. Paradise is rebuilding day by day, and today is another step in returning the town to its previous level of operations. This grant will help Paradise achieve a fully functioning emergency system and warn residents of future disasters. I will continue to help our devastated towns and the people recover,"said Congressman LaMalfa.

"I am overwhelmed with the news that FEMA has approved our funding for the construction of our early warning system. That is one of the top priorities our citizens have been asking for since the fire, it will give everyone a better sense of security. I want to personally thank FEMA, Congressman Doug LaMalfa, and Paradise Town Staff for all their hard work getting this accomplished," said Paradise Mayor Steve Crowder.

"We are very grateful for the continued support of Congressman LaMalfa and FEMA's support of the Town of Paradise early warning system project. This funding will allow the Town to move forward with the design, build and implementation of a robust, redundant alert and warning system that will be hardened against fires and other hazards," said ParadisePolice Chief Eric Reinbold.

Congressman Doug LaMalfa is a lifelong farmer representing California's First Congressional District, including Butte, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou and Tehama Counties.

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