Congress set aside nearly $4 billion to compensate victims. And last week, FEMA announced its claims office has paid more than $101 million so far for claimant losses.
But what kind of losses are eligible for compensation is now at issue in two federal lawsuits filed this month in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque, including one filed by the relatives of the victims who died in the flash flood.
That wrongful death lawsuit filed Oct. 11 alleges the U.S. Forest Service not only was negligent in the management of the prescribed burn, but was to blame for failing to close roads and prevent access to areas at risk for life-threatening flooding that followed.
The agency didn’t follow “mandated directives to put in place barriers or other protective systems following damage to the land” in the burn scar, the lawsuit contends.
The Forest Service also allegedly failed to provide adequate warnings to the Cummings couple and Greenhaw about the dangers caused by the wildfire, and the dangers of potential flash floods in the area.
Meanwhile, 10 survivors of the fire sued the Federal Emergency Management Agency last week over an aspect of its final administrative rule related to compensation for fire victims...more
1 comment:
Fire Doctrine: don't start a fire unless you can put it out! The new FS culture lights controlled burns and burns up the entire country side. Why? Because they are trying to meet targets which brings in funds, which looks good on vertical sublimations. A poor way to manage a forest.
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