FEMA Grants Conn. Gov. Fire Request

Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell said recently that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has granted her request for a 30-day extension to possibly request a major disaster declaration stemming from the Dec. 12, 2007, fire in downtown New Haven. “This devastating fire has already cost the public sector more than $4 million, and that number continues to increase," Rell said. "The impacts on business owners and others in the area have yet to be fully calculated, but we can be sure they are sizable, given that the fire came just as the holiday shopping season was peaking.” Once that dollar figure is finalized, Commissioner James Thomas of the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security will, if appropriate, request a formal preliminary damage assessment in accordance with FEMA rules. The three-alarm fire totally destroyed several downtown businesses, including a bar that had just opened, and affected a number of others.