Contributed Photo: Senator Kelly visits American Red Cross evacuation location for families and pets.
Contributed Article
GILA COUNTY – Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ-01) recently toured areas impacted by the wildfires.
On Sunday, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly visited the Incident Command Posts (ICPs) of the Telegraph and Mescal Fires, where he was briefed by members of the Southwest Area Type 1 Incident Management Team. Sen. Kelly was joined by Chairman Terry Rambler of the San Carlos Apache Nation, Mayor of Superior Mila Besich, Vice Mayor of Globe Mike Stapleton, Mayor of Miami Sammy Gonzalez, and State Rep. David Cook (District 8). In between briefings, Kelly also met with volunteers at the American Red Cross Evacuation Shelter stationed at High Desert Middle School in Globe.
Following his visits, Senator Kelly wrote to President Joe Biden, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Criswell, Department of Agriculture Secretary Vilsack, and Department of Interior Secretary Haaland urging them to take swift action to deploy Burn Area Emergency Response teams to the fires, conduct damage assessments, and deploy post-fire recovery and flood mitigation projects for impacted lands and communities, including the San Carlos Apache Tribe. You can find the letters here and here.
As the Mescal, Telegraph, Slate, Pinnacle, Salt, and Cornville fires burn in and near Arizona’s First Congressional District, Congressman Tom O’Halleran (AZ-01) urged constituents impacted by wildfires to contact his Arizona offices as they seek information and resources.
“The brave men and women who are laboring in difficult conditions around the clock to get these fires under control are doing great work, and I thank them for their efforts,” O’Halleran said. “If Arizonans have questions or need assistance they can call my Flagstaff office or contact my southern district staff. We are continually monitoring the situation and working with boots on the ground to ensure all necessary resources are available to fight these wildfires and keep Arizonans safe.”
