Texas wildfires: FEMA approves federal assistance grants for fires in Gray, Gillespie counties

AUSTIN, Texas - FEMA has approved Texas's request for federal funding to fight two large wildfires burning thousands of acres in the Hill Country and the Panhandle.

Gov. Greg Abbott announced the approval in a release, saying that FEMA has approved the state’s request for Fire Management Assistance Grants for the Rest Area Fire in Gray County and the Crabapple Fire in Gillespie County.

What will the funding help support?

What we know:

FEMA's approval means that Texas is eligible for 75% reimbursement from the federal government for costs associated with fighting these wildfires.

The grants are available to states and local jurisdictions for the mitigation, management, and control of fires on publicly or privately owned forests or grasslands, which threaten such destruction and would constitute a major disaster.

What state resources are involved?

Dig deeper:

Abbott has directed the following state emergency response resources to support local wildfire response efforts:

• Texas A&M Forest Service (Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System): Local, state, and out-of-state firefighters and support personnel, fire engines, bulldozers, and motor graders; federally contracted firefighting aircraft, including large air tankers, single-engine air tankers for retardant drops, air attack platforms for surveillance and spotting, super scoopers for water drops, helicopters with firefighting capability, fire bosses and an aerial supervision module for aerial guidance
• Texas Division of Emergency Management: The State of Texas Incident Management Team to support deployed emergency response resources across the state
• Texas National Guard: Chinook and Blackhawk helicopters with firefighting capability
• Texas Department of State Health Services (Texas Emergency Medical Task Force): Wildland Fire Support Packages consisting of medics, ambulances, and all-terrain vehicles
• Texas Department of Public Safety: Texas Highway Patrol Troopers to patrol roadways and assist stranded motorists
• Texas Parks and Wildlife Department: Game Wardens, State Park Police
• Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (Texas A&M Task Force 1 and Texas Task Force 2): Type 3 Urban Search and Rescue Teams
• Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service: Disaster Assessment and Recovery Agents as well as AgriLife Extension Agents to support agricultural and livestock needs
• Texas Animal Health Commission: Coordinating animal resource needs
• Texas Department of Agriculture: Coordinating agricultural resource needs
• Texas Department of Transportation: Personnel monitoring road conditions
• Public Utility Commission of Texas: Power outage monitoring and coordination with utility providers
• Railroad Commission of Texas: Monitoring of the state’s natural gas supply and communication with the oil and gas industry
• Texas Commission on Environmental Quality:‍ Air/water/wastewater monitoring
• Texas Health and Human Services Commission: Personnel to provide information on available services through the 2-1-1 Texas Information Referral Network
• Texas Department of Information Resources: Monitoring technology infrastructure

Rest Area, Crabapple fires

By the numbers:

The Rest Area fire in Gray County, located east of Amarillo, has burned about 7,900 acres and is 95% contained as of 4:03 p.m. March 16, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service incident map.

The Crabapple fire in Gillespie County, located between Fredericksburg and Crabapple, has burned about 9,500 acres and is 55% contained as of 6:30 p.m. March 16.

What you can do:

Texans whose homes or businesses sustained wildfire damage are also encouraged to report it using TDEM’s Individual State of Texas Assessment Tool (iSTAT) damage survey. 

The survey can be filled out in multiple languages by selecting "2025 Wildfire Incidents." Collected information in these surveys helps emergency management teams assess the damage and aids officials in connecting impacted Texans with available resources. 

However, Abbott's office is reminding Texans that the iSTAT survey is not a substitute for reporting damages to insurance providers and does not guarantee disaster relief assistance.