Biden approves California disaster aid for Los Angeles County wildfires and wind damage

President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration for California on January 8, 2025, after wildfires and straight-line winds began on January 7 in Los Angeles County. The declaration made individual assistance available to affected residents in Los Angeles County, including temporary housing grants, home-repair grants, low-cost loans for uninsured property losses, and other recovery programs. It also made public-assistance funding available for emergency work in Los Angeles County and hazard-mitigation funding statewide. The action mattered because the federal declaration converted a fast-moving local fire disaster into a federally supported recovery effort for households, businesses, state and local governments, tribes, and eligible nonprofits.