Local leaders from two dozen U.S. cities are renewing calls on the federal government to rethink how FEMA deals with heat and smoke.
In a recent letter to the agency, mayors — including those in Tucson, Oro Valley, Mesa, Tempe and Flagstaff — say the agency’s current definition of natural disaster fails to take into account all environmental emergencies.
“We have been seeing in the last 10 years that extreme heat is killing people, wildfire smoke is affecting the health of our communities,” said Tucson Mayor Regina Romero. “We need federal assistance to deal with these major disasters.”
Romero and other mayors are asking FEMA to include heat and smoke in the list of emergencies under federal law, so that local mitigation efforts can get a federal funding boost. The request comes on the heels of a similar call from attorneys general including Kris Mayes.
“We believe that cities need to be supported in this, there’s no better example than the 645 heat-related deaths that happened last year in Maricopa County,” Romero said.
Meanwhile, Romero said, Pima County counted 178 heat-related deaths in 2023. She says getting access to federal funding through FEMA could help boost mitigation efforts already underway, like cooling centers placed around the city.
An ordinance adopted by Pima County earlier this month requires county contractors and subcontractors to provide heat protection measures for outdoor workers — the first such ordinance adopted by an Arizona county.
