Sevier County officials talk next steps following fire
Vice Mayor Bryan McCarter said they hoped to get federal funding to assist with rebuilding the area.
SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -In Sevier County, crews were still trying to learn more details about the wildfires that destroyed more than 200 structures. Vice Mayor Bryan McCarter knew that with that level of devastation, comes a likely sky high total cost to repair.
“Reaching tens of millions I don’t think would be very difficult to reach at this point,” said McCarter.
It’s still unknown exactly how many of those structures were homes, rental properties, or second homes, which plays a role. McCarter said that for the most part, the only people that would qualify for federal funding were those who had their primary home destroyed.
In the immediate future, McCarter and other Sevier County officials planned to gather that unknown data, and present it to TEMA on Friday. At that point, they’ll help evaluate how many grants they can apply for. McCarter was hopeful that these fires can be declared a disaster by FEMA, so more opportunities can open up.
“They’ll take that information and start filtering down the layers of things we might qualify for,” said McCarter.
This potential federal funding could possibly help those who lost homes and were uninsured, as well as the first responders who lost valuable equipment in the flames like fire engines. McCarter said as of right now, there has been no out of the ordinary spending from the county budget to aid any fire victims as they rely on community efforts while they determine the level of impact.
As for a timeline on when those impacted will learn more, it’s unclear.
“The process is going to be long there’s no doubt this is going to be a lengthy process,” said McCarter, adding that it could take weeks.
County Commissioner Ronnie Allen said the commission had not yet met to discuss any further plans, but they would help as needed.
Allen added that for those who lost their home, they would still likely have to pay permit and demolition fees when they rebuild. McCarter said there’s still a chance those fees get waived as they continue to assess the situation.
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