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Senator Klobuchar Sees First Hand Fire Damage in Ham Lake Region

Klobuchar successful in securing SBA Funding to help area residents

May 31, 2007

(Washington, D.C.) U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar spent this week surveying fire damage and meeting with community and business leaders in the Ham Lake region about their experience and concerns.  Following her visit, Klobuchar and Congressman Jim Oberstar were successful in securing funds from the Small Business Administration (SBA) to help communities start the rebuilding effort, and are actively pressing the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) to provide addition financial support to expedite the rebuilding process.

“Visiting with local residents and business owners was really an incredible experience, said Klobuchar.  I listened to their concerns, and learned about how these brave people battled a massive fire and now are tackling the rebuilding effort.”

“The spirit of these people is just amazing; after what they’ve seen up here, they just want people in Minnesota to know that they’re open for business.  People have to get over the perception that the whole forest burned down, when it’s only one percent of the Superior National Forest—it’s still a beautiful place to visit,” commented Klobuchar after her visit to the Ham Lake area.

As the busy summer tourist season begins, local businesses are having to use cell phones to book reservations and are not able to process credit cards or issue fishing licenses because the telephones lines were destroyed during the fire.  Klobuchar wants to make sure everything is being done to get land line communications back on track immediately, to ensure a strong economy in the region’s busiest time of year.

So far, the earliest telephone communications can be restored along the Gunflint trail is mid-July.  Because of the potential impact on the local economy, Senator Klobuchar and Congressman Oberstar are urging FEMA to look at actions that would accelerate the repair time of the phone lines and are hoping to hear back as soon as next week on what specific types of assistance FEMA can provide.

“I am optimistic that FEMA funding will be secured quickly, which is vital for us to repair these phone lines immediately so Cook County residents and business owners can be back to normal in a few short months,” noted Klobuchar.

Rules that govern how federal disaster assistance is handed out are based on the amount of damage caused to man-made structures.  Even though the Ham Lake fire burned nearly 36,000 acres in Minnesota and destroyed 140 buildings – about $4 million in damage – the destruction cost may not be high enough to trigger a federal disaster declaration and FEMA funding.

In addition to helping expedite telephone service restoration, FEMA assistance would help put in place fire prevention measures like sprinkler systems and the fire prevention programs which combined are credited with saving an estimated 759 buildings—over $42 million in value.

Senator Klobuchar will be in Minnesota for the rest of the week, and will return to Washington when Congress reconvenes from its Memorial Day recess on Monday, June 4th.

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