Wildfire Resources Prepared to Assist with Hurricane Relief

VENTURA, Calif., Oct. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Members of the National Mobile Shower and Catering Association (NMSCA) are prepared to offer assistance to FEMA and state emergency response agencies affected by hurricane Helene. NMSCA resources can provide between 500,000 and one million meals per day, depending on scale. They can supply high volume water delivery, and accommodations for hygiene or cleaning such as showers and laundry service.

Hurricane Helene's unexpected severity has stretched many relief efforts to capacity, but seasonal federal government contractors involved with large scale wildfire disaster response are prepared to assist government agencies to make sure there is no shortage of quality food supply or adequate water delivery.

"We want to make sure all agencies involved with hurricane Helene relief and recovery know that this significant support resource is available to immediately join their efforts," stated NMSCA President Bryan Scofield.

NMSCA members contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Forest Service to provide tens of thousands of meals to wildfire firefighters across Western states in remote and often challenging locations. These large-scale mobile kitchens can each provide quality calorie-appropriate meals to thousands of individuals several times per day. Mobile shower and water tenders provide water supplies, cleaning, and remote laundry services. They have the equipment, logistical knowledge and supply chains for rapid and sustainable response.

Each year fire fighting crews respond to over 2,000 wildfires across the United States. These firefighters save millions of acres from burning, protect our forests and wildlife, and safeguard homes and lives. Fighting wildfires is very different than putting out a house fire in an urban setting. In most cases these fires erupt in locations that are very difficult to access and can quickly grow to large catastrophic fires that require enormous resources to contain and suppress.

As many as 30,000 firefighters are deployed by the federal government each wildfire season. This large group of wildfire responders relies on a vast network of private sector resources to compliment their firefighting capabilities. These same resources are ideally equipped to rapidly respond to any disaster.

"Members of our association have a unique understanding of logistic challenges with disasters," said Bryan Scofield, "They have decades of experience and relationships with important supply chains, that are necessary for rapid response and high quality service."

While many NMSCA members have been involved with past FEMA response to hurricanes and other natural disasters, these resources have not yet been called upon for hurricane Helene relief efforts. NMSCA stands by ready to assist if needed.

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SOURCE National Mobile Shower and Catering Association