President Biden announces one-time $770 payment for Los Angeles wildfire victims

US President, Joe Biden has announced $770 one-time payments for victims of the California wildfires as part of the efforts to provide federal support amid the raging fires.

“We’re not waiting until those fires are over to start helping the victims. We’re getting them help right now, as you all know. People impacted by these fires are going to receive a one-time payment of $770, one-time payment, so they quickly purchase things like water, baby formula and prescriptions,” Biden said in a wildfire briefing on Monday at the White House.

The president said that nearly 6,000 survivors have already registered for the program and $5.1 million has gone out.

FEMA activated its Critical Needs Assistance Program last week, which allows for the initial one-time payment of $770 to survivors to go out, according to a White House official.

The president also said on Monday that there is 14 percent containment of the wildfires in Pacific Palisades, 33 percent containment in Pasadena, and 100 percent containment in Ventura. 

Biden announced last week that the federal government will cover 100 percent of the costs of California’s efforts to fight the wildfires for 180 days, which will stretch well into President-elect Trump’s administration after he is sworn in on Monday.

In a briefing with Vice President Kamala Harris and emergency officials, Biden stressed, “It’s going to cost tens of billions of dollars to get Los Angeles to what it was. We are going to need Congress to step up with the funding.”

According to AccuWeather, the total damage and economic loss from the fires is now estimated to be between $250 billion and $275 billion.

AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter claims the preliminary estimate has surpassed the total damage and loss accrued during the 2020 wildfire season.

The damage and economic loss has also surpassed Hurricane Helene in 2024, which cost between $225 billion to $250 billion, and has surpassed the deadly Maui, Hawaii fires in 2023, which cost an estimated $13 billion to $16 billion.