DOT puts up emergency funds for fire-damaged California roads

DOT puts up emergency funds for fire-damaged California roads The U.S. Department of Transportation said Monday that it has released $1 million in emergency funding to California to help repair roads and bridges damaged by recent wildfires.
   DOT Secretary Mary Peters said the fund were to address structures requiring immediate attentions, such as damaged or destroyed guardrails, signs and signals, and to bring essential sections of the highway system online while the state conducts a full evaluation of the damage.
   'We're making this down payment because the last thing local officials should have to worry about is how to pay for needed road repairs,' said Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters. 'We're taking uncertainty and delay out of the equation when it comes to repairing the state's damaged highways.'
   The funds, available for immediate use, come from a Federal Highway Administration emergency relief program set up to deal with federal-aid highways damaged by natural disasters or catastrophic events. Funds paid out are typically reimbursed later by the state's receiving the monies.
   The news comes as local officials announced that all wildfires in Los Angeles County were fully contained. The five Los Angeles County fires have burned more than 100,000 acres. Counties east and south of Los Angeles also reported progress in either containing or gaining the upper hand in the remaining fires.
   Since the first fires broke out more than a week ago, more than 2,000 homes have been destroyed throughout the Southern region of the state and 14 people killed. Estimates of damage in San Diego County alone are put at well over $1 billion.