Every Fire Is Different: The Future of FEMA and Local Recovery. Robert J. Fenton, Regional Administrator for FEMA Region 9, at the 2026 Wildfire Leadership Summit in Sonoma, California, presented by After the Fire USA.
Robert J. Fenton, Regional Administrator for the FEMA Region 9 Office, opens the Day Two panel "When You've Seen One Fire, You've Seen One Fire" with keynote remarks on why every fire is different and why recovery solutions have to be tailored to each community.
Bob has spent thirty years at FEMA and served as acting FEMA administrator this summer. He walks through what changes from fire to fire: geography, culture, infrastructure, socioeconomic conditions, and the experience of the people responding. He looks at how FEMA's responsibilities have grown over three decades, including 195 legislative requirements, and why he believes the biggest authorities for recovery sit with local and state governments, from land use and codes to insurance, first responders, and the National Guard.
Bob also describes where federal disaster policy may be headed: fewer and simpler individual assistance programs, a predictable one-time payment so people know what to expect and what to insure, faster funding with less bureaucracy, and getting mitigation moving again, including roughly $70 billion in public and individual assistance projects not yet completed. He notes that the maximum individual assistance grant is $44,000 while the average is about $6,000, and that renters often face barriers like rental availability, first and last month's rent, and credit checks that FEMA funding does not solve.
His closing message: communities, the private sector, nonprofits, and faith-based organizations need to come together around an agreed solution, and the future of FEMA is strong.
Topics covered: FEMA Region 9, Robert Fenton, Bob Fenton, future of FEMA, FEMA individual assistance, FEMA Council recommendations, federal disaster assistance, disaster recovery policy, local control of disaster recovery, state and local government, parametric disaster payments, mitigation funding, renters after disaster, disaster housing assistance.
The Wildfire Leadership Summit is an invitation-only, three-day convening from After the Fire USA, an initiative of Rebuild NorthBay Foundation. 2026 Summit: September 15–17, 2026, The Hanna Center, Sonoma, California.
After the Fire: Recover. Rebuild. Reimagine.™
afterthefireusa.org