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News | Aug. 28, 2020

FEMA contingency fuel contract activated, resources in place

By Connie Braesch DLA Energy Public Affairs

Within 18 hours of Federal Emergency Management Agency’s request for fuel support, Defense Logistics Agency Energy activated the contingency fuels contract and pre-positioned resources at Incident Support Base Fort Hood, Texas, to support Hurricane Laura response efforts Aug. 27.

By 1:30 a.m., DLA Energy Task Force Americas received 45 fuel trucks with 50,000 gallons of diesel and 20,000 gallons of gasoline at ISB Ft. Hood awaiting further mission assignment to relocate the fuel throughout the state of Louisiana. Ten thousand gallons of diesel and 5,000 gallons of gasoline each were sent to Louisiana National Guard base at Camp Beauregard and to ISB Roseland, Louisiana. Additional fuel is being sent to ISB Chennault Field, Louisiana.

“This is my first time as a [Task Force Americas] member supporting FEMA operations, so I hit the ground running as soon as I arrived at Fort Hood,” said Air Force Tech Sgt. Zachary Beggin, DLA Energy Americas East quality assurance representative. 

Beggin and a team of fuel experts deployed to Fort Hood on Thursday and began staging fuel and fuel trucks to distribute to various locations throughout Louisiana. 

As the executive agent for petroleum, oil and lubricants, DLA Energy provides support to FEMA through its multipurpose fuel contingency contract with a designated fuel contractor.

“The communication flow between everyone involved greatly increased the quick response to FEMA’s Fuel Distribution Orders,” said Navy Lt. Cmdr. John Renquist, DLA Energy’s liaison in DLA’s Synchronization Operations Center. “The coordination has been great between the DLA Energy Task Force Americas Team, FEMA Region 6 fuels liaison and the contingency fuel contractor.” 

Phyllis Erkins, DLA’s liaison to FEMA, said DLA Energy and Task Force Americas has done a great job adapting to the challenging environment and rapidly changing missions surrounding Hurricane Laura.

“They continue to provide the top notch support that FEMA and our Whole of Government partners have come to rely on so they can focus on an immediate response to the needs of storm survivors,” she said.

DLA Energy Task Force Americas commander, Army Lt. Col. Julian Perez, said the team trains for hurricane season throughout the year.

“We have selfless employees who volunteer to perform the critical mission in order to rapidly respond to support FEMA,” he said. “It amazes me that the team is able to alert, marshal, deploy, and occupy the ISB within a 24-hour period upon notification.”

DLA Energy has provided ground fuel to FEMA in support of presidentially declared national emergencies and disasters since March 2006.