Relief Loans Available to Residents, Businesses Impacted by Fairview Fire

RIVERSIDE (CNS) – Low-interest disaster loans are available to Riverside County residents and businesses impacted by the 28,000-acre "Fairview Fire" last year southeast of Hemet, federal officials said Thursday.

The U.S. Small Business Administration said that qualifying applicants could be eligible for relief loans valued anywhere from $40,000 to $2 million, with terms designed to fit individual homeowners’, renters’ and proprietors’ financial conditions.

"SBA’s mission-driven team stands ready to help California’s small businesses and residents impacted by the Fairview Fire," SBA Administrator Isabella Guzman said. "We’re committed to providing federal disaster loans swiftly and efficiently, with a customer-centric approach to help businesses and communities recover and rebuild."

A Disaster Loan Outreach Center has been established at the Western Science Museum, Conference Room, 2345 Searl Parkway, in Hemet, where prospective applicants can temporarily go Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., to file loan applications or ask questions. Appointments are not required. The center will close on April 18.

"Low-interest federal disaster loans are available to businesses of all sizes, most private nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters, whose property was damaged or destroyed by this disaster," SBA Director of Disaster Field Operations in California Tanya Garfield said. "SBA customer service representatives will be on hand at the Disaster Loan Outreach Center to answer questions about SBA’s loan program, explain the application process and help each individual complete their application."

Qualifying businesses and nonprofits of any size could apply to borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged buildings, machinery, inventory and other assets, according to the SBA.

The agency said "economic injury loans" are additionally available to entities that did not sustain physical losses but did experience a costly disruption to operations during the nearly monthlong firefight.

Homeowners are eligible for up to $200,000 in disaster relief loans to make repairs to fire-damaged real estate, while renters may be eligible for up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged property, according to the SBA.

Interest rates range from 1.87% to 3.04%, depending on the circumstances and each applicant’s financial condition, officials said. Some recipients could be granted a 30-year amortization period.

The deadline to apply for property damage loans is June 5, and for economic injury loans, Jan. 4, 2024.

The Fairview Fire erupted on the afternoon of Sept. 5, 2022, allegedly due to an electrical equipment failure in the area of Fairview Avenue and Bautista Road.

Two people were killed and 36 structures damaged or destroyed, with hundreds of properties temporarily evacuated.

The blaze burned east into an unpopulated area of the San Bernardino National Forest, where it stalled for two weeks, barely expanding, before crews completely knocked it down during the first week of October.

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