January 4, 2020 3:25 a.m.

Staff with the Federal Emergency Management Agency has begun construction of a site where the agency will provide temporary housing units to qualified wildfire survivor families from Linn and Marion counties.

A FEMA release said once completed, the new site in Mill City is expected to hold up to 16 temporary housing units.

In addition to those two counties, FEMA’s Direct Housing mission is in the process of providing transportable temporary housing to qualified disaster survivors in Jackson and Lincoln counties. The release said to date, 47 Jackson County families have been placed in temporary housing units in commercial parks and at one group site – similar to the one that is now under construction in Mill City.

Currently 250 survivor families are approved to receive FEMA Direct Temporary Housing in the four counties. The number of qualified families has decreased over time as many households have located alternate temporary or permanent housing on their own.

The release said to the degree possible, FEMA works to keep survivors as close as possible to their communities, schools and places of worship. Direct Temporary Housing is provided to survivors for up to 18 months from the date of the disaster declaration. That means it will be available until March of 2022.