https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2024/11/11/fema-oscoda-wurtsmith-airport-semi-trucks-emergency-disaster-staging-area-air-force-base-michigan/76202980007/

Then detroit news article

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Monday it has no immediate plans to use an Oscoda airport as a disaster response staging area for the region.

The agency confirmed Monday that staff visited and evaluated the former Oscoda-Wurtsmith Air Force base site in September. But there have been no final decisions or agreements signed, the FEMA said.

The agency routinely "assesses the viability of sites that may be used in future disasters," FEMA said in a statement.

"It is important to note that just because we consider a site, or even sign a memorandum of agreement for future consideration, there is no guarantee that a site will ever be used," the agency statement said.

FEMA's response comes Monday after widespread concerns were raised following mention of the possibility of a large-scale FEMA presence at an Oct. 28 Oscoda Township board meeting.

Oscoda Township Supervisor Bill Palmer said during the meeting that FEMA had chosen the airport as a "stationing hub for emergency services" and would "be bringing in some 350 semi-trailers of equipment to park on the base," according to a recording of the meeting.

"So if you see a lot of trucks coming into the base, that's what it is," he said at the meeting. "Nothing to get scared about there."

But FEMA said Monday there are no plans at this time to locate equipment at Wurtsmith, which was decommissioned as an Air Force base in the early 1990s.

"We have no trailers at the location or on the way," the agency said in a statement. "This is an unfortunate misunderstanding."

Brenda McNeill, administrator for the Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport Authority, said Monday that the mid-September tour and evaluation of the 2,200-acre airport in Iosco County was meant to assess whether the facility had the space to store securely FEMA supplies and equipment in the event of a disaster. She said the airport was one of five locations assessed and the airport has yet to hear back from the federal agency.

"They just needed to know we had the space, the land; we showed them the buildings," McNeill told The Detroit News. "So, if anything were to happen, they would have somewhere to go.”

Palmer said Monday he had received information during an Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport Authority board meeting that FEMA had called the airport to inquire whether there was secure space where the agency could stage emergency response equipment in the event of a disaster.

Palmer, who did not seek re-election Tuesday, said he wanted to make mention of the possibility at the board meeting since it was the last one that would be held before a new board took over operations of the township. Five out of seven board members were replaced in Tuesday's election.

Since the meeting, Palmer said, the information has "spiraled out of control" and he's received multiple concerned phone calls about the situation, including worries that the semi trailers would be used to house undocumented immigrants.

"When I made my report at our township board meeting, I mentioned FEMA was bringing in 350 semis," Palmer told The Detroit News. "What I meant to say was they were considering Wurtsmith as a secure location.

"To my knowledge, no decision has been made by FEMA.”

State Rep. Mike Hoadley, R-Au Gres, said he also has been contacted by concerned residents in the northeast Lower Peninsula and noted it would make sense if the airport was under consideration.

He noted Kalitta Air, the airport's largest tenant, has a history of government contracts, including transporting PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic and participating in emergency evacuations out of Afghanistan in 2021.

"Obviously, Wurtsmith Air Force Base came up in conversations," Hoadley said.