County officials are urging Santa Clarita Valley homeowners to report their damages from the Sand Fire as soon as possible, by calling 211, or visiting http://211la.org.

Everyone needs to report the full extent of their damage because it’s the property damage totals, along with other damage assessments, that are used to declare a natural disaster, which is an enormous boon to state and local agencies’ eligibility for federal aid, officials said.

The first step took place Tuesday, when county Supervisor Michael Antonovich requested a declaration for a state of emergency for the area affected by the Sand Fire, which had burned more than 38,000 acres by Wednesday afternoon, according to Ken Kondo, PIO for the county’s Office of Emergency Management.

Once the county declares, then the state can follow with a concurrent declaration, which happened Wednesday morning, thanks to acting Gov. Tom Torlakson. (The state superintendent is in charge because eight other higher-ranking officials are in Philadelphia for the Democratic National Convention.)

The next step would be for the president to authorize a natural disaster for the area, Kondo said, but that determination is based on the damages to an area versus a total county population.

One of the challenges facing the area in such a situation is that while the area is large, the population is comparatively sparse for the county.

This is one of the reasons why it’s important for people to call in with their accurate damage assessments as soon as possible. The county takes those assessments, analyzes them, and then reports the figures to the State of California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), which will then forward the information to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

A FEMA declaration can free up everything from additional recovery dollars to small-business loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration, which was crucial to the area, Kondo said.

With fire officials still concerned about the amount of unburned brushfire “fuel” throughout the area, Kondo urged residents to report their damage, but also, document their homes.

“(The Damage Assessment Teams) know what the damage property looks like, but it’s really helpful if residents have pictures (digital copies preferred) of their property before the fire,” Kondo said. Those are the most helpful in determining the extent of the damage. The preliminary damage assessments are given to the teams that report back to the county and subsequently, those reports get passed on in the effort to secure federal aid.

Kondo also warned about possible weather conditions this weekend that could cause problems for firefighters and homeowners in rural areas.

“With the thunderstorms coming this weekend,” Kondo said, “we want people to be vigilant and be prepared.”