Under Fila’s direction, Cocopah last year became the first Native American Tribe in Arizona and the country to join the IPAWS Collaborative Operating Group.
Cocopah Emergency Manager Michael Fila was selected to serve as a member of the FEMA National Advisory Council (NAC) Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) Subcommittee to represent the Cocopah Indian Tribe.
Fila joined the Cocopah Tribal Government on February 2012. He is currently the Chairman for the Arizona Tribal Executive Commission (AZTEC). He has served as President of the Yuma County Citizen Corps. He also served as President of the Arizona Local Public Health Emergency Response Association (ALPHERA).
Before joining the Cocopah Indian Tribe Government, Fila worked in the fire service in New York State for many years.
Under Fila’s direction, Cocopah last year became the first Native American Tribe in Arizona and the country to join the IPAWS Collaborative Operating Group. IPAWS “is an internet-based capability Federal, State, territorial, tribal, and local authorities can use to issue critical public alerts and warnings,” according to the FEMA website.
