A grant from the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office will give the La Pine Fire District more crews during Red Flag Fire Conditions, Extreme Fire Danger, Central Oregon Task Force Activations and State Emergencies.
The La Pine Fire District announced the grants were made available under Oregon’s new wildfire protection measures following the devastating 2020 fire season.
“Fire districts like La Pine are struggling on a day-to-day basis with staffing to meet the rapidly growing demand for services,” the district said in a statement. “La Pine Fire/EMS crews are dual role also providing emergency paramedic services and transports – often taken them out of district 6 – 8 times a day. This supplemental fire staffing is imperative to insure effective initial fire attack and quick mutual aid on wildfires to catch them when they are small.”
RELATED: No new growth on the 26-acre fire between La Pine and Sunriver
The district cited last week’s 26-acre fire between Sunriver and La Pine as an example of how federal, state and local firefighters can work together quickly to put out wildfires early.
La Pine said there will be an added crew on duty this week due to the heat wave.
