Irene Jerome receives Silver Sparky Award from Office of State Fire Marshall
By Logan Bagett on Friday, July 22nd, 2022 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories
GRANT COUNTY – There’s big stuff happening in local community fire prevention. Yesterday, the Office of State Fire Marshall presented the prestigious Silver Sparky Award to Irene Jerome, Director of Grant County Firewise at the John Day Fire Hall. The award was presented by Chief Mariana Ruiz-Temple for Irene’s outstanding achievement in fire prevention and public fire safety education.
Jerome shared some of the Firewise program’s successes after being handed the Silver Sparky Award, and spoke to the community aspect:
“What I would say to the Fire Marshall’s Office is, ‘This is how we’re going to solve the wildfire problem in Oregon. By building community from the bottom up. Truly, this is it, and that’s what I learned about Firewise. You do the definsible space thing, all of that, but it’s also about building communities where they take care of thermselves.’”
The Silver Sparky Award is the highest award presented by the Office of the State Fire Marshall to a civilian.
