Union County commissioners vote to move forward with City of Union ambulance service transfer
By Garrett Christensen on Thursday, August 22nd, 2024 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
UNION – As part of the ongoing annexation of the City of Union fire and EMS Service into the Union Rural Fire Protection District (URFPD), Union County is officially moving forward with the process to transfer the Union Ambulance Service Area (ASA) from the city to the rural district.
Back on June 26, the Union County Board of Commissioners approved the establishment of a five-person committee composed of local EMS volunteers to review the ASA transfer and make final recommendations to the county. The committee was specifically comprised of:
- Michael Barry (Imbler Fire Chief)
- Joshua Brock (Former Union County ASA administrator)
- Craig Kretschmer (La Grande Rural Fire Chief)
- Kenneth Patterson (Imbler Assistant Fire Chief)
- Anthony Swales (La Grande Rural Fire Captain)
Due to the ongoing fire season preoccupying members of the committee, a meeting wasn’t formally held until August 20. During this recent meeting however, the committee officially recommended that the county move forward with the ASA transfer. During the August 21 regular commission meeting, Union County commissioners unanimously agreed with the recommendation and voted to move forward with a letter of approval for the transfer. Once the letter is sent, the next step will be for the URFPD, to apply for an ambulance license.
If everything continues as planned, the URFPD will officially take over ambulance operations from the City of Union as part of the ongoing station merger.
