Construction begins on La Grande Airport fuel reserve expansion
By Garrett Christensen on Thursday, October 10th, 2024 in Featured Stories More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
UNION COUNTY – In June 2023, it was announced that Union County had received a $938,000 dollar Connect Oregon Grant to expand the La Grande airport’s fuel reserves. Though the 2024 fire season put the project on hold, construction has officially started as of October 1.
The expansion, 10,000 gallons of Jet A fuel in total, is meant to increase the airport’s capacity to supply firefighting aircraft, as well as increase fuel redundancy during major fire seasons. More capacity means more aircraft (and more fuel hungry aircraft) can be supplied for more sorties and the longer the airport itself can go without more fuel needing to be trucked in, something that may not be viable in extreme circumstances.
Note that the increased capacity won’t change the type of aircraft that can be supported, but it will, again, offer greater longevity for already supported ones. Currently, the airport has a Class-C rating, allowing aircraft such as Lockheed C-130s and McDonnell Douglas MD-80s to land and take off.
