Farmers are a valuable firefighting tool
By Terry Murry on Monday, July 24th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
UMATILLA COUNTY – Farmers are instrumental in helping fight fires in Umatilla County. Commissioner John Shafer said that was evident with the very first large fire, the Hat Rock Fire, in June that burned more than 17,000 acres.
“What we learned was how important our farmers are,” Shafer said. “Not only do they know the land better than anybody out there, but I know one farmer, Randy Bracher, he disced over 25 miles of firebreak.”
Shafer said he sat down with Bracher after the Hat Rock fire and discussed how to utilize the resources farmers bring to the firefighting table before the flames begin to spark.
“We want to do preplanning next winter, before fire season comes,” Shafer said. “We want to be able to have things in place. We want to work with the farmers and the fire districts next year before fire season hits so we can do some preplanning.”
Umatilla County Emergency Manager Sage DeLong had just begun his new job when the fires hit. Shafer praised him for the coordination of the fire response as well as for a meeting held after that included all Umatilla County fire districts.
“We got to hear from some insurance professionals, special districts, different fire chiefs from throughout the state who talked about lessons learned,” Shafer said. “It was really good.”
