Nearly One Million Dollars Going to Union County Airport Fuel Reserve Expansions
By Garrett Christensen on Wednesday, June 14th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
UNION COUNTY – Union County may not be a passenger air hub, but the local airport plays a significant role in combating large scale wildfires by providing a crucial staging point for firefighting aircraft. In keeping up with the increased needs of larger, more modern aircraft, Union County has been awarded an approximately $938,000 dollar Connect Oregon Grant to expand the airport’s fuel reserves.
According to Union County commissioner Paul Anders, the need to increase the local fuel reserves comes from the increase in larger, faster jet airtankers that operate out of the airport during fire suppression missions, stating:
“For many, many years the propeller aircraft we used for wildfires obviously did a great job, but they only use so much fuel in a day or a couple days. What we’ve got now is jets coming and they consume a lot more at a time and they also make quicker trips, hotter laps. There’s been a couple times in recent years where we’re getting dangerously close to running out.”
The nature of the Airport’s firefighting operations also means that predicting and pre-purchasing a precise amount of aviation fuel each season is impractical. By increasing on sight capacity, the county can maintain readiness and lessen the risk of running out during a major fire season. As Anders further noted:
“Depending on the fire season, we can use a lot of jet aviation fuel or sometimes we don’t use much at all. So, our buying power is different from an airline who within X number of gallons knows exactly what their needs are going to be.
The county is also looking to acquire an additional on-sight fuel truck to increase refueling capacity and provide a further five thousand gallons of fuel storage. The new truck will not be covered by the grant, instead purchased by the county directly. What the grant also covers, however, is the purchase of emergency generators, which will allow the airport to continue operations in the event of an outage, and safety improvements to local utility infrastructure to lessen the risk of local fires. The county is planning to move forward with the improvements this summer and hope to have all upgrades and purchases completed by the 2024 fire season.
