Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal launches grant opportunity to bolster wildfire response staffing
By Shannon Weidemann (McKone) on Tuesday, June 7th, 2022 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
EASTERN OREGON – As the heat of summer nears, and the threat of wildfire increases, the Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal (OSFM) is announcing a grant to help bolster capacity at local fire departments across the state.
As part of the OSFM’s Response Ready Oregon Initiative, roughly $4 million is available to local fire districts and departments to bring on additional staff during the 2022 wildfire season. When applying for this grant, local fire agencies can request up to $35,000 to support upstaffing.
This additional funding will increase on-duty capacity throughout the fire season at the local level and allow agencies to mobilize quickly to fires at the local, regional, and state (conflagration) level. Having more on-duty firefighters will help keep fires small before they can impact communities.
“The Office of State Fire Marshal is taking a multipronged approach to combating wildfire in Oregon,” Oregon State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple said, “We’re investing in communities through risk reduction programs and firefighting equipment and people to keep Oregonians protected from wildfire. This grant opportunity will give the Oregon fire service much needed capacity during a critical time of year.”
All 306 of Oregon’s local fire service agencies are eligible for this grant opportunity. For additional information or the grant application please visit https://www.oregon.gov/osp/programs/sfm/Pages/OSFM-Grants.aspx.
Current staff and volunteers would be eligible for additional hours under the grant using the current agency staffing model and pay scale. The application review will begin June 6, 2022. Applications may be considered through August 12, 2022, subject to the availability of funds. Applications will be periodically reviewed during the application window. Funding awards will be distributed on a rolling basis as applications are reviewed and approved.
Funding for this upstaffing grant opportunity was made possible through the Oregon Legislature and Senate Bill 762.
ABOUT RESPONSE READY OREGON
The OSFM’s Response Ready Oregon initiative was created to help bolster capacity and modernize wildfire response within the Oregon Fire Mutual Aid System (OFMAS). The goal of Response Ready Oregon is to attack fires while they are small and keep them out of communities.
