Wallowa County Search and Rescue is getting a new Emergency Operations Center

ENTERPRISE – Following years of shared spaces and less than ideal management set ups, the Wallowa County Search and Rescue (WCSAR) team is getting quite the upgrade. Thanks to the support of volunteers, local businesses, and other county departments, the WCSAR team is preparing to move into their own dedicated Emergency Operations Center (EOC). 

According to Wallowa County Search and Rescue Captain Paige Sully, the need for a new EOC largely comes down to a shift in priorities, and a want by WCSAR to have a more comfortable space to manage incidents. For the past two years, Wallowa County SAR has been operating out of a shared office space with Winding Waters Clinic in the old County public health building. Though Winding Waters doesn’t charge the team rent, and even covered utilities, the clinic’s needs have changed, and WCSAR operations are no longer conducive to the space. 

Prior to the set up at the clinic, WCSAR managed incidents from a converted travel trailer in the Sheriff’s office parking lot for many years. This trailer eventually became too small and had temperatures and maintenance issues. As explained by Sully:

“Lack of an efficient and comfortable place to manage incidents has been an ongoing issue for a few years and it will be helpful to have it resolved in a manner that allows us to control our environment for managing searches as necessary. In addition, we can make modifications to the premises and there is no need to be concerned about our impacts on neighboring users.”

Ruling out renting a private lot due to cost and usage reasons, WCSAR instead recently purchased a construction trailer from Wellens Construction to act as a standalone EOC. Wellens agreed to make some repairs to the trailer, including a full roof replacement, while WCSAR will make additional repairs and modifications. 

Once refurbished, the trailer is bound for the county lot along Highway 3 where the County Kennel Facility and Wallowa County Search and Rescue’s own equipment compound are already located. This is adjacent to the Double Arrow Vet Clinic, which WCSAR are currently in talks to share well access. Once in place, the trailer will serve not only as an incident management and communication hub, but a training and meeting space, storage for temperature sensitive equipment like batteries, and an office for record keeping and clerical work. As commented by Sully:

“We will use the EOC as a site to manage incident responses – take phone calls, conduct radio communications, prepare mapping and incident plans, track responders in the field, arrange for other resources if necessary, and complete necessary paperwork. Responders will typically meet there with the incident managers to get their assignments prior to going into the field, along with any related instructions.”

In total, the entire budget for the project is $27,575.00, which includes the purchase of the trailer, all necessary repairs, transport, connection to utilities on site, and other refurbishments like skirting. The timing so close to the new budget helped the project remain feasible, as further explained by Sully:

“We were able to adjust our 2025 budget in a manner that allowed us to fund this project – primarily as a result of the various WCSAR teams making cuts to their requested team budgets and by deferring some purchases to next year.”

As of the time of writing, the EOC trailer is still undergoing refurbishment, while the Wallowa County Road Department is helping by preparing the lot for placement of the trailer. Wellens will handle utility hook ups once in place. 

Sully also noted that various local groups and individuals were crucial in making the project happen and supporting WCSAR throughout the process. As written by Sully:

• “Wellens Construction for making the trailer available for purchase, and replacement of the roof and doors and other needs as well as transportation and set up on the site, at a reasonable cost to us;
• Dr. Dave Schaefer and Kathy Schaefer, along with Double Arrow Vet Clinic for their willingness to enter into discussions with us for access to potable water for the EOC; 
• Wallowa County, and the Road Department in particular, for making the site available and preparing it for us; 
• Wallowa Valley Networks, who have agreed to provide internet service to the EOC at a discount for WCSAR;
• Enterprise Electric for installing access to electricity to the EOC; 
• Winding Waters Clinic for allowing our use of their office space, without cost to us, for the last two years; 
• And Wallowa County Sheriff Ryan Moody who approved the project and is very supportive of our efforts to improve our response capabilities for Wallowa County and surrounding communities.”

---

---

• 
• 
• 

---

• 
• 
• 
• 

---