Wildfire Warriors: Oregon’s $6 Million Strategy to Combat Fire Threats

The Oregon State Fire Marshal (OSFM) has made the announcement that it has distributed grants totaling $6 million to local fire agencies located throughout the state in order to increase the number of firefighters in preparation for the wildfire season.

There are local organizations that can receive up to $35,000 through the Wildfire Season Staffing Grant program, which is currently in its third year. Because of the financing, agencies are able to hire additional firefighters or expand the number of hours they are on duty throughout the wildfire season.

Over one thousand five hundred professional firefighters were added to the Oregon fire service as a result of the Wildfire Season Staffing Grant program in 2023. As a result of the additional resources, authorities were able to combat flames and keep them away from populations, which eventually resulted in the saving of lives.

According to Chief Alan Hume of the Sublimity Fire District, “The staffing grant program has been a huge success for both the Oregon fire service and our district.” It made it possible for us to staff our station during the busiest time of the year, which was something that we were unable to accomplish in the past.

Not only did this result in quicker answers, but it also resulted in appropriate staffing for our district as well as the organizations that are located nearby. The previous year, our region was plagued by a number of fires that had the potential to escalate into larger fires that lasted for a longer period of time. As a region, we were successful in containing the flames to a reduced size.

It is part of the OSFM’s Response Ready Oregon initiative that this grant is being awarded. For this program, the OSFM is looking for long-term funding, and they are investigating all of the possibilities that could allow them to maintain this extremely successful award beyond the year 2025.