BEND, OR -- Central Oregon fire agencies are getting a portion of $6 million in grants from the Office of the State Fire Marshal. John Hendricks, with the OSFM, says the goal is to increase capacity because structural units are usually the first on-scene of a brush or wildfire, and their swift response can keep fires small. He says 56% of the structural firefighters in Oregon are volunteers and this funding is a big help especially for rural agencies with few - or sometimes no - paid staff. "We’ve heard from quite a few districts who were pretty thrilled to be able to offer and have paid staff on," Hendricks tells KBND News, "A few of these districts are able to bring on two people, and to have two paid staff members on between 8 and 5 is big for them."

He says the office started with $4 million, but the response was so great, they increased it to $6 million to meet more needs. "Some agencies brought on student firefighters for the summer. We’ve seen some agencies who’ve brought on volunteers - existing volunteers. We’ve seen some that have brought on interns. You get some fire agencies who bring on a mix of those."

According to Hendricks, 180 agencies received between $6,000 - $35,000 each, to be used through September. Bend, Redmond, La Pine, Crook County, Jefferson County, Sisters-Camp Sherman, Cloverdale, Lake Chinook and Warm Springs Fire each received $35,000. Sunriver Fire gets $18,000. Bend Fire officials say the money will help pay for overtime on high fiire-risk days.

The one-time funding comes from SB 762, to improve wildfire preparedness.

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