MADRAS, OR -- Jefferson County Fire & EMS received a new Type 3 fire engine Wednesday, thanks to a grant from the Oregon State Fire Marshal. Fire Chief Jeff Blake told OSFM, "This apparatus will be primarily, its function will be for the wildland season and supporting conflagrations around the state. But also for local response, mutual aid response, task force responses around the Central Oregon area." Chief Blake says it’ll also help crews respond to structure fires in and around Madras during the winter, when road conditions can be challenging. 

"This is such a huge thing for our organization, Central Oregon and the state of Oregon," says Blake, "This is actually the first Type-3 apparatus that our organization has ever had. And actually, quite honestly, the first new apparatus that we’ve had in our organization in 23 years." 

It’s the second delivery from a $25 million state program. The first was to Central Cascades Fire and EMS in Crescent Lake. Throughout this year, OSFM will provide 26 Type 3 engines, 20 Type 6 engines and 30 water tenders to agencies around the state. 

Chief Blake says it’s a huge benefit for rural agencies with small budgets, "These types of programs and things help us stay up with technology, stays up with the time and gives us the capacity to actually deal with this new or ever-evolving threat of wildfire that we have."

Photo and audio courtesy of OSFM.