Oregon Communities Receive Emergency Preparedness Equipment

..."the program makes sense for Oregon bringing practical equipment to communities that can save lives and property during emergencies" -Jim Jungling

City of Stayton Public Works team members, and State Preparedness and Incident Response Equipment (SPIRE) Grant Program Program Coordinator Jim Jungling, stand in front of a 56kW portable power generator, Dec. 11, at the Stayton Public Works facility. Photo by Cory Grogan/Oregon Office of Emergency Management

(SALEM, Ore.) - Just in time for winter weather, a second round of equipment being distributed to communities throughout Oregon has arrived, thanks to the State Preparedness and Incident Response Equipment (SPIRE) Grant Program.

The SPIRE grant is a result of HB 2867, which became effective in August 2017, establishing a grant program to distribute emergency preparedness equipment to local governments, and other recipients, to be used to decrease risk of life and property resulting from an emergency. This equipment may include vehicles or other property.

One of the awardees, the City of Stayton, Ore. received a 56kW mobile-power generator that can be used for emergency power at the Emergency Operations Center in Stayton. The generator may also be redistributed other locations during emergencies, said to Stayton Public Works Supervisor Thomas Etzel.

“This is an important piece of equipment for our community. Trying to purchase this out of our own funds would take away from something else, so it was beneficial to get this with the grant,” Etzel said.

Awardees for this round include:

• City of McMinnville, Portable Power Generator 30kW
• Dora-Sitkum Rural Fire Protection District, Portable Power Generator 30kW
• City of Reedsport, Portable Power Generator 56kW
• City of Stayton/Stayton Police, Portable Power Generator 56kW
• City of Gaston, Portable Power Generator 56kW
• City of Winston Public Works, Portable Power Generator 56kW
• Rainbow Water District, Portable Power Generator 108kW
• Eddyville Charter School, Portable Power Generator 108kW
• City of Clatskanie, Portable Power Generator, 108kW
• Yachats Rural Fire Protection District, Power Generator, 108kW

In all, 80 grant jurisdictions around the state will receive SPIRE-funded equipment. Eligible equipment covers the four priorities of saving/sustaining lives, obtaining/maintaining situational awareness, incident stabilization, and initiating recovery.

SPIRE Grant Coordinator Jim Jungling said he believes the program makes sense for Oregon bringing practical equipment to communities that can save lives and property during emergencies. A total of $5 million has been allotted to procure emergency preparedness equipment to help Oregon communities prepare, respond and recover from emergencies.

Source: Oregon Office of Emergency Management