Carlton Fire District selected as OSFM Engine Host site
PRESS RELEASE
March 31, 2023 – Year after year New Carlton Fire District (NCFD) has seen an increase in incidents surrounding the Wildland Urban Interface. In an effort to continue to bolster our ability to quickly and efficiently respond to these types of incidents, NCFD has actively been seeking additional grant funding and State of Oregon resources. The New Carlton Fire District is happy to announce that they have been selected as a host site for a brand new OSFM Type III Fire Engine after applying for the Oregon State Fire Marshal (OSFM) Engine Program in October of 2022. The OSFM created the Engine Program Advisory Group, which received 192 applications from departments across the state of Oregon. Through the review process and based on funding available, 76 fire apparatus awards were granted. NCFD is honored to have been selected as an initial host site for this new program.
The NCFD will host the OSFM Engine for three years through an Intra-Governmental Agreement (IGA) with OSFM. Throughout the three-year agreement, NCFD will have full access to use the Type-III Engine for all local emergency incidents with the goal of keeping fires small and away from our community and vital infrastructure supporting Carlton. As a host agency, NCFD is not required to respond to statewide mobilization orders. However, as in years past, when called upon NCFD plans to continue to play an active role in any mobilization orders including immediate response, pre-positioning assignments, State of Oregon Conflagrations, and Emergency Mutual Assistance Compact (EMAC). It is our goal to fully staff this engine throughout the summer months with a minimum of two Firefighters made up of one career position and one seasonal position pending funding.
The Oregon State Fire Marshal developed an Engine Program to purchase and strategically place new firefighting equipment across the state. All OSFM apparatus will be equipped per the 2022 Oregon Fire Service Mobilization Plan for response in the wildland-urban interface. The OSFM Engine Program is part of the state agency's Response Ready Oregon initiative. The initiative was created to help bolster capacity and modernize wildfire response within the Oregon Fire Mutual Aid System (OFMAS). The goal of Response Ready Oregon is to increase response capacity at the local, regional, and statewide levels by supplementing available apparatus.
NCFD will not have the engine for the 2023 Fire Season as the timeline for delivery has not yet been established because the chassis is on backorder. The OSFM anticipates deliveries of the new apparatuses to begin in late 2023 and run throughout the first two quarters of 2024.
Fire Chief Tim Jech
503-852-6233