Volunteers
with the Elsie-Vinemaple Rural Fire Protection District celebrated the
acquisition of a donated generator with the help of Sen. Betsy
Johnson in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday at the district’s station
on U.S. Highway 26 at the Highway 103 intersection.
The
40-kilowatt diesel generator was acquired last year by Clatsop County’s
Emergency Management Division from the Oregon Military Department. The
county in turn delivered the piece of equipment to Elsie-Vinemaple.
The
generator will provide a critical source of back-up power to the
all-volunteer district, which covers approximately 300 square miles,
including
25 miles of Highway 26, in southeastern Clatsop County.
In the
aftermath of the December 2007 gale, the Jewell/Elsie area was without
electricity for almost two weeks, and continues to experience frequent
wintertime power outages.
The
generator was one of several pieces of equipment acquired by Clatsop
County from the Umatilla Chemical Depot in eastern Oregon. Following the
completion of a seven-year program to incinerate stockpiled chemical
agents, equipment used as part of the public warning system was made
available by the state military department to local jurisdictions free
of charge.
According
to Clatsop County Emergency Management Director Dean Perez, the
generator was originally earmarked for another jurisdiction, but the
support
of Sen. Johnson and Commissioner Debra Birkby, and the diligent work of
Elsie-Vinemaple Assistant Chief Hans Mulder and Emergency Services
Coordinator Tom Manning, secured it for the fire district.
No comments:
Post a Comment