VIDEO: The Lebanon Fire Department may shut down their life jacket loaner station program as the borrow-and-return life jackets continue to be stolen or unreturned. Lebanon opens these life jack kiosks at the beginning of summer, having them available at Waterloo County Park and Gill’s Landing RV Park. โThe reason weโre doing it is because we have a lot of open waterways, with the Santiam River and we have lakes around too,โ Lebanon Fire District Battalion Chief Brett Kibble said.
โWe wanted to make it accessible for people to get life jackets when they didnโt have any. cause you know weโre here we want people to be safe.โ But every year the kiosks never end up with the same number of life jackets as they started with. โWe put these life jackets out, knowing that some are going to go missing, but hoping they come back to the kiosk,โ Kibble said. โSo other members of the community or members that arenโt a part of the community can use them, and theyโre there to keep them safe.โ Each location is supposed to have 14 life jackets ranging in sizes from infant to adult large.
According to the Lebanon Fire Department, as of July 24, 33 of the 42 life jackets stocked have gone missing. If the missing life jackets arenโt returned, the program may shut down before the end of summer or may not reopen next year. Parents like Cody Norman who have their kids use the life jackets from the kiosks donโt want to see this program come to an end. โTaking them away completely would stop a lot of people from swimming here,โ Norman said. โWithout a life jacket here it is kind of dangerous here for kids, the water can get super fast.โ
