PHOTOS: The Sweet Home Fire District sent a type 6 brush truck with a crew of two to the Highland Fire with a Benton County taskforce. A twist of fate had that crew re-assigned to the Cram Fire just days later, as a donation of radios from Sweet Home Fire were being delivered to the local Rangeland Fire Protection Agency (RFPA). “The radio donation was made possible when Sweet Home received a FEMA grant to upgrade our portable radios,” the district said. The district was then able to donate around 100 portable radios to the director of the lower bridge RFPA, to aid the whole group of Oregon RFPAs with communications.
“These radios will allow the RFPA members to communicate amongst themselves as well as communicating with mutual aid partners in their respected areas,” the district said. Rangeland Fire Protection Agencies generally consist of local landowners, with property in unprotected or under-protected areas of the State, the district explained. “They have very limited resources and generally do not have means of communicating with outside resources when agencies come into the area to assist with large fires.”
