“The fires are fresh and the equipment is stale.” – Sen. Wyden Tours Central Oregon Fires

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden traveled across Central Oregon to assess ongoing wildfire response efforts and meet directly with emergency crews.

During his tour of the region, Wyden attended a fire briefing in Warm Springs before traveling to Prineville and the Rowe Creek Complex West Zone. He also visited the air base in Redmond, where crews refuel tankers that drop fire retardant over active fires.

Throughout his visits to the fire sites and facilities, Wyden made a point to ask firefighters directly what support and supplies they required to carry out their work.

“They said that in particular they had about half of what they really needed." Sen. Wyden, U.S. senator for Oregon, said in a news conference today, " And that's now given the fact that we got a couple of months, you know, coming up and I think mentioned with made about the kind of people we really need to respond to, the people they're talking about, which are managers."

Wyden punctuated his message by adding: "They said that the fires are fresh and the equipment is stale.”

Wyden was joined at the news conference by local and state leaders, including Mayors Kebler and Letz, State Rep. Emerson Levy and Deschutes County Commissioner Phil Chang.

The participating officials expressed their gratitude to the firefighters battling blazes across the region and emphasized the ongoing need for federal and state funding.