Garibay named Oregon emergency manager of year

Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Nathan Garibay has been awarded the Emergency Manager of the Year award from the Oregon Office of Emergency Management.

In 2014, Sgt. Garibay led Deschutes County’s efforts to evacuate hundreds of residents from the devastating Two Bulls Fire and coordinated emergency information and warning dissemination to further protect lives and property from the threat of wildfire., said sheriff’s Lt. Bryan Husband.

Sgt. Garibay’s efforts, however, did not stop once the fire was contained. Sgt. Garibay has taken advantage of several opportunities to share his experiences with evacuating communities and integrating emergency management with wildfire incident management, helping other emergency managers learn from his experiences.

His willingness to share his experiences with wildfires was also evident in the assistance he provided to Baker and Grant counties this past summer as they dealt with catastrophic fires in their communities.

Emergency management is predicated on building relationships and leveraging experience, skill, and knowledge to protect our citizens and communities from emergencies. Sgt. Garibay has taken these core emergency management principles to heart, and established himself as a partner who is willing, and in fact, passionate about sharing his experiences to help his colleagues throughout Oregon.

Sgt. Garibay has set a high standard for what an emergency manager can be, personified the partnership and collaboration that is so integral to emergency management, and will continue to elevate the profession in Oregon

An award ceremony is planned Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 11:30 a.m. at the sheriff’s office.