Madras one of 10 communities to get generators

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Ten Oregon communities, including Madras, received an early holiday gift recently when 30kW and 56kW generators were delivered to their county or municipal office, thanks to the disbursement of money from the state's Resiliency Grant Fund.

The fund’s purpose is the procurement of emergency preparedness equipment to help Oregon communities prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies. The program is known as the State Preparedness and Incident Response Equipment (SPIRE) Grant program. 

One of the awardees, Lane County, received a 56kW power generator, which will be used to power a pump for an emergency water supply system at Lane County Fairgrounds, and be an available asset in times of emergencies, according to Lane County Emergency Manager Patence Winningham.

“It’s a deployable asset we can move around to our area of greatest need,” said Winningham.  “The ability to supply power, especially to our rural communities, during emergencies is a huge benefit,” she said.

Other awardees include:

• Lookingglass Rural Fire District, Douglas Co. (30kW generator)
• City of Madras, Jefferson Co. (30kW generator)
• City of Estacada, Clackamas Co. (30kW generator)
• Lower Umpqua Hospital District, Douglas Co. (30kW generator)
• Wallowa County Emergency Management (56kW generator)
• City of Hubbard, Marion Co. (56kW generator)
• City of Sublimity, Marion Co. (56kW generator)
• City of Butte Falls, Jackson Co. (56kW generator)
• City of St. Paul, Marion Co. (56kW generator)

In all, 80 grant jurisdictions around the state will receive SPIRE-funded equipment. While the recent awardees requested generators, eligible equipment covers four priorities: saving/sustaining lives, obtaining/maintaining situational awareness, incident stabilization and initiate recovery. 

SPIRE Grant Coordinator Jim Jungling said he believes the program makes sense for Oregon.

“This money is bringing practical equipment to communities that can save lives and property during emergencies,” Jungling said.  “It’s a project I’m proud to be working on because it’s a smart investment for Oregon that is getting communities better prepared.”

A total of $5 million has been allotted to procure emergency preparedness equipment to help Oregon communities prepare, respond and recover from emergencies.

The SPIRE grant is a result of HB 2867, which became effective in August 2017, established a grant program to distribute emergency preparedness equipment, which may include vehicles or other property, to local governments and other recipients to be used to decrease risk of life and property resulting from an emergency.