Merkley secures funds to train more National Guard to fight Oregon wildfires

Also launches wildfire resource web page

WASHINGTON (KTVZ) -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., announced Friday that Oregon has received the federal funding it needs to train two additional National Guard teams to help fight wildfires in the state.

On Wednesday, Gov. Kate Brown announced her intention to train the additional teams. However, the National Guard Bureau initially indicated that it could not provide the financial resources necessary for the additional training.

Merkley intervened, and prompted the National Guard Bureau to find additional resources within the training program to allow two firefighting teams to be trained and deployed, his office said in a news release.

The training will begin as soon as an instructor can reach Oregon, and will take four to five days to complete.

“This unprecedented wildfire season is an all-hands-on-deck situation, and I’ve been doing everything I can to secure the federal resources we need to respond as aggressively and quickly as possible,” said Merkley. “After our devastating 2017 wildfire season, I worked to create this program, and last year I was able to grow it, and now we have resources available when we need them most. I thank National Guard Bureau Chief General Hokanson and all of the brave and dedicated National Guard service members for their invaluable help during this time of immeasurable crisis.”

Merkley, a member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, created the National Guard wildfire fighting training program in 2017, with $7 million. This fiscal year, Merkley successfully grew the program to $8.5 million to train National Guard teams to assist with wildfire fighting efforts across the West. Oregon initially received appoximately $900,000 to train three teams of 125 National Guard service members; those 375 members are being deployed across the state. By bringing additional funding to Oregon, there will soon be a total of five National Guard teams fighting fires in Oregon.

As unprecedented wildfires continue to displace thousands of Oregonians and cause extreme destruction, Sen. Jeff Merkley on Friday launched a new resource for Oregonians seeking critical safety information and resources.

“The number and scale of wildfires burning in Oregon right now is catastrophically dangerous, and I am deeply grateful to our firefighters, first responders, administrators, and volunteers who are working around the clock to protect Oregonians,” said Merkley. “I’m launching this webpage, which I will continue to update with new developments, to give Oregonians recommendations that can help them stay safe as well as resources to navigate assistance as it becomes available. In addition, I’m going to keep calling for immediate action in Congress and from the White House to not only respond to these fires, but also to tackle the root issues that are causing these increasingly terrifying wildfire seasons in the first place.”

The webpage, https://www.merkley.senate.gov/wildfires, compiles information from a variety of local, state, and federal public health and safety sources. It includes the latest on the status of an emergency declaration request that would help provide Oregon communities with emergency protective measures such as search and rescue, evacuation transportation, and food distribution. The webpage also includes evacuation guidance for individuals who are isolating or quarantining due to coronavirus infection and tips for maintaining clean indoor air.  The page will be updated with resources for navigating federal assistance if and when further assistance becomes available.

The webpage launch follows a push by Senators Merkley and Ron Wyden, as well as Representatives Peter DeFazio, Earl Blumenauer, Greg Walden, Kurt Schrader, and Suzanne Bonamici, for rapid approval of Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s request for federal disaster relief. The delegation announced Friday that the initial emergency declaration request had been granted.

Merkley has long been at the forefront of protecting communities from wildfires, using his Senate Appropriations Committee position to fight for critical firefighting resources and recovery funding for affected communities. Merkley has also introduced legislation to help communities harmed by wildfire smoke, as well as legislation that would create economic opportunities in forest-dependent communities while reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires. Last year, Merkley convinced Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to reverse course on a disastrous plan to shut down Civilian Conservation Centers, which are Job Corps sites operated by the U.S. Forest Service that help fight fires.

Additionally, Merkley is helping to lead the charge in the Senate for the bold, decisive action needed to address climate chaos, which is causing hotter and drier summers and fueling catastrophic wildfire seasons.