Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District firefighters responded to a call for assistance near La Pine after Linn County Task Force 3 was activated by the Office of the Oregon State Fire Marshal (OSFM) on Tuesday, June 25.
SHFAD joined Brownsville Rural Fire District, Halsey Fire, Lebanon Fire District, Scio Fire District and Tangent Fire District as part of the Immediate Response Task Force to what is being called the Darlene 3 Fire.
Sweet Home’s crew returned home on Saturday, June 29, after they were able to help achieve 50% containment of 3,889 acres.
“Any time that we can send our crews to go help other Oregonians, we support that a hundred percent. It’s a privilege to be able to go do that; it’s something that we don’t take lightly,” Fire Chief Nick Tyler said. “And we had that help last year on the Wiley Fire. We had two different task forces from outside the area come help us in a time of need, and so it’s always special that we can go help other people in their time of need.”
Governor Tina Kotek invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act just hours after the Darlene 3 Fire began burning near La Pine in Deschutes County.
The fire sparked around 2 p.m. about one mile south of La Pine on the east side of Darlene Way. The fire that day was estimated to be 250 acres in size. The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office placed levels 3 and 2 evacuations near the fire, and the OSFM Red Incident Management Team was activated along with two structural task forces from Linn and Marion counties. The OSFM mobilized four additional task forces to arrive Wednesday morning.
Oregon State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple said the fire quickly grew within just a couple of hours, pushed by gusty winds and high fire conditions.
“The Emergency Conflagration Act allows us to send the full power of the Oregon fire service to protect life and property,” she said. “As we enter the hot and dry summer months, I am asking Oregonians to do everything they can to prevent wildfires.”
Following ORS 476.510-476.610, Gov. Kotek determined that threats to life, safety and property existed because of the fire, and the threat exceeded the firefighting capabilities of local firefighting personnel and equipment. The governor’s declaration allowed the state fire marshal to mobilize firefighters and equipment to assist local resources battling the fire.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs for Darlene 3. The state of Oregon’s request for a federal Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) was approved by FEMA Region 10 Administrator Willie G. Nunn on Tuesday night after he determined that Darlene 3 threatened to cause such destruction as would constitute a major disaster. This is the first FMAG declared in 2024 to help fight Oregon wildfires.
At the time of the state’s request, the wildfire threatened homes in and around the communities of La Pine and Newberry Estates. The fire was also threatening Oregon Department of Forestry and U.S. Forest Service communications towers, the La Pine drinking water well site, privately owned communications and electric lines, campgrounds and recreational trails.
FMAGs are provided through the President’s Disaster Relief Fund and are made available by FEMA to assist in fighting fires that threaten to cause a major disaster. Eligible items can include expenses for field camps; equipment use, repair, and replacement; mobilization and demobilization activities; and tools, materials and supplies. This authorization makes FEMA funding available to pay 75% of the state’s eligible firefighting costs under an approved grant for managing, mitigating and controlling designated fires.
By Saturday, fire crews were able to secure 50% containment on the 3,889-acre Darlene 3 Fire, and Linn County Task Force 3 was sent home.