English: In December 2022, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) transferred a water tender to the Wheeler County Rangeland Fire Protection Association (RFPA) and a wildland fire engine to the Alfalfa Fire District to enhance their wildland firefighting capabilities.

The equipment was transferred under BLM’s Rural Fire Readiness (RFR) program, which is designed to provide equipment to local wildland firefighting partners at no cost.

The water tender will be stationed in Wheeler County and rotated seasonally between Fossil and Spray, Oregon. It will be available for 14 trained firefighters in the RFPA to use for wildland fire response across their 500,000-acre district. The engine will be stationed in Alfalfa, Oregon, and available for 18 trained firefighters to serve their district which spans 68 square miles.

RFPAs are private, non-profit organizations established to help prevent and suppress fires on unprotected lands – those without federal or state jurisdiction. They represent a collaborative effort among local private landowners, the BLM, and the Oregon Department of Forestry and are essentially “neighbors helping neighbors.”

Cooperative partnerships between the BLM and local and rural fire departments, including RFPAs, are crucial to remote wildfire response on private, state, and federal lands affecting grazing, recreational, wildlife, and other values important to local economies. Through the RFR program, equipment is transferred in a fire-ready state with items like hoses, fittings, tools, and radios.

The BLM will accept requests from local fire departments and RFPAs for available vehicles, equipment, and supplies. As equipment is available, the BLM will transfer excess items to local fire departments and RFPAs during the fall and winter months, prior to the next fire season.

Additional information out the Rural Fire Readiness program is available at:

www.blm.gov/programs/public-safety-and-fire/rural-fire-re...

Photos: Kaitlyn Webb, BLM.