Fire chiefs urge restoration of wildfire staffing funds as OSFM budget hearing opens

Fire chiefs, volunteer leaders and local fire marshals urged the Oregon Public Safety Subcommittee on Feb. 20 to restore the wildfire season staffing grant to $6 million per year in Senate Bill 5538, the budget for the Oregon State Fire Marshal's office.

The plea came during a public hearing in which multiple fire agency leaders described how the UP staffing grant and other OSFM programs have expanded local response capacity, provided technical assistance and supported statewide mobilizations. "I encourage the committee to support and endorse and pass the budget request, but to do so at the addition of $2,000,000 for the wildfire season staffing grant program," said Brian Stewart, representing the Oregon Fire Chiefs Association.

The nut of the testimony focused on a proposed reduction in the governor's recommended budget. Witnesses said the proposal would fund $10 million for the biennium for the UP staffing (wildfire season staffing) grant—equal to $5 million per year—down from $6 million per year in recent years. Brian Stewart said that drop would reduce the program's buying power and, based on last year's per-person costs, "would equate to 288 firefighters that would not be funded" if the program fell from $6 million to $5 million.

Local chiefs described concrete effects. Ben Stangi, identified as fire chief of Polk County Fire District 1 and speaking for the Special Districts Association's fire chapters, said the OSFM's hazmat data, regional hazmat teams and convening role are vital: "to have that resource for every agency across the state is incredibly vital." He and others said the UP staffing grant helped agencies hire seasonal employees and college students who bolster summer response and can later move into apprenticeships or full-time roles.

Division Chief John Jerome of the Cannon Beach Fire Department credited the UP staffing and wildfire grants with enabling his agency to expand from an almost entirely volunteer force to "12 full time employees, 20 part time employees," and to participate in deployments around the state and into California.

Several witnesses highlighted other OSFM programs funded or supported by the budget. Brandon Hamilton, who serves as fire chief for Dundee and in other local roles, cited the $35,000-per-agency UP staffing grant and described an apparatus program authorized by Senate Bill 762 that supplied a water tender his agency mobilized on a major fire. Multiple witnesses also praised OSFM's data intelligence unit and deputy state fire marshals for training, investigations and prevention work.

Not all testimony related only to fire grants. Cassie Wilson, a Portland resident, urged support for Policy Option Package 102 to fund staffing to enforce self-serve gas laws so that disabled motorists can obtain assistance at gas pumps. She said she must sometimes drive on near-empty tanks to find staffed pumps and asked the legislature to "provide the funding necessary to enforce this law and protect my rights guaranteed under the Americans with Disabilities Act." Genoa Ingram and representatives of volunteer firefighter organizations also voiced support for restoring UP staffing funding and for POP 102 and 103.

Speakers repeatedly urged the subcommittee to reconsider a cut in staffing grant funding, arguing the reduced amount would exclude agencies from the program and reduce the statewide mobilization capacity. Marion County and smaller districts were cited as examples where modest local tax bases make state grants the only viable way to maintain seasonally expanded staffing.

The subcommittee did not take a vote during the hearing; members closed the public testimony and asked Legislative Fiscal Office staff to review the agenda for the next meeting. The subcommittee's next scheduled meeting was announced for Feb. 24 on a separate budget item.

The record of this hearing consists of public testimony; no formal actions or votes on SB 5538 were recorded during the session.