The Colton Fire District has been upgrading its wildland firefighting equipment quite successfully.

Colton Fire District has upgraded its wildfire fighting equipment substantially

Colton Rural Fire Protection District #53 has dedicated significant time and effort to enhancing training and upgrading equipment to respond effectively to future wildland fires and other emergencies.

“Since the wildland fires in 2020, the district has increased its defensive efforts,” Colton Fire Chief Todd Gary said. “When I was hired in 2021, the volunteer firefighters and I discussed the district’s shortcomings. We wanted to be more prepared and better equipped for disasters. A lot of research and ideas were brought to our meetings.”

Gary said that significant efforts were made to secure grants for improved equipment, including personal protective gear, and to add three brush rigs to the Colton Fire District’s firefighting fleet.
They also upgraded their existing brush rig thanks to a donation from local contractor Matton Utility Inc. The refurbished brush rig is now stationed at the Elwood Fire Station for quicker response times in the outlying areas.

“During the September 2020 wildland fires, a GoFundMe (GFM) account was established for our district to help purchase equipment for wildland firefighting,” Gary said. “Due to our generous community, we raised about $20,000.”

The district already had a Ford 4×4 squad vehicle used for transporting firefighters and extra equipment to incident sites, but the rig could not carry water to fight fires and had outlived its usefulness for response.

In 2022, volunteer firefighters began planning to retire that vehicle and repurpose its chassis to build their own brush rig.

Funds from the GFM fundraising account were used to buy materials for constructing the utility body, including all necessary metals, grinding wheels, welding supplies, and paint. They also used the raised money to purchase two new hose reels, air packs, all-new LED lighting, emergency LED lights, and front and rear winches.

Donated funds helped purchase tools and hardware for outfitting the rig. The suspension was upgraded to provide improved ground clearance. The volunteer-built rig is described as a Type 6 with a 300-gallon water tank and is designed for firefighting in rough terrain.

In 2023, the district purchased a new-to-them heavy brush rig, HB 336, using funds from a Federal Excess Property Procurement Grant (FEPP).

The Forest Service green rig is larger than the other brush rigs. It is equipped with four-wheel drive, allowing it to climb hills and perform well in wooded areas. It can also pump water while moving and is ideal for vegetation fires, providing a continuous attack on brush fires to minimize the spread of the fire.

Since then, the department has purchased an additional Type 3 Heavy Brush Rig using the FEPP grant, bringing the total to four brush rigs for fighting and controlling wildland fires. Colton Fire now has access to a Pano AI camera system provided by PGE that detects smoke from fires within the district.

“The cameras do a 360-degree scan and are mounted on the cell towers in our area, and we have quite a few around here,” Gary said. “We can see and be notified at the first sign of smoke, and because of the multiple cell towers, the source of the smoke is often triangulated, so we can go directly to the fire without searching for it – the PGE cameras have located it.”

Additionally, Gary mentioned that the district has a memorandum of understanding with the Oregon Department of Forestry, which he said benefits the Colton community.

“When ODF is busy fighting fires and is running low on manpower and equipment, Colton Fire Department provides firefighting support within our district, and the district gets paid,” Gary explained. “Our firefighters are prepared to respond to any local calls. In return, ODF provides Colton with any needed assistance, including a helicopter stationed at Mulino Airport available to us.”

The 18 volunteer firefighters of Colton Fire are trained to fight both structure and wildland fires and to provide emergency medical services. During fire season, Colton Fire District employs two full-time EMT/firefighters, Taylor Baurer and Nole Lawson.

These positions are funded through the Wildland Personnel Grant.