Jacksonville fire Chief Wayne Painter moves a fire truck on Friday. Jacksonville Fire Department will receive a larger Type 3 off-road unit from the state Fire Marshal's Office.

Oregon’s state Fire Marshal is placing five four-wheel-drive firefighting rigs with Jackson County fire agencies to help boost the capacity to attack wildfires throughout the county.

“We can call out all this equipment for a task force. That will be a great combination with different types of equipment,” said Devon Brown, Medford’s deputy fire chief for operations. Medford will receive one of the units.

Medford Fire Department and the Rogue River Rural Fire District will receive smaller Type 6 units. Ashland Fire & Rescue, Jacksonville Fire Department and Jackson County Fire District 3 will receive larger Type 3 units.

Across the state, the fire marshal is providing 76 new engines, both brush rigs and tenders, to agencies which can be called on to provide support when conflagrations strike in other areas. The $25 million Engine Program is part of the agency’s Response Ready Oregon initiative, launched in 2021.

Award recipients will enter into a contract with the OSFM to support Oregon Fire Mutual Aid System mobilizations, boosting local, regional and state response.

One desirable feature of both types of rigs is their ability to roll and pump simultaneously, according to Brown and Jacksonville fire Chief Wayne Painter.

A conventional engine has to be put into a pump gear to pump water and cannot move. The Type 6 has a separate pump motor that allows it to continue to be driven while delivering water, said Brown.

“If you imagine a long, single line of fire, like a grass fire, we can have a guy out in front of the rig with a hose as we drive down the fire line,” said Painter. The driver always keeps the hose operator in sight. Jacksonville’s current brush rig doesn’t have pump and roll, so hoses must be laid to fires.

“Most of our fire stations have a brush unit like this. Some of our fleet is aging, so this will be a welcome addition,” said Brown. He anticipates the department will send an older unit to a smaller, nearby department.

“It has the ability to traverse adverse terrain. It will have nozzles so you squirt as you drive if it’s a brush fire,” said Medford Emergency Manager Aaron Ott. Some of the current rigs can carry only two or three people, while the new Type 6 can hold up to four firefighters.

Delivery is anticipated in late 2023 or next year, Brown and Painter said. In January 2023, contracts were awarded to Rosenbauer to build the water tenders and Type 3 engines. Skeeter Brush Trucks was awarded the contract to build the Type 6 engines. The fire marshal anticipates deliveries to begin in 2023 through the first two quarters of 2024.

Type 6 engines will have a minimum of 120 gallons per minute-capability with a 400-gallon tank. Type 3 engines will be a minimum of 500 gpm with a 500-gallon tank. The vehicles will come with ladders, hard suctions and other equipment, including hose and appliances, that meet the mobilization plan for the specific type.

The Type 6 units will likely be built on a Ford F-550 chassis, said Brown. Rosenbauer’s Timberwolf unit is designed to meet requirements for both a Type 1 structural fire engine and a Type 3 off-road vehicle. Both types will be rescue fire trucks, specialized vehicles designed to provide support in rescue operations. They have compartments for carrying extra equipment.

“This investment in the Oregon fire service is critical as the state modernizes equipment and increases firefighting capacity to respond to incidents in our communities,” Oregon State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple said. “Over the last three decades, more communities have been impacted by wildfire.”

Under terms of the program, local agencies won’t own the rigs, which remain property of state. Agencies will sign three-year agreements that can be renewed, Painter said. The agreements call for maintenance and housing of the engines.

Agencies were selected through an application process. Evaluation criteria included ensuring statewide distribution and allocation based on local initial attack, regional mutual aid, and conflagration needs; recent apparatus awards both from the Legislature and other legislative funding sources; and the ability to staff newly awarded engines.

Once they are received, the new units will be used to respond to calls for assistance elsewhere in the state, Brown and Painter said.

Other Southern Oregon agencies receiving engines include Williams Rural Fire Protection District, which will receive a tender; and Grants Pass Fire & Rescue, Keno Rural Fire Protection District and Klamath County Fire District 1, all of which will get Type 3 units.

The OSFM Engine Program funding was made possible through Senate Bill 762, Oregon’s $220 million wildfire omnibus bill passed in 2021.