May 2, 2026 10:20 a.m.
On Friday, a group of Oregon lawmakers announced that over $7.5 million is coming to four projects in Oregon, including two in Douglas County, to help make communities more resilient to severe wildfires. A joint release from Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, and Representatives Val Hoyle, Janelle Bynum and Andrea Salinas said these investments from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will support disaster relief efforts and mitigate wildfire risk, protecting homes, businesses and infrastructure in Oregon.
The release said for years, the Oregon congressional delegation has worked to secure federal resources for Oregonians affected by wildfires.
Funding for the grants announced comes from FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which supports state, local, Tribal, and territorial governments developing hazard mitigation plans and rebuilding in ways that reduce or mitigate future disaster losses in their communities following a Presidentially declared disaster. The Douglas County projects funded are:
*$3,186,000 for Douglas County Public Works’ Hazardous Fuels Reduction. This project will fund the upgrade of the existing emergency radio system infrastructure supporting the Sheriff’s Office and 911 communications for public safety, law, fire, and emergency medical services.
*$177,000 for Douglas County radio infrastructure and improvement. The project will fund the county’s management costs to upgrade the existing emergency radio system infrastructure supporting the Sheriff’s Office and 911 communications.
Douglas County Commissioner Tom Kress thanked the senators and Representative Hoyle for their support in securing the final portion of their approved FEMA funding for the project. Kress said, “Their partnership has been instrumental in helping us strengthen critical communication systems that support public safety across our region”.
The other two projects provide just over $3.955 million and nearly $220,000 for Consumer Powers, Inc for connected system protection for wildfire mitigation in six counties in western Oregon. This will provide equipment to reduce the time and extent of power outages and ensure that access to power will be restored faster during a wildfire event.