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New Fire Station Underway For Blue River Community

Brian Bull
/
KLCC

Oregon lawmakers have allocated funds towards a new fire station in Blue River, nearly a year after the original burned down.  

The Holiday Farm Fire tore through the McKenzie River Corridor last September, destroying many buildings, including Blue River’s fire station.  Last week, Governor Kate Brown visited the area and shared an update:

“(Upper McKenzie Fire & Rescue) Chief Rainbow, a little $2.1 million to rebuild the fire station…” 

Credit Brian Bull / KLCC
/
KLCC
Upper McKenzie Fire & Rescue Chief Christiana Rainbow Plews (right), with Blue River resident and store owner, Melanie Stanley (left).

Chief Christiana Rainbow Plews had an update, too.  She said a deal was closing on a new site in Blue River, on land from a former assistant fire chief.

“It’ll give us really good access to the highway was well as town of Blue River.  It’ll give us nice visibility, having a fire station centrally located in the Blue River area will promote and encourage folks to volunteer.” 

Chief Rainbow expects to have full crews and a new engine too, soon.  And while the region’s seeing prime wildfire conditions, she doesn’t expect a repeat of last fall.

Copyright 2021, KLCC. 

Brian Bull is a part-time reporter for the KLCC News department, and first began working with the station in 2016. He's been a senior reporter with the Native American media organization Buffalo's Fire, and a journalism professor at the University of Oregon.

In his 30 years working as a public media journalist, Bull has worked at NPR, Twin Cities Public Television, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Wisconsin Public Radio, and ideastream in Cleveland. His reporting has netted dozens of accolades, including four national Edward R. Murrow Awards (25 regional), the Ohio Associated Press' Best Reporter Award, Best Radio Reporter from the Indigenous Journalists Association, and the PRNDI/NEFE Award for Excellence in Consumer Finance Reporting.
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