Fire season in Klamath and Lake counties is expected to go into effect on Monday…and there’s a big change this year in the way fire crews will be dispatched.
When a wildfire breaks out on Klamath or Lake county this year, dispatch operations will be handled out of one office instead of two.
Dispatch operations from Klamath Falls have moved to Lakeview.
The decision to consolidate dispatch operations to Lakeview hasn’t been without controversy…one of the main concerns has been the potential loss of jobs in Klamath Falls.
“We lost a few.” Notes Erica Hupp of the Fremont-Winema National Forest. “But the economic impact study that we did showed that it would have been more of an effect on Lake county if they lost the jobs over there.”
Hupp says combining dispatch operations will allow for faster response times…
“It just helps with efficiency.”
Nine people will work at the Lakeview Interagency Fire Center, dispatching crews and resources over South Central Oregon.
An open house will be held on Monday the 2nd at the Lakeview Interagency Fire Center at 1000 South 9th St. from 3 to 5.
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