Last week local, state, and federal fire crews along with Baker County road department came together at Station 40 located in the Firewise Community of Taylor to watch a demonstration given by Assistant Fire Rescue Chief Donald Blanton on the operation of the newly installed fire pump.

A public-private partnership with Gateway Contracting led to the donation of two pumps valued at $8000 each to improve response to wildland fires.

The “Wildland Fire Pump Project” took about four months to complete at a total cost of $21,992.18 for both projects located at Station 40 and Station 60 in the Taylor and Baxter area adjacent to federal and state forest lands including the $16,000 for the fire pumps donated by Gateway Contracting. The remainder of the cost, which was a total of $5,992.18, came from Title III Funds that are set up to be utilized in nationally recognized Firewise communities like Taylor.

The tank capacities at the Taylor and Baxter fire stations that now have the 500 gallon-per-minute pumps to refill apparatus are 8000 gallons for Taylor and 5600 gallons for Baxter with a refill rate for the tanks with the float valve system at 1200 gallons per hour.

Baker County’s actions, to date, account for and give meaning to the proposition that adaptation is a process, a process which requires community involvement, civic leadership and the cooperation of dedicated partners.

Then on Tuesday during the county commission meeting, chairman Mark Hartley and other commissioners along with county fire-resue Chief Trevor Nelson and Mr. Blanton recognized Gateway and presented the company’s Jerry Harvin with a plaque of appreciation.

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