The Hoskins-Kings Valley Rural Fire Protection District has placed new vehicle rescue and safety equipment into service after receiving a grant from the Siletz Tribal Charitable Contribution Fund, Deputy Chief Brady Walters announced.
The grant funded rescue struts, used to stabilize crashed vehicles during extrication, along with warning signs that can be configured to read either “Emergency Scene Ahead” or “Emergency Training Ahead.”
The district’s response area includes Kings Valley Highway and a number of county roads, where crews respond to several injury crashes each year.
“This equipment fills a critical need for the safety of our volunteer responders when working to rescue victims from a vehicle that may be in a precarious position, such as down an embankment or on its side,” Walters said.
The warning signs are intended to address the numerous blind curves on roads in the district’s coverage area, giving approaching motorists time to slow down when they encounter a crash scene or training operation.
Crews have already put the equipment to work during training exercises, Walters said. Using two vehicles donated to the district by a local resident, responders deployed the struts to stabilize the vehicles before practicing extrications with the “Jaws of Life” tool to simulate rescuing an entrapped victim.
Walters noted that the grant is particularly significant because of the district’s funding structure. As a special service district, Hoskins-Kings Valley Rural Fire Protection District operates independently of any county or municipal government.
“We have a limited income base, so grants for expensive equipment like this is essential to our ability to provide crucial services to our community,” he said.
The Siletz Tribal Charitable Contribution Fund, administered by the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, distributes grants quarterly to charitable organizations and local governments within the Tribe’s 11-county service area in Oregon — which includes Benton County — as well as to Native American organizations throughout the United States.
