City of La Pine's Joint Efforts with the Darlene 3 Fire

City Resources contributed for Darlene 3 and aftermath.

Water

While we cannot calculate to a certainty, the number of gallons contributing to the fire suppression efforts, we can say that the majority of the water used by ground units came from the City of La Pine. In conjunction with our PW Department, the USFS coordinated water access from La Pine reservoirs via hydrants for the following:

1. 640 gallons a minute for the initial four days at 24 hours a day, = 1,843,200 gallons. This was generated off our of pumps running at 24 hours for the initial four day period.
2. An immeasurable amount after that. Our tanks hold 1.7 million gallons, and they generally last about a day and half under normal circumstances.
3. Unmeasured gallons in support of mission and camp for potable water (showers, drinking, cooking, cleaning.
4. Further contribution of water (none measured to date) for Jackpine Fire efforts by firefighting agencies.

Wastwater

The City coordinated with Incident Command to pull surface water out of the collection ponds for helicopter buckets used during suppression. This is allowed per our DEQ permit, and greatly reduced the amount of time needed between drops for aerial suppression as the helicopter made much shorter trips between the conflagration and the collection pond, vs. the Little Deschutes River. This also kept aerial operations away from residential areas and permitted the flight crews ease of operation in filling the bucket from a 400-acre pond as compared to a small tributary of the Deschutes.  This has been extended through the Jackpine conflagration.

Staff

Public Works: Worked around the clock during the first four days for the suppression effort to ensure that water systems-maintained flow and reserve due to pump outages, and electrical outages. Public Works also maintained constant contact with Incident Command and attended all daily briefing sessions with IC.

Administration. Worked closely with law enforcement and incident command in disseminating timely and accurate information via the city’s website, in addition to coordinating traffic closures and support for suppression efforts. Administration also participated daily in briefings, reporting, and public engagement.

Initiative Effort

Entrance into a multi-agency effort with Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office as of 07/19/24 for distribution of fire extinguishers to encampments and individuals on federal lands. The city has purchased and contributed 50 units to the effort as of 07/24/24.

Long Range Infrastructure Improvement (Support) City capital investment to date: $46 million

1. The City has installed close to 5 mi. of new force main water 16 in. pipe along Darlene way which has created:
   1. Redundancy in our system to control for outages.
   2. Increased the City’s fire resiliency by creating a pathway for water to hydrants along the eastern flank of the city that abuts federal land.
2. 156 new hydrants throughout the city as part of the project. During the recent conflagration event all hydrants along Finley Butte, Darlene and Rosland were used, many of which on both Darlene and Rosland were a direct result of new hydrant installation for fire suppression.  These hydrants were not only used defensively to protect the city but as access points for tender tankers to fill in efforts to fight the fire which was largely outside of city limits.