Fremont County Sheriff's Deputy Steve Sanger (left) and County Emergency Management Director Steve Morrisey stand next to the trailer delivered this week that will be used to promote wildfire preparedness through the Firewise Program
The Fremont County Office of Emergency Management has taken delivery of a special trailer that will be utilized for training and public education as part of the national Firewise Program. Emergency Management Director Steve Morrisey said the Firewise trailer was funded with federal dollars the county received from the U.S. Forest Service under the “Secure Rural Schools” (SRS) program. Morrisey said the Firewise trailer was one of three items prioritized by the Fremont County Board of Commissioners in deciding how to invest more than $116,000 received in the county’s annual SRS allotment. Just over $29,000 was spent on the 20-foot trailer and the signage. It is equipped with a generator for electric power. $1,200 will also be spent to equip the trailer with educational and training materials.
Morrisey said over $35,000 is being spent on purchasing a Simtable program which is a computer based technology tool that emergency managers can use to simulate how fire will react in targeted areas. Combining existing GIS data of neighborhoods in Fremont County the Simtable can produce customized computer models that take into account terrain and populations providing an interactive experience in all-hazards simulations.
The third priority in the SRS funding was $8,400 spent on the purchase of 15 new signs which warn citizens of the current stage of wildfire danger around the county. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Department expects to have the signs erected at strategic locations around the county later this spring. The signs and the Firewise trailer also promote registration of cell phone numbers for Fremont 9-1-1 wildfire and emergency alert messages.
Included in the $116,000 SRS allocation was the recovery of nearly $49,000 worth of itemized costs that the Office of Emergency Management and the Fremont Sheriff’s Department incurred over the past year in dealing with wildfire response or search and rescue efforts on federal lands in Fremont County.