Sanders County Commissioners activate emergency fund
The Sanders County Commissioners invoked the emergency fund for the county so money is available to be distributed where needed.
The Emergency Mill Resolution No. 2017-19 states; “WHEREAS, Sanders County has declared a fire emergency MCA 10-3-402; and the County is in Stage II fire restrictions causing extra patrol by county employees…”
It also goes on to state that the county has committed all available resources, taken all possible action to combat and want to alleviate the situation and local resources are not adequate to cope with the fire situation.
Enabling the fund is essential for all resources and services working to ensure the health, safety and welfare of not only residents but also emergency personnel within the county.
Head to the Office of Emergency Management Bill Naegeli also attended the meeting that spoke about all resources and updates as it pertains to the county since the flare up of the Highway 200 Complex fires.
At this stage within the county there are several fires that see ground crews working to gain some kind of control and containment. The largest of them is the Sheep Gap Fire, located off River Road West near Plains.
Residents in Section 11 have been asked to evacuate while those east of Arnold Road are on pre-evacuation due to the intensity of the fire.
Deep Creek located closer to Thompson Falls is also of great concern. Residents along the Blue Slide Road are on pre-evacuation notice as well.
Buildings and further structures are under threat in a number of places. With more than 16,300 acres burned in one week, along with the smoke of fires in Washington and Oregon states bellowing through the county, it has made air attack difficult to supply through Sept. 6.
Though the ground crews are able to get in and work fire line containments, the air quality along with the dangers of limited visibility make for a dangerous task.
Naegeli also mentioned in the meeting that there still might be the possibility that the county could get aid from the National Guard as there are fire trainings happening. Though he emphasized that it was an “if,” especially taking into account the current fire situation the entire state is seeing at the moment.
As resources are both limited and stretched to the limits, it is not confirmed as to where exactly the emergency fund money will get distributed.
There is a total of $2 million that will become available due to the extraordinarily dangerous fire season that is being experienced in Sanders County.