Officials from across NE Oregon take part in all-hazard preparedness workshop

Published 5:00 pm Thursday, July 20, 2023

LA GRANDE — Senior officials and leaders from across Northeastern Oregon participated in a six-hour all-hazard preparedness workshop in Union County on Tuesday, July 18, provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

A total of 26 personnel attended the workshop, according to a press release from Union County Emergency Services.

The training in La Grande gave officials an opportunity to engage in executive-level best practices, preparedness and recovery strategies.

“The workshop also provided the opportunity to gain a better understanding of crisis response from an executive level and continued the strengthening of partnerships by testing capabilities through practice during disaster to better prepare for addressing future emergency situations,” Union County Emergency Manager Nick Vora wrote.

One focus of the workshop was wildfire response. Participants went through a simulated wildfire tabletop exercise to help identify leadership responsibilities during an emergency.

The simulation included executive-level incident response and recovery considerations, such as situational appraisal, incident management, mutual aid agreements, media relations, recovery and restoration processes, business and economic recovery, and federal assistance.

Personnel from across the area participated in the training, including city representatives from Island City, La Grande and Ontario and county representatives from Baker, Umatillia, Union and Wallowa counties.

Additionally, personnel from Grande Ronde

Hospital, Intermountain

Education Service District and Oregon Trail Electric took part.

The training was fully funded by Texas A&M

Engineering Extension Service and the Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Association National Training Program.