"These funds will help our cash-strapped rural fire departments who have heroically given of their time to protect the lives of Oklahomans as they continue to battle these horrific wildfires throughout the state," Corn said. "It will allow these mostly-volunteer fire departments to pay for things like gasoline and minor repairs to their equipment."
Since Nov. 1, more than 360,000 acres have burned and more than 200 homes and businesses have been destroyed by wildfires fueled by drought conditions, low humidity, warmer than normal temperatures and high winds, the Oklahoma Forestry Division reported Monday. All of Oklahoma remains under a burn ban.
In 2005, Senate Democrats led the push to increase appropriations for rural fire departments across the state by $500 to $2,800. However, fire departments throughout the state only received a portion of the funding in July and were not expected to receive the balance of the appropriation until later this year. Without those funds, the expense of fighting the wildfires has left many fire departments literally broke and have forced volunteers to pay for gasoline to get to the fires out of their own pocket - money that normally would go into their family budget to put food on the table.
Because of the unusual emergency facing rural fire departments, at the urging of Senate Democrats and Gov. Brad Henry, the Office of State Finance and the Agriculture Department have worked out a plan that will allow rural fire departments to receive the balance of their operational grants this week rather than waiting until later in the fiscal year.
"This money couldn't come at a more important time for our firefighters in Oklahoma. Senate Democrats are also very aware that while this money will be a shot in the arm for rural fire departments, it is still possible that we will need to consider a supplemental appropriation early in the session to help these departments recover from the costs of the wildfires," Corn said.
Corn also said he supports an additional increase in the upcoming session for operational grants to rural fire departments in order to equip these departments with the tools necessary to keep Oklahomans safe.
"Democrats in the Legislature have long been supportive of rural fire departments, even when there were some in Oklahoma City who called funding for such a critical public safety issue 'pork,'" Corn said.
"I believe these volunteer firefighters do some of the hardest work in our state for absolutely no pay for one reason - it's simply the right thing to do. For anyone to consider funding for rural fire protection 'pork' shows how very little these folks value rural Oklahoma."
Corn said the Legislature has an obligation to these departments so they can continue to make Oklahoma a safe place to live, work and raise a family.
"Rural volunteer fire departments save Oklahomans thousands of dollars each year in lower insurance rates, and they have more than proven their weight in gold over the past two months," Corn said. "It is time our state budget reflect the true value of these departments, and Senate Democrats intend to ensure that happens this year."
