HERMISTON — Umatilla County Fire District 1 Chief Scott Stanton was feeling a sense of relief on Tuesday, May 18, after voters supported a $13.1 million bond that will pay for new safety equipment, vehicles and facility upgrades for the fire district.

As of results posted after 10 p.m. Tuesday night, the bond had 57.2% of the vote out of 3,150 votes cast.

“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, but we’re excited to do it,” Stanton said.

The bond will assess up to 23 cents per $1,000 of assessed value on properties for the next 20 years, which would cost the owner of a home valued at $250,000 about $57.50 per year.

The district plans to spend the money on a wide range of upgrades meant to better protect the health and safety of fire district personnel, and improve their ability to respond to fires, crashes and medical emergencies. Once the district has access to the first funds in July, Stanton said one top priority will be purchasing new turnouts for firefighters. The protective suits are supposed to be used for up to five years, but some suits still in use by the district have been in use for as long as nine years.

“We’ve got a lot of planning to do, but there is also a lot of stuff we can get on fast, including personal protective equipment,” he said.

Some of the other items on the list for the next few years includes replacing or refurbishing old fire trucks, adding equipment to ambulances to make it easier to load patients, replacing the aging rescue equipment used to remove patients trapped in crashed vehicles, replacing communications equipment and purchasing new cardiac heart monitors.

The district also plans to upgrade its facilities. Stanton said the board felt that upgrading current stations was a more effective use of taxpayer dollars than building new ones. Projects include new roofs on two stations that are leaking, additional bays for the Westland station, adding living quarters to the Stanfield station and adding separate living quarters for women at the main station in downtown Hermiston. The district also plans to upgrade systems to reduce the engine exhaust fumes staff are breathing in while in the bays.

Stanton said it will take time to put together requests for proposals and work with the contractors selected, but the district already has a bond oversight committee made up of citizens tasked with making sure the money is being spent wisely.

He said district personnel were texting him as the results came in and talking to him at the station the next morning about how excited they were to have better equipment.

“We’re so thankful for the community support,” he said.