Grant County Judge Scott Myers presides over a county court session on July 3, 2024. The court on July 18 declared a “local disaster” due to wildfires.

CANYON CITY — With two major wildfires burning in the vicinity and at least two months left in fire season, the Grant County Court issued a “declaration of local disaster” on Thursday, July 18, paving the way for state and federal assistance.

Going into the day, the Falls fire had crossed the county’s southern border near Izee and had reached an estimated 110,000 acres with 5% containment, while the Lone Rock fire had grown to 77,000 acres with 10% containment and was threatening the county’s northwest corner near Kimberly.

Areas of southern Grant County near Izee and Seneca were under “go now” or “be set” evacuation notices. A gym at Grant Union Jr./Sr. High School had been set up as a shelter for evacuees with help from the Red Cross, with additional space available at the county fairgrounds for dry camping and boarding livestock displaced by the fire.

By the evening, a “go now” evacuation notice had been issued for a part of northern Grant County near Dale that was being threatened by the fast-moving Snake Fire just over the Umatilla County line.

Earlier in the week, Grant County Judge Scott Myers signed an agreement granting the Office of the State Fire Marshal authority to provide protection to homes and other structures threatened by wildfire. OSFM teams joined hundreds of other personnel from various state, federal and local agencies battling the Falls Fire, which has been burning since July 10.

The local disaster declaration, Myers said, would give the county “a leg up” if it needs to request additional firefighting assistance — which could be critical in the competition for limited resources during what is shaping up to be an extremely busy fire season.

“It gives us a recognized presence in the emergency realm that we would not have had we not declared an emergency,” he said.

“If you haven’t asked for assistance, they will assume you don’t need any.”

The declaration requests that Gov. Tina Kotek declare a local disaster and state of emergency for Grant County.

It also calls on U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to “expedite assistance to local agriculture industries/producers who have suffered extensive and ongoing loss from the drought and associated wildfires.”

According to Myers, that assistance could take the form of low-interest loans or grants to cover expenses such as equipment, livestock, crops and fencing damaged or destroyed by fire.

Myers said he and County Commissioners Jim Hamsher and John Rowell had been considering issuing the disaster declaration for a number of days as the Falls fire, which had been confined to Harney County, crept closer to Grant’s southern boundary. But after the fire’s leading edge crossed the county line in two places on Wednesday, they made the call.

“We decided we could wait no longer,” Myers said, “because now it’s within our borders.”