For Immediate
Release: August 12, 2005
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Sen. Jeff Rabon
Sen. Rabon Asks Gov. to Expand Special
Session Call Due to Fire Danger
With worsening drought conditions throughout the
state raising concerns about grass and wild fires, Sen. Jeff
Rabon has asked Gov. Brad
Henry to expand the special session call to provide emergency
funding for fire fighting for the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture’s
Forestry Division.
“This really is an emergency—especially in southeastern
Oklahoma where the drought conditions are approaching historic
levels. This is a potentially deadly situation that could result
in the loss of lives and millions of dollars in damages,”
said Rabon, D-Hugo.
Just this week the United States Department of Agriculture declared
75 of Oklahoma’s 77 counties to be agricultural disaster
areas because of the drought. That clears the way for low-interest
emergency loans for farmers and ranchers but does nothing to address
the additional cost of fighting fires that may result from the
severe drought conditions.
“There’s a special scale for measuring drought conditions
called the Keetch Byrum Drought Index (KBDI) that goes from 1
to 800. Any KBDI measurement over 450 is considered pretty bad.
Right now in McCurtain County, it is approaching 700. I cannot
stress how potentially dangerous this situation is,” Rabon
said. “It is vitally important for Gov. Henry to address
this problem now.”
The current situation has been made even worse because of the
extremely high numbers of arson fires that have been set in southeastern
Oklahoma and particularly McCurtain County, an area where timber
is one of the region’s largest industries.
“There simply is not adequate funding available to deal
with the fire danger we’re facing. This is also a potential
economic crisis for this region of the state. If we lose significant
amounts of timber because of fires then we could see mills shut
down throwing people out of work and starting a domino effect
that could impact other businesses and jobs in the area.”
Rabon noted Gov. Henry had already expanded the special session
call to include funding for Centennial Projects.
“He obviously considers centennial projects to be important
enough to be considered during the special session. I’d
say emergency funding to fight fires is a much more pressing need
right now,” Rabon said. “Whether it comes from the
Rainy Day Fund or another source, I strongly urge the Governor
to add this critical need to the special session call.”
For more information, contact Sen. Jeff Rabon at 405-521-5614.
For
more information contact:
Senate Communications
Office - (405) 521-5774
