For Immediate Release:
August 12, 2005
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