Oregon Farm Bureau Establishes Fire Relief Fund

The Oregon Farm Bureau has established a fund to provide support to farmers and ranchers impacted by the recent Substation Fire.  The fire which has consumed roughly 80,000 acres in northern Oregon has burned not only timber and grass lands, but wheat fields as well.

Early figures from the Oregon Wheat Commission says the Substation fire has cost the state between one and two million bushels of wheat for Wasco and Sherman counties.  The fire has consumed at least four houses and more than 50 other buildings, but those figures could go up as farmers return to their property.  The fire has also proven deadly, taking the life of farmer John Ruby who died while trying to make a fire line for his neighbor earlier this month.

The OFB, in consultation with Wasco County Farm Bureau, will decide how to best use funds received.

"Rural Oregonians help their neighbors, as we saw by the immediate action taken by many heroic farmers who worked alongside first-responders to put out the Substation Fire,” said Anne Marie Moss, Oregon Farm Bureau communications director.  “We established a fund so members of the Farm Bureau family and others could contribute and provide some relief to those most impacted by the devastating wildfire.”

To contribute, make a check out to:

"Farm Bureau Fire Relief Fund"
Oregon Farm Bureau
c/o Patty Kuester
1320 Capitol St. NE, Salem, OR  97301.

All funds will be used to help those most impacted by the wildfires.

For those wanting to help the family of John Ruby, Columbia Bank in The Dalles has a fund specifically for the Ruby family, as well as the VanOrman family. Columbia Bank, 316 E 3rd St, The Dalles, OR 97058, 541.298.6647.

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