Oregon Tool disaster relief supports multiple sites

Oregon Tool’s Disaster Relief Team has been deployed to 22 natural disasters since 2012 helping first responders and communities recover from storms and fires. But the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton this fall marked the first time that the team has deployed multiple trailers to separate locations to render assistance.

In September and October of this year, two separate Oregon Tool Disaster Relief Teams provided support in Lake City and Live Oak, Fla., Valdosta, Ga. and the Ashville, N.C. area.  While there, they serviced more than 2,500 chainsaws so crews and residents could continue the hard work of restoring access and basic services to communities.

The team goes onsite to service the chainsaws and other equipment of local officials and first responders, outside organizations and property owners and residents of an impacted area. This includes replacing chains on saws that are needed to continue the difficult work of clearing trees and brush to open roads and provide access to badly impacted communities.

“You can’t imagine the feeling of helping people who are desperate just to get a tree off their home or car, or an electric company trying to get trees off the power lines to begin restoring the electricity for their area.  I am so proud to be working for an organization that trusted our instincts and desire to help all,” Millard Kidder, Oregon technical sales specialist and member of the Oregon Tool Disaster Relief Team who was deployed to Valdosta, Ga.