Crooked River Ranch Fire & Rescue has hired its first-ever marketing and communications intern, thanks to a matching grant that is allowing the small volunteer-heavy district to invest in community outreach in ways that can be difficult to prioritize alongside emergency response.
The district received a $3,000 matching grant through the Special Districts Association of Oregon's Internship Grant Program. Crooked River Ranch Fire & Rescue matched that with another $3,000 of its own funds, and used the $6,000 total to bring on Maria Bartness — a recent public relations graduate — as its communications intern for the season.
Filling a Gap Small Districts Struggle With
Chief Sean Hartley said the position addresses a real challenge for departments like his: keeping residents informed before emergencies happen, not just during them.
"A lot of what we do, prevention-wise, is communicating with the public before an emergency," Hartley said. "Having someone that we can dedicate to that, through the internship grant that we got through the Special Districts Association of Oregon, has been a huge help for us getting information out to the public."
Crooked River Ranch is a large, spread-out rural community along the Crooked River canyon west of Terrebonne, served by a fire district that relies heavily on volunteer personnel. With limited full-time staff, community education and outreach can easily take a back seat to day-to-day operations.
A Hands-On Learning Experience
Bartness, who earned her Bachelor of Arts in public relations in June, said she found the position through a posting she saw on KTVZ and immediately recognized it as the right fit.
"I was looking for marketing, social media, and communications opportunities, whether that was a full-time job, part-time, or an internship," she said. "When this came across my phone, I thought it was right up my alley."
Her responsibilities span the full range of community communications: creating social media posts, designing brochures and flyers, interviewing firefighters and volunteers, and covering board meetings and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training drills. She has also ridden along with crews on actual calls, including a vehicle fire and a lightning strike response.
"Every day, it honestly kind of changes, and that's the nice thing and the exciting thing about it," Bartness said. "It's definitely exciting. Never a dull day here."
Why It Matters for Crooked River Ranch
With wildfire risk a constant concern for the Crooked River Ranch community — the area's Firewise Committee has been active for years in reducing structural ignitability and creating defensible space — consistent, proactive communication is especially valuable. Residents need timely updates on burn restrictions, evacuation planning, and preparedness resources well before any fire starts.
The district's investment in dedicated communications capacity, even through a temporary internship, signals a commitment to keeping that pipeline of information flowing to the community's roughly 6,000 residents.
The Special Districts Association of Oregon's Internship Grant Program is designed to help small public districts access student talent while giving graduates real-world experience in public service settings. Districts interested in the program can learn more at sdao.com.