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A Community Emergency Response Team will re-emerge in the Talent area after a two-and-a-half-year absence. A previous Bear Creek CERT disbanded in August 2013. Ashland Fire & Rescue will support the new team in coordination with Jackson County Fire District 5, said District 5 Chief Darin Welburn. “They will join Ashland CERT under the city umbrella,” said Ashland team coordinator Terri Eubanks. “Hopefully, it will morph into them someday being able to tear off and form their own CERT team, maybe including Talent, Phoenix and the surrounding area.” Supplies and equipment for the operation will be stored at District 5’s main station in Talent, said Eubanks. CERT members already trained and others interested in the program are invited to a meet-and-greet session at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, at the station, 5811 Pacific Highway. Talent resident Kittie Harrison is serving as liaison for the new operation. Harrison moved to Talent 18 months ago from Coronado, Calif., where she had been involved in CERT activities since 2007. She’s also a Map Your Neighborhood coordinator for a program that has people assess their homes and surroundings to be ready when disaster strikes. Harrison has a call list showing 28 former Bear Creek CERT members in the Talent area alone and said she has received calls from others about becoming part of the program. Ashland CERT will hold the basic training session in late April and early May so that volunteers may join the team. “We would hope to have at least one base up and running and hope to be of some help to your first responders,” said Harrison. After initial training, ongoing sessions can cover a variety of topics, ranging from heart-saving techniques and ham radio operations to terrorist response and base activities, said Harrison. “Once we have the initial training done, we will have an organizational meeting,” said Welburn. “We are just going to take some basic steps and add some more folks.” Both Harrison and Welburn say creation of a CERT team for Phoenix is a possibility. “I think we’ll get this one going and see how it goes,” said Harrison. She said both Talent and Phoenix could use more than one CERT team. Bear Creek CERT elected to disband after it was discovered in November 2012 that the team was operating without liability insurance. A misunderstanding between team members, Fire District 5 and Jackson County Emergency Management over team supervision resulted in the lack of coverage. The city of Talent provided insurance for a while, but no public body stepped forward to offer it long term. Ashland's free CERT training will take place on Thursday and Friday evenings and all-day Saturdays April 21-23 and May 5-7. To register, call 541-552-2226 or email [email protected]. Information can be found on Ashland and Talent CERT at www.ashlandcert.org. Ashland has 192 active CERT members formed into six bases that are located in neighborhoods. Since Ashland organized a team in 1999, more than 600 people have gone through the training, said Eubanks. Persons with questions on Talent CERT may call Harrison at 541-897-0570 or email [email protected]. Tony Boom is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected].