Spring 2009 PNW Incident Commander Council Meeting

Valley River Inn, 1000 Valley River Way, Eugene

April 2-3, 2009

April 2, 2009

Attending: Jim Furlong, BLM-SOROIC-in-waiting; Carla Schamber, FS,Siuslaw NF, Facilitator;Chris Schulte, FMO, FWS, Mid-Columbia, Deputy IC WA IMT #2; PaulSolarz, PatRick Environmental, Retired FS;Ken Snell, FS, Director FAM, R6/R10, Vice-Chair PNWCG; Chris Hoff Fire Staff Central Oregon, IC PNW Team 2; Pam Ensley FWS, IC NW Oregon Team; Kathy Shelton, FS, Incident Business Management; Chris Hice, FS, Acting State Aviation Manager; NickLunde , retired FMO, Deputy IC Blue Mountain Team; DickGormley, IC Washington Team 5; Mark Crain, IC Pool, Oregon State Fire Marshals; Doug Johnson, IC (Trainee) Central Oregon IMT; Mark Rapp, IC Central Oregon IMT; KurtRanta, Chair PNW Hot Shots; Sarah Robertson, R6 FS, Air Operations Branch Director for Central Oregon IMT; Jim Walker, ODF Fire Operations; Scott Magers, City of Hillsboro, IC OSFM Blue; JohnIngrao IC OSFM Green; Mariana Ruiz-Temple, OSFM;Tom Savage, ODF, IC ODF #1; Ken Paul, FMO Klamath NF, IC ORCA team; BrettFillis, Deputy IC ORCA team; Larry Nickey, FMO Olympic NP, Deputy IC WA IMT #4; Gary Jennings, IC Washington Team 1; DaveLeitch, IC Trainee, WA IMT #1; Jeff Pendleton, FMO Malheur NF, IC PNW Team 3; Ed Lewis, Fire Chief Spokane County #4 Deputy IC PNW #3; Carl West, Deputy IC NW Oregon; DennisSifford, ODF, IC ODF Team 2; Dale Guenther, FS, Information Resources for SORO; Dan O’Brien, NWCC Predictive Services; Tay Robertson, Fire Chief, Sisters, Oregon, IC OSFM Red; Nick Giannatino Plans Chief, Portland NIMO team; joining us on conference call line: Rex Reed, DNR, IC WA IMT #2.

Introductions and WelcomeJim Furlong

Thanks for being here. We arranged this meeting to be held in Eugene so we could tie in with the ODF and Fire Marshal’s Team meeting. It’s especially good to see the ODF and the Fire Marshal ICs here today. I also want to announce two new members to our IC group, Doug Johnson and Dave Leitch. I can attest that these two are outstanding additions to our group. Welcome!

PNWCG PerspectiveKen Snell (presenting for Paul Bell)

  • PNWCG is working on the Strategic Plan.
  • Just had our 2nd annual Steering Committee/Working Team meeting which went very well.
  • Working on the item on Team Size – PNWCG is drafting a letter on this issue.
  • Ken Paul wrote a letter about team closeouts and transitions. Letter will come out from PNWCG to the line officers making recommendations.
  • We’re working with the Aviation Working Team (AWT) and the Operations Working Team (OWT) on a standard or GAC protocol for extraction of injured firefighters.
  • A task group has been put together headed up by Gary Sterling.
  • Hope to have it ready to hand out to ICs and line officers by start of fire season.
  • The change in the Federal Fire Policy will affect all 5 agencies.
  • The change allowsfor the decision to manage a fire for two objectives, resource benefits and suppression (providing that the NEPA work is done).
  • This will be a challenge when we have to explain what we’re doing. Perhaps the best way would be to say: “We’re managing the fire in the most appropriate way”
  • Another new tool that is coming up is WFDSS - a decision support and documentation tool.
  • There will be some new vocabulary, ie. the WFSA boundary will be called a Planning Area.
  • WFDSS does not have a tool to help with cost. We’ll still be doing this for FS with unit cost, andthen will lean on the team to put together the estimated cost after they are in place a couple of days. The Stratified Cost Index will be used for the initial cost estimate.
  • Within the FS in the PNW, we will continue to have the Regional Forester’s Rep. We’re the only region that is still doing this, but it helps the line officers and providesgood vertical alignment for communication. Mary Wagner is our new Regional Forester for R6.
  • We need to have real clear communication with our state partners so they will understand what we’re doing with this new fire policy and the RMP.
  • From now until June there will be a lot of training going on by the NIMO teams at the fire staff level and local units. About 10 sessions are planned, it may be a good idea to sit in on one of these training sessions to understand WFDSS better.
  • FF Safety - in the last year, we’ve been talking, reading and training on HRO (Highly Reliable Organizations). A good book to read about HROs is in “Managing for the Unexpected” by CarlWeick. To get the word out, we’ll be talking a lot about the concept and distributing a card that will act as a reminder of HRO principles.

(Handout #2 – A 5 x 7 card “Three components for creating a safe and productive unit,”2 sided)

Jim Furlong: There are others that will become part of our group:

  • Joe Stutler, Deschutes County Forester and Deputy IC on a California National IMT.
  • Tom Cable, the IC of the Portland NIMO team. The NIMO team is here in the NW to help us with the issues that we face. WFDSS training is one example of how they can help.

Private Sector PerspectivePaul Solarz

  • The NWSA (National Wildfire Suppression Association) is the largest of the contractor organizations.
  • Includes Region 1, 4,5,6 & 9 with various chapters: ie. bus transportation and dozers; timber fallers, etc. Multiple chapters are under the umbrella of the NWSA.
  • They hold a yearly meeting with all of the chapters to get a report on what each chapter is doing.
  • MOUs (Memorandum of Understanding) are maintained with nationally recognized training organizations so the private enterprise can train their own employees.
  • 310-1 is the standard used for training requirements. All training is conducted appropriately to what is outlined in 310-1 with the addition of the requirements for each agency.
  • Stan Kunzman is the training coordinator for NWSA. This is how it functions:
  • Unit instructor – teach the 100 and 200 level courses.
  • Lead instructors – teach most of the courses in the MOUs.
  • Adjunct instructor – no longer current in their red cards; but they have the knowledge. They are paired with Lead instructors to teach the courses.
  • 20 to 25 instructors are inspected each year. The inspectors sit in, monitor the class and make comments on the training. Problems are addressed.
  • Crew cohesion is a topic that’s been discussed over the past few years. They’re working on issues that have been brought to the NWSAs attention.
  • Contract Crew Resources – it now states in the National Mob Guide that Type 2 IA crews are no longer required to be self-sufficient.

Contractors:

  • The hardest thing for industry to deal with is the differences between the companies. If one company performs poorly, the whole industry looks bad.
  • The NWSA is working hard to train companies to become better established with themselves and become more professional.
  • If there is poor performance and a crew’s not doing the job, you need to take the appropriate steps and document.
  • It’s important to remember: If you give respect, you get respect.
  • Paul Solarz will be on the NWSA training committee next year. He can be the conduit, so if you have any comments, suggestions or questions, please contact him at tel: 541/923-8584(o) and 541/913-6190(c).

Comment (Jim Walker): The process has improved quite a bit from what it was a few years ago. It used to be meaningless to do the evaluations. Now with Best Value, it’s extremely important to give honest and true appraisals for ranking the crews.

Follow-up from 2008 Fall MeetingJim Furlong

(Handout #3 – PNWCG IC Council Issue Paper, Nov 2007, updated 1/2009, 4 pp)

Workforce Capacity - it seems to get harder each year to get our rosters filled. This is a huge issue and it won’t be solved totally, but we can work to make progress. How we can do this:

  • Plan to go through the list of action items, report out on what we’ve done or not done.
  • Keep this issue on the front burner, talk about it at meetings.
  • On a semi-annual basis, resurface this, talk about this as often as we can.
  • Dave Lentz and Dave LaFave have gone around to the different fire departments looking for possible qualified participants and have had some success.
  • They just talked to the Dept of the Navy in Washington State and found a number of individuals who have some qualifications. We will make sure to include these folks when we go to fill Type 2 Teams.
  • IQS working to produce a book for each of the teams that would list each qualified person to fill positions. This book would be a great tool and could be used for recruitment, training and mentoring. Still in progress, but we are committed to having the book out by fire season.

Comment: It isn’t because folks haven’t tried to tackle this issue,a lot of the problem comes from the qualification system itself.

Suggestion: The only thing we can do is report up to PNWCG and hope we can make some changes.

  • There’s discussion by ICT 2 & ICT 1 to embrace some sort of prior learning for 310-1. Australia is now looking at other experience to use for quals and it’s working for them.

Comment: A lot of us are getting extra work with the stimulus bill. Some folks may not be as available do to the extra workload.

Suggestion: This should be brought up at the upcoming AA Workshop.

Comment: There’s a grassroots effort going on to have 10 or 20 person crews available all year long, in family wage jobs and they’re doing other work in addition to fire, such as resource work. This is something to consider, seems promising.

Key Decision LogJim Furlong

(Handout #4 – PNW IC Council Briefing Paper, 3 pp)

This year, there will be a link created in FAMWEB to a KDL.

2 parts to the briefing paper:

  1. How we’re going to proceed with the KDL in the NW this year.
  1. The instructions on how to access FAMWEB and the KDL link.

You can go to FAMWEB and set up your account anytime. After that, you will need to contact Dan O’Brien to activate your account. Dan is the FAMWEB administrator for all the agencies in the area. The KDL link is not on FAMWEB yet, but should be available by May 1, 2009

Anne Black is working on get the link on the site.

In Briefing and Out Briefing (Closeouts)Ken Paul

(Handout #5 – PNW IC Council Issue Paper, Dec 2008, 2 pp)

Ken wrote up a paper about how in briefings and out briefings can be shorter and more meaningful. Jim brought to the PNWCG SC meeting and the recommendation was embraced. The PNWCG has sent out a letter to all the agencies, this will be covered at the upcoming AA meeting.

Are any other agencies going to be following this recommendation?

FWS and Park Service said it will be situational.

ODF – it would fit their model and be useful.

DNR in Washington – in most cases DNR’s a participant, usually with a federal and state agency.

The lead fire person for the DNR was supportive of the recommendation.

An idea that works well is to use a binder that lists all the key information. This is handed over to the folks that are coming in during the briefing.

Team Right-sizingChris Hoff

(Handout #6 – PNWCG IMT Configuration, 1 p)

Background info on the issue: The Agency Administrators want this. They would like a couple of choices when they order the teams.

  • Configured 1 of the teams as a 27 + 6 person team.
  • 2 rosters – 1 @ 50 and 1 @ 33 (27 + 6).
  • This recommendation will be presented to the Geoboards, if they reject it, it’s their prerogative. There are issues with this.
  • This only applies to the 5 Washington Interagency Teams and 4 Oregon Interagency Teams.

To do document edit: Will need to add the additional 6 to the 27 standard positions in the document.

  • The Board in Washington, the teams will be asked to maintain 2 rosters.
  • Default mobilization for Washington will be the same as the National Mob Guide and negotiate up from there. The Oregon Boards have not acted on the PNWCG recommendation yet.
  • We’ll see how this will work for 2009.
  • Terminology – it’s important to make sure what to ask for when they ask for a “short” team. It can mean different configurations depending on the situation. This should be addressed at the AA workshop.
  • The Washington Teams will be monitoring and evaluating to get feedback. This will be a big topic at the next meeting.
  • You will need to let your Agency Administrators know that you needed to order a total of 50 people. Make sure it’s a clear, transparent dialog.

IT Support UpdateDale Guenther

(Handout #7 – Powerpoint presentation “Fire, Aviation, and Fuels GIS stuff, 5 pp)

FTP.NIFC.GOV Update.

  • No changes in security access this year.
  • Please remind users no personally identifiable or unofficial documents! They will shut the site down, no questions asked.
  • IAPs are sensitive and stored in protected folder
  • Monitor fire behavior when it goes into a treated area. Set up a database website, you may be seeing this.
  • Track EERA, IBPA for pumps, porta-potties, dozers, graders, anything that’s not in the national VIPR system.
  • Folks will still be entering in EERA on incidents for equipment as before.
  • Implementing a new state/regional long term fuels monitoring strategy in order to determine the effectiveness of fuels treatments. Bringing this up because next year, this may be something that will impact your operations – another tool to use.
  • Point of Contact for BLM and FS for WFDSS is Louisa Evers in the State/Regional office

Resource Tracking Prototype -

  • This year we will be testing a prototype to track resources.
  • We’ll provide GPS spot units which are small, about the size of a deck of cards. They are simple, just turn them on, put on your dash.
  • The plan is to have one dispatch office to buy enough units for their resources to test this prototype. These units cost about $100 each and $100 per year for access to the satellite.
  • They track in real time, they even phone home.
  • Will give this a try, do an AAR to see how this works, was it useful, was it cost effective.

Goggle Earth Pilot Project –

  • Our client package allows clients access to all the features.
  • We can set up our own globe.
  • We will be able to see our information at our higher resolution.
  • We’ll be prototyping here in the NW and in Northern Rockies.
  • Combined all of the data together and put it on our globe. The WFDSS maps will be in there.

National IC-AC MeetingJeff Pendleton, Chris Hoff

WFDSS will impact the state and local co-operators, they will have to log-on to WFDSS and look at it.

Focus on collaboration, innovation, execution.

Engage with cooperators and start working with those folks right up front.

Themes:

  • Safety.
  • More acres burned now are more difficult to put out later.
  • Right response at the right time for the right reason.
  • More emphasis on landowner and homeowners.

Document those hazards we identify and what we do to mitigate them. We do the 15-A, but we don’t know if that’s enough to document what we’re doing with what the plan is for the day.

Looked at risk, we need to consider that when we put together our plans. We are essentially transferring risk, from tree-burning op to a firefighter, etc.

Federal Fire Policy and updated implementation plan:

  • Quotes: human-caused fires with the least negative consequences safely and effectively.
  • Drier than normal and above normal temperatures for the NW
  • Marc Rounsaville talked about large fire management: trying to develop performance standards to see if successful and effective. Studies are being done.
  • We’re being watched by the National office very closely.
  • Revision ofI-suite in May, our people who work on the product will be required to take some type of security training.
  • We may have security audits.
  • Some teams are moving towards barcoding right into ROSS
  • Thinclient will be on contract for our use this year.
  • Delegation of Authority – taken up to the national level, now sitting in OGC’s hands to make sure it’s proper and legal.

Discussed National Response Framework Plan:

  • Our teams seem to be having less of a role on hurricanes now.
  • Local government is the first response, the state provides support to local, feds provide support to the state. Homeland Security will coordinate the federal response. Homeland Security and FEMA seem to manage much better.
  • Our participation may be a lot less than in the past.
  • EOCs in the south are up to speed understanding the federal response plan, able to stand and handle things.

There’s new vocabulary that we will need to adjust to:

  • What used to be called DAR (During Action Review) is being replaced with DIR – During Incident Review)

On the Incident Business side – they are working on a guide so there’s a national standard for when we have to deal with these type of situations.

Under the public information side – some incidents are using newer technology, ie. twitter, there have been some real successes using this newer technology. Will post on the lessons learned website.

ADs are having troubles with new travel systems because they don’t have an ID.

The consensus on what the term “Theatre” means: they need to come up with a common definition of “Theatre.”

Aviation UpdateChris Hice

(Handout #8 – R6 Helicopter Program Updates 2009, 6 pp)

(Handout #9–Aircraft locations, 1 p)

Not a lot of change with the regional aviation program, except:

  • In 2008 a Rappel Program was added in Prineville.
  • There will be the same number of SEATS with 6 to 8 more on the variable term contracts.

(note: the question mark by John Day on the handout means it hasn’t been awarded yet.)