FIRELINEFIRELINE The official publication of the National Wildfire Suppression Association Winter 2020 Industry Grapples with PandemicTable of Contents Published for: The National Wildfire Suppression Association Physical Address: 228 SW Broadway Mill City, OR 97360 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 169 Mill City, OR 97360 Executive Director: Debbie Miley Tel: (877) 676-6972 Direct Line: (503) 897-6150 Published by: Matrix Group Publishing Inc. 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Printed in Canada. up front 07 A Message from the NWSA Executive Director, Deborah Miley 09 The Role of the National Wildfire Suppression Association in Wildland Fire & Emergency Incident Support nwsa insider 20 Meet NWSA’s Members 28 Meet NWSA’s Instructors 29 NWSA’s Corporate Sponsors 30 Index to Advertisers features 11 Industry Grapples with Pandemic 13 Complex Fires Mean Complex Relationships 17 Enhancing Health and Wellness 19 Building Bridges 19 Rising Out of the Ashes On the cover (clockwise from top): Bolan Mountain Lookout. Photo by Miller Timber; Grayback National TY2IA 7B and 7C remodeled the Bolan Mountain Lookout. Unfortunately the lookout burned in the Slater Fire in September. Photo by Grayback Forestry; A flag donated by Brenda Stokes was hung by the Bodin family to replace the flag lost when a Vietnam veteran’s home was destroyed in the Beachie Creek Fire. Photo by Jordyn Bodin; This photo of the night sky represents one of the things firefighters enjoy most about their job—the scenery. Photo by Miller Timber. The Silverton Lions Club served meals to those affected by the fires. Photo by Jim Miley. Editor’s Note: In the article “Working Together” in the Summer 2020 issue of FIRELINE, it says Mark Hoffman works at the University of Oregon, but he works at Oregon State University.The National Wildfire Suppression Association 7 Up Front In 2020 all of us, especially those in emergency response, have faced challenges. Working on wildfires in the COVID-19 environment has come with some very big challenges for those in private industry. As our employees’ safety is always first and foremost, we strived to find ways to meet guidelines for wildland firefighters and provided additional personal protective equipment to maintain the health and safety of our folks. Fire season this year came late and came in like a lion, and it has continued that way. Oregon was very hard hit, and our NWSA office, as well as the homes of our staff, were in the path of the Beachie Creek Fire, and we were evacuated for almost two weeks. Our staff did amazing at keeping things going for NWSA remotely from the locations where we all fled to. Our office sustained some smoke damage, but we are some of the fortunate ones as our homes and the office survived but some of our family members were not as lucky. We gained firsthand experience at evacuating our homes at 3 a.m. as a fire came down our canyon. We are very thankful for all those who worked the Beachie Creek Fire during those long weeks and helped evacuate and protect what they could. We have worked hard this year with our agency partners to address concerns around issues that have been raised as we worked in these stressful times, and we hope to continue to maintain those lines of communication as we all move forward. Our thoughts are with all those who have lost property and are working to rebuild, and those who have lost loved ones. We wish for all those working the lines to stay safe and healthy. Our folks will also stand ready to help with post-fire restoration and wildfire mitigation. Our industry would all rather be doing the mitigation work versus the wildfire response. Our industry was built on the backs of those who did a lot of prescribed burning, landscape restoration and wildfire mitigation work, and we look forward to doing more of that in the future. We have a current workforce in place to help provide those services, and we are enthusiastic about bringing that knowledge to the table. Deborah Miley Executive Director The National Wildfire Suppression Association A Message from the NWSA Executive Director, Deborah Miley Conference Postponed Due to the ongoing COVID-19 concerns, the NWSA is again postponing the NWSA 2021 Conference. It will now be held December 3-4, 2021 at the Peppermill Resort in Reno, Nevada. Our industry was built on the backs of those who did a lot of prescribed burning, landscape restoration and wildfire mitigation work, and we look forward to doing more of that in the future. Deborah Miley NWSA Executive DirectorThe National Wildfire Suppression Association 9 Up Front The National Wildfire Suppression Association (NWSA), founded in 1991, is a 501 (C) 6 Business League. Today the association represents over 275 private firefighting companies in 29 states. These companies can field a workforce of over 12,000 trained firefighters, as well as a large contingency of equipment during the height of wildfire season. NWSA member companies provide water handling resources, heavy equipment, timber faller modules, 20-person hand crews and other specialized resources that complement the agencies’ toolbox of resources. In the United States, the Professional Wildland Fire Service resources make up over 40 percent of all resources available to help in fire suppression efforts, as well as other emergency response incidents. Braving the smoke, heat and danger of wildland fires or the aftermath of other national disasters is an “army” of federal, state and local agencies. When the magnitude of the event exceeds an agency’s available resources, they can call in reinforcements from the Professional Wildland Fire Services. Because these companies work under preexisting agreements and contracts with the federal The Role of the National Wildfire Suppression Association in Wildland Fire & Emergency Incident Support continued on page 10 and state agencies, they can be dispatched immediately when needed. Many of these companies have responded to wildfires, hurricane recovery and other natural disasters through their current agreements. The NWSA has long been a proponent of strong compliance with the contracts/ agreements as well as higher industry standards in the private sector. The NWSA has built many working relationships with the federal, state and local governments, as well as national and state politicians. We pride ourselves on working to resolve issues of concern to create a better working environment for all parties. We share with the agencies our concerns about the following: • Safety on the fireline; • Determining the most cost-effective, optimal mix of resources on the fireline; • Providing our customer, the landowner, with the best available resource to meet their goals; • Encouraging strong oversight regarding compliance with the agreements/ contracts; and • Establishing true best value in the agreements and contracts to ensure that For more great photos like these, check out the NWSA Flickr page! www.flickr.com/photos/nwsafireNext >