< PreviousThe National Wildfire Suppression Association 11 Up Front SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY! PLATINUM – $10,000 • A 2 x 3-inch advertisement on NWSA’s Corporate Sponsorship page online. • A discounted rate for a full-page ad in FIRELINE, which is NWSA’s full color magazine. Cost: $1,800 based on two times per year contract, for a total of $3,600. This is a savings of $640 per issue. FIRELINE has a readership of over 3,000! • A full screen advertisement at the annual NWSA National Conference. • A 30-minute presentation during NWSA’s “New Technology” breakout at the National Conference. • A monthly email blast direct to NWSA members with your content. • A monthly social media post (submit content for the post by the 1st of each month). • NWSA membership mailing list. • Sponsorship opportunities at the NWSA National Conference. • Free booth space at our vendor with premium spot choice. GOLD – $5,000 • A 2 x 3-inch advertisement on NWSA’s Corporate Sponsorship page online. • A discounted rate for a full-page ad in FIRELINE, which is NWSA’s full color magazine. Cost: $1,800 based on two times per year contract, for a total of $3,600. This is a savings of $640 per issue. FIRELINE has a readership of over 3,000! • A monthly email blasts direct to NWSA members with your content. • A 15-minute presentation during NWSA’s “New Technology” breakout at the National Conference. • NWSA membership mailing list. • Bi-monthly social media posts (submit content for the post by the 1st of each month). • Sponsorship opportunities at the NWSA National Conference. • $350 off booth space at our vendor. • SILVER – $2,500 • A 2 x 3-inch advertisement on NWSA’s Corporate Sponsorship page online. • A 5% discount on a ¼ page or ½ page ad in FIRELINE magazine, plus a free hyperlink. • Quarterly email blasts to NWSA members with your content. • Quarterly social media posts (submit content by 1st of the month of each quarter). • NWSA membership mailing list. • A five minute “Get to know your vendor” opportunity during NWSA’s annual business meeting. • $250 off booth space at our vendor. BRONZE – $1,250 • A 2 x 3-inch advertisement on NWSA’s Corporate Sponsorship page online. • A 5% discount on a ¼ page or ½ page ad in FIRELINE magazine, plus a free hyperlink. • Quarterly email blasts to NWSA members with your content. • Quarterly social media posts (submit content by 1st of the month of each quarter). • A five minute “Get to know your vendor” opportunity during NWSA’s annual business meeting. • $100 off booth space at our vendor. Each sponsorship lasts for one full calendar year. Become an NWSA Corporate Sponsor and gain access to over 300 companies that need your specific expertise, services, and products! NWSA CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP LEVELS BENEFITSFeature The National Wildfire Suppression Association 13 The professional private wildland fire service has stood shoulder to shoulder with state and federal agency resources on the fireline for more than 30 years, and has become an integral part of fire suppression activities across the western United States. Despite this, the Incident Blanket Procurement Agreements (IBPA) for Type 2 Crews and Equipment seem to overlook the concept of ‘Best Value’ when awarding contracts, instead choosing to chase after the lowest bid. Best Value is something that has become the number one concern for members of the National Wildfire Suppression Association (NWSA). Simply put, rewarding Best Value means recognizing a company’s performance, good safety, and administration of agreements when awarding contracts. More dispatches based on a Best Value ranking is something that can be clearly understood by the professional private wildland fire service and would ultimately promote even greater levels of quality and higher standards. “Within the current system, we feel like the federal government stifles innovation, productivity, and efficiency because of their practice of ‘lowest price technically acceptable,’ which is a practice that does not offer any incentive to invest in technology, techniques, or people the way we need to,” says Jess Wills, President of Firestorm Wildland Fire Suppression Inc. “Best Value for us means rewarding contractors for bringing new ideas to the table that allows us to fight fire more efficiently and more cost effectively, while providing a safer work environment for all of our employees.” QUANTIFYING BEST VALUE Potential performance measures that can be used as a guide to measure a company’s value beyond just price include: • Past performance – Past performance measures how a company has demonstrated its experience in providing its services and has satisfied its customers while complying with federal, state, and local laws. Personnel, facilities, business history, logistical support, relationships with the agencies, and professionalism are key services / factors in what the government should be looking for. If a rating formula were assigned to those criteria, it would provide a true view of a company’s ability to succeed to the demands of providing skilled professional firefighters to the agencies using the contracts. • Technical capability – Technical capability measures how a company provides the experience and training required to oversee the successful performance of the crews they supervise. Technical capability evaluations include such things as resource supervision, response time and location, equipment, and facilities. For the professional private wildland fire industry, most continued on page 14 in the Private Wildland Fire Service Rewarding Best Value Franco Reforestation demonstrating the value of the private wildland fire service at the KNP Complex in the Sequoia National Forest, near Three Rivers, California. Photo courtesy of Franco Reforestation.14 www.nwsa.us of its logistical support is taken care of in-house and the agencies rarely need to deal with lodging, meals, fuel, medical, vehicles, or other stressor to the support functions. While ease of government use is challenging to measure, it can prove invaluable to Incident Management Teams. • Safety and training – Consideration should also be given to companies that exhibit a commitment to safe performance and promoting a culture of safety in the field through such things as alcohol / drug awareness training and testing, driving training, and first aid / CPR training. Private wildland fire service crews are trained to the highest standards and often exceed National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) requirements, which gives these crews a tactical advantage that enhances all their tactical experience they bring to each assignment. The good news is that the agencies seem aware of the fact that they need to get more Best Value from their contracts. The bad news is that the current federal contracting system seems to be set up to reward whoever is the lowest cost bidder(s), so long as they are technically acceptable. By incorporating Best Value into the mix, it would place an equal percentage of the evaluation on other important criteria, in addition to price. “Right now, companies that have been in the business for 30 or 40 years are in direct competition with businesses that could have started out yesterday with no experience and, if they happen to be cheaper, you’re being run out – and that’s wrong,” says PatRick Environmental Inc. owner, Rick Dice. “When you take anyone who’s acceptable and base all your decisions entirely on the lowest bid, it creates a ‘race to the bottom’ as awards will be made to the lowest cost venders regardless of their past performance, technical capability, and safety and training records.” ALIGNING VALUES A true sea change in how things are being done will require the Federal Fire Management Operational Leadership to take a more active role in defining Best Value and awarding contracts to venders that exceed the minimums. The wildland firefighting culture is all about exceeding expectations and going above and beyond to get the job done, something the contracting culture appears to not be in alignment with – one side sees success in overachieving, while the other places little to no value in exceeding the minimums as stated in the contract. “Best Value could be as easy as giving the end user (operations) the ability to ‘name request’ resources off the dispatch priority list,” says Dice. “This would give them the ability to better match the tactics with the incident objectives-based knowledge, skills, and ability of the resources available. The current Best Value system assumes all resources are equal because they meet the minimums.” Claren Nilsson, President / CEO of Lost River Fire Management Services agrees. “What Best Value means to me and what Best Value means to the agencies tend to be two different things. If you provide more quality and more capabilities for the dollar, that’s Best Value. Best Value is not just meeting a technically acceptable standard – that’s a minimum requirement that only reduces standards, rewards mediocrity, and provides no incentive to do better.” The NWSA has been promoting the concept of Best Value for years and has been proactive in reaching out to the agencies through the Cohesive Wildland Fire Strategy, of which the association is a member. This provides the NWSA a rare opportunity with its peers to advocate for the tenants of the Cohesive Strategy from the professional private wildland fire service perspective. Despite the success the NWSA has had in moving the conversation forward, there is still much more work to be done in advocating for Best Value. “People are just starting to realize the paradigm shifts in regard to how rewarding the cheapest bid has impacted wildland firefighting,” says Nilsson. “From a Type 2 initial attack hand crew perspective, the government has lowered the bar over the last decade, and it continues to trend in the wrong direction. But it’s not too late to alter course and, if there is anyone capable of changing the culture around Best Value, it’s the current Forest Service leadership.” � Private wildland fire service crews are trained to the highest standards, which can be rewarded if Best Value was more highly considered in the awarding of contracts. Photo courtesy of Adventure Medics. Best Value acknowledges the investments contractors make to fight fire more efficiently and more cost- effectively. Photo courtesy of Borges Timber.The National Wildfire Suppression Association 15 Feature In 2022, the interagency wildland fire community launched a new model for managing large incidents – Complex Incident Management Teams (CIMTs). Taking on the role fulfilled by the existing Type 2 and Type 1 Incident Management Teams (IMTs), CIMTs are configured to respond to incidents of either complexity and provide the agencies more adaptability and flexibility in spreading the work out more equitably. The intent of the CIMTs is to stabilize team numbers, reduce fatigue, improve the work / life balance of team members, and increase the resiliency of the interagency IMTs. Leading this charge is the Incident Workforce Development Group (IWDG), which was formed in 2018 by the National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group (NMAC), Fire Management Board (FMB), and National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) Executive Board to provide national leadership in ensuring the sustainability of a national interagency incident workforce. IWDG quickly identified several critical challenges in recruiting and retaining both IMTs types, which have led to a decrease in the overall number of teams available for an increasing number of high complexity incidents of longer durations. “Each year we have a couple – and often more than a couple – large Type 1 complexity fires that remain active not just for weeks but for months, and the duration of both Type 1 and Type 2 incidents has risen over the last decade,” says IWDG Chair, Jesse Bender. “At the same time, we haven’t increased the Type 1 Teams capacity, which has meant rotating the same few Type 1 Teams through these challenging incidents time and time again. We needed a better way to assign teams to incidents, and then ensure that all teams were being exercised.” A MORE FLEXIBLE RESPONSE Under the current Incident Command System, if an incident evolved from Type 2 to Type 1 complexity, then a Type 1 Team is brought in to replace the Type 2 Teams, with the reverse being true should the complexity decrease from Type 1 to Type 2. CIMTs will leverage the tenants of the existing system to accommodate the incident, resulting in a reduced number of transitions. “Having a single team that can request more people over time or release people over the lifespan of an incident will help us ensure there’s a higher level of consistency when transitioning to another CIMT if needed Complex Incident Management Teams continued on page 16 A crew digging line works on a fireline along a steep-sloped mountain to suppress the Dixie Fire in Lassen National Forest, California. Photo courtesy of USDA Forest Service. Coming Soon New16 www.nwsa.us – expanding and collapsing to meet the specific needs of that incident,” says Bender. As the intent of combining Type 2 and Type 1 is to simply restructure the existing system, the public and those on the fireline working alongside the newly minted CIMTs will see no difference from an operational standpoint. All that will change are the labels that go along with the job, and hopefully a greater level of efficiency and effectiveness. “From the task force leader to the crew boss to the firefighter, there shouldn’t be any noticeable impact or change on the ground,” says Bender. “However, team members who move forward in their career and their Incident Management qualifications will have a more streamlined training and qualification pathway to get to that Command and General Staff (C&G) position with the experience they’re already gaining.” A SYSTEMIC CHANGE This evolution to a single CIMT has represented a systemic change for the wildland fire agencies. It is also a change that has come quickly, especially considering all of the pieces and parts of the system that needed to be revised, reviewed, and reconsidered when it came to dispatching protocols, team configuration, and the makeup of all the disparate operating programs and systems that support the existing infrastructure. But change is hard, particularly when it comes to changing the way you’ve been doing business for more than 30 years and – for many in these agencies – it was the only way they knew how to do things. “Shifting culture, habits, and minds; that has been the hardest part about transitioning to CIMTs,” says Bender. “There are always those who are the early adopters and want to help chart the path, rather than have it charted for them. At the other end of the spectrum, we have those who still maybe think CIMTs aren’t going to happen or that it’s going to fail if it does happen. Continuing to communicate through all the channels we can, as often as we can, and being very consistent in our communication and in our interactions has been the best tool to work through any lingering resistance to change.” The evaluation of the new CIMT model began in the 2022 fire season within the Rocky Mountain Area (RMA), which had three CIMTs in action. While it was fortunate that it was not an aggressive fire season, this meant that it limited the ability to stress test the CIMTs in that environment, seeing as they were assigned to lower complexity Type 2 incidents. Looking ahead, a total of 10 CIMTs will respond to the 2023 fire season within their geographic areas (with an option to perhaps field others later in the season) and nationally as requested. The goal this year is to push the limits of the CIMTs to demonstrate if the model works as designed. In the fall, after action reviews will be held to review what worked well and what needs to be improved going forward to ensure the efficacy of the new model. In 2024, the CIMTs (approximately 42) will be fully implemented, completely replacing the interagency Type 2 and Type 1 Teams. “This is not the end all / be all solution, but the CIMT is a much more responsive model to tackle the ups and downs of the fire environment throughout a week, a month, and a year, and it is a tool that allows us to be better prepared to meet those changes,” says Bender. � continued from page 15The National Wildfire Suppression Association 17 Feature Many landscapes across the the western United States are at an extreme risk of dangerous wildfire impacts due to a combination of accumulating fuels and an expanding wildland / urban interface in fire-prone regions. This combination of factors has exponentially increased the risk for wildfire, creating the crisis seen today. A century of scientific data has demonstrated conclusively that fuel management involving prescribed fire is effective at reducing wildfire risk, and it is one of the most cost-effective options in the land management toolbox. This is why the USDA Forest Service works year-round to remove or reduce combustible materials from forests. But the Forest Service cannot do it alone, and there is a tremendous opportunity for the private wildfire suppression industry to step up. “There has been a backlog of fuels mitigation for many years and the forest is growing as we speak,” says Mike Wheelock, President at Grayback Forestry. “We need the country to come together and deal with this problem – it’s our duty as stewards of the land to treat these fuels aggressively and I don’t believe it can be done without us.” READY TO SERVE According to the National Wildfire Suppression Association (NWSA), there are currently more than 20,000 wildland firefighters operating under Forest Service contracts during the fire season. These men and women are readily available to do fuels mitigation work on millions of acres and they already do this type of work as part of their daily routine. That being said, the changing climate is presenting a significant challenge in tackling fuel reduction and many pests, like the destructive bark beetle, have become difficult to control. In addition, the effects of climate change, such as shorter drier winters and warmer weather overall, have resulted in shorter timeframes to conduct prescribed burns. Other treatments, such as mechanical fuel removal, also have the desired effect; however, like prescribed burns, these projects must be carefully planned to avoid impacts to soil, water, and sensitive habitats. “If you masticate and chip, you can keep the fire on the ground instead of up in continued on page 18 for the Prescribed burns like this one, which is being performed at Tahkenitch Beach in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, are one of the most cost-effective ways of reducing wildfire risk. Photo courtesy of USDA Forest Service. The private wildfire suppression industry has an important role to play in fuel management and keeping fires on the ground instead of up in the trees. Photo courtesy of Bordges Timber. Trees the18 www.nwsa.us the trees, which makes fire safer and more effective to fight,” says Bordges Timber Inc. owner, Tim Bordges. “But trying to grind brush without starting a fire can be a challenge because you’re hitting all sorts of hard things that can cause a spark, so you really have to be aware of things like humidity, time of day, and fuel moistures.” HELP IS ON THE WAY In January 2022, the Forest Service launched its 10-year Wildfire Crisis Strategy, scaling up efforts to address the growing wildfire threat across 50 million acres – in addition to what the Service currently treats on an annual basis. Twenty million of those acres are on national forests and grasslands, and 30 million acres are on other lands. The Forest Service has committed to increase treatments up to four times the current level. The goals of the strategy are to reduce the severity of wildfires, protect communities, and improve the health and resiliency of fire-adapted forests by putting the right work, in the right place, at the right scale. As such, the Forest Service is investing in a response that brings together tribes, partners, states, and communities across all boundaries to match the size and severity of the problem. “The recent Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill provides around $3 billion to get this critical work started and we are focusing our work on the wildfire crisis strategy landscapes to make investments at the scale needed to address the problem,” says USDA Forest Service spokesperson, Wade Muehlhof. “In just the first year of our strategy, new funding has allowed us to invest $131 million in 10 high-risk landscapes and invest $1 billion in grants to help private forest owners, tribal communities, states, and other low-income at-risk communities plan for and reduce wildfire risk. All of this work will lead to more high-risk communities being better protected from the devastation of wildfires.” In addition, the Community Wildfire Defense Grant program has been supporting communities and tribes as they take the actions needed to plan for and mitigate destructive wildfires, while protecting people, infrastructure, and natural resources. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill authorized the Community Wildfire Defense Grant program with an investment of $1 billion over five years, starting in FY 2022. The program’s primary purpose is to develop and revise Community Wildfire Protection Plans and implement projects described in those plans. The program is open to communities, tribes, states, non-profits, and Alaska Native Corporations, and is focused on low-income populations. The goal is to support the National Cohesive Strategy in restoring and maintaining landscapes and creating fire-adapted communities. The Forest Service is welcoming anyone who wants to work with them to solve this crisis, and its partners – such as the members of the NWSA – will play a critical role not only in wildfire suppression, but also in helping implement preventive fuel reduction projects. “The NWSA is a great organization that sets the standard when it comes to this type of work,” says Bordges. “NWSA members are good people who come from the communities they’re trying to help, and they have the skills, experience, and equipment to do the job, and do it well. We will be there when the Forest Service calls on us.” � continued from page 17The National Wildfire Suppression Association 19 Feature WILDFIRE WATER SOLUTIONS Starting out as a concept on a ski slope and a strong desire to ‘do something’, WildFire Water Solutions has grown into an extraordinary partnership between leading water-industry experts and wildland fire professionals to provide ultra, high-rate water delivery systems on the fireline and wildland / urban interface. During a wildland fire incident, WildFire Water’s systems are integrated directly into front-line firefighting efforts and are deployed and operated by Type 2 Initial Attack (IA) Teams of wildland fire and water delivery specialists, allowing for maximum fireline integration. The company’s modular systems are comprised of high-capacity water storage (from 3,000 gallons to three million gallons), high-rate water pumps, large diameter lay- flat hose, and high-volume sprinklers, which are all paired with engineered, proprietary automation, monitoring, and technology. “With our training and experience, we do not need additional supervision and provide ‘water now’ support to all those involved in suppression efforts – aviation, water tenders, hand crews; we don’t replace anything – we just enhance and increase the capacity of everyone involved,” says Chad Mitchell, Chief of Water Operations at WildFire Water. “That is very important given the limited number of resources during fire season.” WildFire Water’s systems can be integrated preventatively into the wildland / urban interface to protect communities at-risk, critical infrastructure, and other valuable and culturally significant areas to create fire- adapted communities. Just as important, these systems can be customized and set up ahead of time to encircle the entire perimeter of a prescribed fire to be ready when those tight burn windows are open. WildFire Water’s customers have come to rely on the company’s experience, professionalism, and dedication to become an industry-leading wildfire water delivery team with a complete understanding of the wildfire interface. “Understanding the entire wildfire environment is critical – we’re not looking to sell a bunch of pumps and hose, call it a patented-system, and hope someone can manage that system,” says Mitchell. “Wildfire is a highly dynamic, changing environment, and without the wildfire and water delivery system specialists, you will never get water when and where you need it. They are the fuel that makes this engine run.” As more and more wildland fire professionals have seen WildFire Water’s products, services, and demos in action, the more its trajectory has expanded. The company has several exciting projects – both permanent and temporary – on the go, and its collaborations with government and tribal groups are being specifically designed to protect culturally and ecologically-significant areas for future generations. “We also continue to expand our footprint and service offerings,” says Mitchell. “Flood response has been a natural progression given our water-delivery and logistics expertise and we are in the process of pre-positioning our suppression bundles and packages in other strategic areas in addition to our staging areas in California, New Mexico, and Oregon.” Tech The Latest Battle the Blaze to continued on page 20 WildFire Water Solutions uses its high-capacity water storage, high-rate water pumps, large diameter lay-flat hose, and high- volume sprinklers to protect the fireline and wildland / urban interface. Photo courtesy of WildFire Water Solutions.Next >