Communication, Prevention & Investigation Working Team (CPI WT)
Pacific Northwest Wildfire Coordinating Group
November 27, 2012
0930 – 1200
In Attendance
Lauren Maloney, Chair (BLM/USFS)
Steve Fraidenburg, Washington Department of Natural Resources
Len Diaz, Bureau of Indian Affairs
Jeff Bonebrake, Oregon Department of Forestry
Trish Hogervorst, Bureau of Land Management
Tom Knappenberger, Forest Service
Rod Nichols, Oregon Department of Forestry
Claire McGrew, Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal
Topics:
Note taker for the meeting:
Claire
Review and Approval of October 24, 2012 meeting minutes –
Tom K. moved to adopt the minutes, unanimously adopted by the group.
Training Issues – PIO Training and Fire investigator training – Report out and discuss next steps S-203
coordination, etc. (Lauren)
Lauren met with the regional training officers recently to review some of the challenges we have
identified. These challenges include 1) shortage of qualified fire investigator/PIO 2) qualified individuals
not available when necessary, 3) shortage of1 classes to send staff to become qualified. Lauren
indicated that there was good discussion especially on S-203 and that there would be one that was
being currently scheduled for early next year. Lauren had arranged with the training officers to have the
CPI group continue to assist the flow of information and sharing by having us continue to share emails
regarding class times and availability through informal email communication with our staff.
Regarding S-203, there will most likely be a class upcoming in March of 2013 in Olympia or Bend. More
to come once this is finalized.
Len asked if there was discussion on the process of determining the 2013 schedule through Redmond.
Lauren explained that the class nomination deadline to submit requested classes to the training group is
November 1st of each year and then they quickly publish it so that individuals can plan accordingly.
Lauren indicated that there was some discussion in the group regarding coordinated effort among
regions.
Jeff advised the group that Douglas Forest Protective Association is potentially sponsoring a FI-210
course but that there are no dates around this yet.
Lauren asked the group what we could do to ensure that we could keep involved in solutions with
training in the region. Several solutions included:
 Keep informal discussion going in the CPI working group
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Bring up classes each time we meet so that we can continue to learn of opportunities amongst
ourselves.
Ensure that these dates get into our meeting notes so that we can share with others.
Cohesive Strategy/Fire Adapted Communities
Lauren presented the draft task orders and draft communication plan that were developed by the subcommittee for Fire Adapted Communities. Lauren continues to work with Pat Kelly to find some time on
the steering committees agenda to present the Wildfire Cohesive Strategy task orders and
communication plan. The goal for this is for the January 16th, 2013 meeting.
Tom Fields had connected with ODF’s Travis Medina to see if he would share some of his insight into the
Cohesive Strategy. Regretfully, he could not make it today; however Tom will try to get us connected for
the January 8th subcommittee meeting.
Len described the two task orders that were developed. Essentially, the group started with one draft
task order, but later determined to split it into two as the Cohesive Strategy has not yet been finalized
and we haven’t all had direction to move forward in our agencies with the Cohesive Strategy. These two
task orders would allow us to move forward without tying up agencies that haven’t committed to the
draft plan at this time.
Len further recommended continuing to keep the task orders separate due to their size.
Tom K. asked if we knew when the Cohesive Strategy would be finalized. No one knew for sure. He
offered advice on ensuring that the communication plan was not too specific as the Cohesive Strategy
has not yet been finalized.
There was discussion on the communication plan and what we wanted people to walk away with. Some
discussion from Lauren proposed the following targets:
 An understanding of the Cohesive Strategy and Fire Adapted Communities
 An understanding of their role
Tom F. noted that the Wildfire Cohesive Strategy will be unrelated to by the public. He recommended
that we use the Fire Adapted Community approach and potentially use it as a message for Wildfire
Awareness Week in May.
Steve is receiving a lot of questions regarding some components of Fire Adapted Communities already
mostly related to the Ad Council, what are Fire Adapted Communities? Where did it come from?
Further discussion continued involving leveraging Wildfire Awareness Week to target the public with the
Fire Adapted Communities message. There could be focus on the “know your role” component of Fire
Adapted Communities as detailed in
http://fireadapted.adcouncil.org/assets/14/FAC_InfoGraphic_Updated.pdf.
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Tom noted that discussion should first occur with Keep Oregon Green to ensure that we are consistent
with our message.
Lauren/Claire requested feedback on the two task orders and the draft communication plan by
December 11th.
2013 Changes to CPI WT Leadership – Identify new Chair/Vice Chair roles for 2013.
Lauren explained that her term would be ending in December and that the vice chair would assume the
position if there was no opposition. The group was supportive of Vice Chair Claire McGrew assuming
the Chair position in January.
Lauren asked for open discussion on the Vice Chair position. Tom Fields indicated that he is interested
and the group supported the proposal. Congratulation Tom and thanks for your commitment!
New Agenda Item- Investigation
There was discussion on the variety of roles represented by the CPI work group. Fire investigation is
critical but has been a difficult to continue to fill due to attrition. The group discussed several challenges
with requesting and training investigators. Lauren indicated that she just learned of a prioritized list of
trainees who need help getting onto assignments to gain experience and work on their task books. This
list does not appear to be specific to position. The list is shared between GACs. Lauren asked Len if he
would do some follow up to see if: 1) Is it for Federal Employees only and 2) Can ODF get on the list?
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Additional discussion ensued regarding solutions for training and getting investigators on scene. The
group was supportive of the investigation role, and Len and Jeff committed to work together to develop
a concept or task order to assist with the future support and growth of investigations.
Representative Updates:
Trish – Committed to a Type 1 PIO work group to update S403 with updated materials. This could
potentially use webinars etc. rather than classroom experience.
They are currently working on their District pile burning and leveraging their online link.
Rod – Has been working on general PIO work.
Tom F. – Working on Senate Bill 360 and reviewing its history and intent for a statewide rollout. He also
has been working on the ODF Fire Protection conference in April for a 2 hour segment for prevention.
He asked this group if there is consideration and support from our agencies to potentially invest in a Fire
Prevention Conference in 2014. The basic concept would be a three-day conference. He is interested in
locations, and requirements.
Jeff – completed the FI-210 course update. This should be available by June 2013.
Len – Next week, he will meet with his counterparts in Albuquerque. They will be reviewing the
National BIA – National Fire Prevention Handbook. Soon after that, he will meet with the WildlandUrban Interface mitigation committee and will be discussing the Fire Adapted Communities Guide. Len
is also working on an NWCG course revision. They are updating terminology with Fire Adapted
Communities terminology. BIA budget – nothing is currently being reduced.
Steve – Washington has a new governor. He is currently working on communications for Wildfire
Awareness Week. He will send this group the initial email that he sent to his group last week. From the
investigation component, Taylors Bridge Fire investigation continues.
Claire – OSFM is working on two legislative concepts and several Policy Option Package related to
funding. She will also be including OSFM’s Bill Brauer in the CPI group starting in 2013 to bring another
component to the table. The prevention group at OSFM will be starting to reconnect with local fire
prevention co-ops.
Lauren – is committed to working with fire prevention co-ops and is interested in developing a master
list of Oregon/Washington fire prevention co-ops. She has a list from Claire and Steve has offered to
send her the information on the three Washington ones that he knows about. She recently met with
the SW Washington Co-op and is committing to engaging more. As her role as the CPI chair, she is
revamping the website and including links that we frequently use. Please submit any additional links
that you would like to see on our web to Lauren no later than Friday November 30th.
Future Meeting Schedule:
Claire will send out a Doodle poll for next meetings for 2013. Tentative dates will include March, June,
Late September, and Late November. Steve and Trish have both offered meeting rooms if necessary.
Additional Business:
Claire will not be available for the Steering Committee Annual meeting in February. Lauren will attend
and Tom F. would also like to attend.