Operations Committee Meeting
October 19-20, 2010
Helena, Montana
Introductions
Chairman Greg Archie reviewed the agenda and introductions were done.
Agenda: Aviation Committee- update, issues, concerns;NRCG Ops committee
website cleanup; All hazard IMT-certification for All Hazard; Business committee
update – Finance position selection on IMTs; Search for IRIN Coordinator in NR;
Use of SOPLs-when and how; IMT succession planning; NR IMT planning for
2011-How many teams, projected shortfalls and needs; NR zone management of
IMTs; Status of Wildland Fire Management teams, Logistical support of IMT
trailers; Training update – issues, concerns, and ideas; Updates from other NR
committees; Spring meeting date and location
Aviation Committee- update, issues, concerns
Maggie led the Aviation discussion. Provided an update of the members of the
committee. Carding issue at the spring meeting was discussed. National
Association of State Foresters approved a process to approve aircraft for
consistent standards. Maggie has a briefing paper available if wanted. All states
met the standards with one exception. The standards cover both aircraft and
pilots. Working on the language related to aviation for 6 party agreement. 7
positions have been added to evaluate air worthiness in Region One. John
Monzie provided a handout to discuss aviation actions beyond initial attack for
DNRC aircraft. DNRC is looking for suggestions to come up with policies to be
more efficient in aviation large fire support. John recommended suggestions be
sent to Greg. The aviation committee co-chaired by Maggie and Chuck will be
meeting to discuss resolutions to the current policy. The Ops committee will also
need to place an Ops rep to the aviation committee. Greg volunteered to be the
rep.
Search for IRIN Coordinator in NR
Gary Boyd led the discussion on Infrared Interpreters. Gary presented a letter
discussing the need for the NR to provide IRINs. We need to beat the bushes for
a NR IRIN coordinator to fill the void. A trainee would work.
Logistical support of IMT trailers
Gary Boyd led discussion on logistical support of trailers. Several issues with
qualified drivers and cost for transport of trailers. Teams need to review the
costs associated with dispatching their trailers and let dispatch know about driver
arrangements. Other options might be to go to Regionally located trailers.
Maintenance costs are an issue as each team only gets $1000 a year to support
each team.
Business Committee Update: Biddy led the discussion. Provided updates on
courses that have been posted on line. Also provided update on all business
classes for the upcoming year. Working on the Finance component for Incident
leadership courses. It has been fairly well received and will continue with it this
year. Incident Business handbook white page revisions are being reviewed
currently. Not much new policy wise, except for fuel vendors taking credit cards
in the field and didn’t get tested this season. Business committee would like to
have a seat at the table when Finance positions on teams are being considered.
Biddy will be the contact for the Business committee for Finance positions, if you
have needs on a team. Virtual buying teams are going to be used in the future.
All hazard IMT-certification for All Hazard
Bob Fry led the discussion on AHIMT status. Provided an update of the current
status of the All Hazard committee. The committee also has a training subcommittee made up of Jim Blankenship, DNRC; Fred Naeher, MT DES, and Paul
Fieldhouse, NRTC. The training committee completed the Historical Recognition
process for approximately 50 ICS instructors in the NR Region. The AH
committee has been working with FEMA R-8 to develop various standards and
developmental tools for all hazard teams. The committee is also working with
Gallatin County on a recent DHS grant for training and exercise. DNRC and
DES are also collaborating on an Emergency Management Performance Grant
(EMPG) to fund a full time coordinator position and half time clerk position to
support Incident Management teams and development. The intent is to support
Type 3 development at the local level. This will hopefully, tie into what the Ops
committee developed and was accepted by the NRCG board with regards to
IMTs being all hazard. There is also an All Hazard IMT conference being
sponsored in Denver, CO in December. The web site is www.ahimt.net. Jim
Blankenship has applications available for Montana.
NRCG Ops committee website cleanup
Greg led the discussion about updating the charter and moving the membership
roster to its own tab under the NRCG web site.
Operations Committee Charter and membership
Greg reviewed the current charter and will work with Bob Gilman and update the
charter with the suggested changes and send it out to the committee. The
committee membership was reviewed and updated. The membership will be
taken out of the charter and posted separately to the web site.
Use of SOPLs-when and how
Diane led the discussion about the use of Strategic Operational Planners. She
passed out a NWCG letter about description and use and a chart identifying
when a SOPL might be ordered. A SOPL would work with an LTAN and Safety
to determine long term risk assessments and management actions.
TRAINING
Paul Fieldhouse discussed training. Discussed the S420, S520, and S620
current status and the priority lists and future training. NIMO accelerated training
discussed. Greg and Paul will coordinate with the training committee and then
the ICs to develop the best strategy on prioritization and inclusion of future
candidates. Had a slower training season last year. Paul talked about Historical
Recognition and the work with Jim Blankenship from DNRC and Fred Naeher
from DES and that it went well with a number of people certified to instruct both
in fire and all other hazard ICS as instructors. Talked about the NRCG
recommendation to NWCG to expand existing dozer boss training into heavy
equipment boss training and that it was accepted by NWCG.
Status of Wildland Fire Management teams
Diane gave a perspective on the current status. Seems to be working well as is.
The current Wildland fire teams are not as interested in getting into the Type 2
rotation. The consensus is to wait until the IMT succession planning is further
along and keep the status the same for now. We need to encourage the regular
Type 2 and 1 teams to get experience with the Wildland fire teams. We do want
to continue to move in a direction where all teams have the same capability.
NR IMT planning for 2011-How many teams, projected shortfalls and needs
The discussion centered around the ICs view of their current status. Kusicko
provided a North Idaho update. Mark Grant is retiring and Rick is considering
retirement. Jim Grant is the candidate for Mark’s team but he is out of
Wisconsin. Gary Boyd identified a few issues the Eastern area has with Grant
getting through the approval process as an IC. Only question for the rest of the
teams is one Finance position which may be available as an AD, other than the
IC positions. Fry’s WMT team is good with a need in Operations and felt it will
get filled. Seidlitz discussed the Eastern teams and spoke for both Heintz and
Secrest and said both are in good shape. The Type 1 teams are in good shape.
The Wildland fire team is also staffed.
IMT succession planning
Paul discussed IMT succession planning at the NWCG level. There was a
project team assigned to develop alternatives to be presented to NWCG. The
goal is to get feedback on all the alternatives through the winter so it can be
compiled and reviewed and presented to the NWCG board. The alternatives
should be out sometime in December. The idea is to get information from
organized committees such as the Ops committee. The Ops committee will want
to provide feedback once the alternatives are provided. The feedback will need
to go to the NRCG board.
Next meeting date and location
The meeting will be on February 16th and 17th starting at 8am. The location will
be in the new training room at the Central Land Office at DNRC Helena.
FOR INFORMATION ON DOCUMENTS CONTACT CHAIRMAN GREG ARCHIE
AT garchie@mt.gov.
A SPREADSHEET CONTAINING THE ATTENDEES ACCOMPANIES THESE
MINUTES.
Respectfully submitted,
Bob Fry
bobfry@mcn.net
Ops committee vice-chair
NORTHERN ROCKIES COORDINATING GROUP OPERATIONS COMMITTEE
MEETING DATES: OCTOBER 19TH & 20TH, 2010 MEETING LOCATION: HELENA, MT
ATTENDEES
REPRESENTING
EMAIL
19-Oct
Greg Archie
Chair, Central Zone Rep
garchie@mt.gov
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Doug Turman
NR IC
dturman@mt.gov
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Greg Poncin
NR IC
gponcin@mt.gov
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Gary Boyd
NRCC
gboyd@fs.fed.us
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Rick Connell
NW Zone Rep
rconnell@fs.fed.us
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Tom Heintz
EMT IC
theintz@fs.fed.us
X
Jess Secrest
EMT IC
jsecrest@fs.fed.us
X
Rick Seidlitz
EMT IC(t)
rick@meaghercounty.org
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Phil Gill
NRCG Board
pjgill@blm.gov
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Randy Sanders
Eastern Zone Rep
rasanders@mt.gov
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Bob Fry
SCZ Rep/NR WMT IC
bobfry@mcn.net
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Diane Hutton
NR WFMT IC
dhutton@fs.fed.us
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John Monzie
DNRC
jmonzie@mt.gov
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Wally Bennett
DNRC
wbennett@mt.gov
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Bob Gilman
NR Fire Ops
rgilman@blm.gov
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Margaret Doherty
NR USFS Aviation officer
mdoherty@fs.fed.us
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Paul Fieldhouse
NR Training Center
pfieldhouse@fs.fed.us
Rick Kusicko
NID IC
rkusicko@fs.fed.us
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Wayne Williams
MT DNRC
wwilliams@mt.gov
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Bob Quirino
USFS
rquirino@fs.fed.us
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Doug Downs
US FWS
doug_downs@fws.gov
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Steve Frye
MT DNRC
sfrye@mt.gov
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Louis Hartjes
SWZ, FWS
louis_hartjes@fws.gov
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Kit Kemsley
SWZ, USFS/MIDC
kkemsley@fs.fed.us
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Biddy Simet
MT GNP - NWZ Bus rep
biddy_simet@nps.gov
X
Chuck Brenton
MT DNRC
cbrenton@mt.gov
X
20-Oct
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