Communication, Prevention and Investigation (CPI) Working Team 12-13-11 mtg notes
Date/location
The meeting was held by telephone conference on Dec. 13, 2011
In attendance
Nancy Hirsch, PNWCG Steering Committee
Claire McGrew, Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM)
Jim Walker, Office of the State Fire Marshal
Sandy Williams, Washington Dept. of Natural Resources (WADNR)
Esther Hernandez, Washington State Patrol (WSP)
Tom Knappenberger, USDA Forest Service
Kelly Niles, Oregon Dept. of Forestry (ODF)
Jeff Bonebrake, Oregon Dept. of Forestry
Rod Nichols, Oregon Dept. of Forestry
Review and approval of Oct. meeting notes: Approved
Prevention conference
Kelly reported on the Fire Prevention conference scheduled Feb. 13-17, 2012, at Salishan. The
conference agenda has been published to the Daily Dispatch web. He said there is a perception of the
conference as strictly an ODF and OFMA (Oregon Fire Marshals’ Association) event. He would like to see
broader attendance with more organizations represented. He asked the Working Team to distribute the
conference announcement to their networks.
In planning for the 2012 conference, Kelly said they considered holding it in other areas including
Central Oregon and Portland, but those locations didn’t work out. Sandy and Esther said they aren’t
allowed to attend conferences outside Washington, even in Portland, due to state budget constraints.
PIO class request update
Per the WT’s previous discussion of PIO course needs, Claire said Jim Walker spoke with Mike Gomez,
Regional Training Center in Redmond, about scheduling 200-level Incident Command System (ICS)
courses. Gomez said each year a request goes out for 300- and 400-level courses, and then the center
schedules them. The CPI would need to work through the center to get 400-level PIO courses offered.
Currently the focus is on courses in suppression and leadership, so the CPI must show that there is a
greater need in the area zones for the PIO courses, or else the CPI would need to put on the courses
itself.
Tom said we need to have the S203 course offered annually in order to get people started as PIOs.
Sandy asked if the PNWCG training committee might be the place to start? Jim said that that works for
400-level courses, but 200-level courses need to be initiated at the local agency level. The WT could
consult with PNWCG member agencies about setting up an S203 course.
Tom said Kris Ericksen with the National Incident Management Organization (NIMO) team is willing to
help teach an S203 course in the region in 2012.
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Sandy suggested calling Joel Rogauskas, Washington DNR’s training officer, to see if he could help set up
an S203 course.
Steering Committee Task Orders
Nancy received a Task Order tracking sheet last week and said it did not list any task orders for the CPI.
However, a PNWCG Steering Committee workshop is scheduled for Feb. 14 and 15, 2012, probably in
Portland. She will provide details as they become available. She advised that the CPI might want to bring
forth ideas/suggestions for task orders at the workshop.
Ready, Set, Go! program introduced in Oregon
Claire attended a conference in Bend recently about this national campaign to educate the public about
evacuations in the wildland-urban interface when wildfire threatens. She will send information links
about the program to the CPI members. She asked the members to provide her any helpful interface
resources they are aware of.
Reports from group
Jeff – He is working with two co-sponsors to offer the wildfire investigation FI-310 course in Central
Oregon in 2012. He will provide additional information on other wildfire investigation courses to be
offered next year as it becomes available.
Esther – Budget cuts are having a significant impact on her agency.
Tom – Jeree Mills is retiring. She worked on the Mount Hood National Forest and each summer headed
up the information desk at the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center in Portland.
Claire – An increase in fatalities this year prompted her agency to focus on home heating safety. The
State Fire Marshal’s office continues to undergo restructuring of its education outreach. She noted that
Tom Fields, Oregon Dept. of Forestry’s new fire prevention coordinator, will be a part of the WT in
future, and Trish Hogervorst, public affairs officer with the Bureau of Land Management, will join as
well.
Nancy – The federal agencies’ annual Fire Operations Safety Training conference is scheduled for March
13-15, 2012. This event may be of interest to the CPI. She encouraged the WT to contact her with any
needs that arise in the coming year.
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