ON THIS DAY 05. April 2020
Fire Explorers memories: Greg Greenhoe
Author Kelly AnderssonPosted on Categories TrainingLeave a comment on Fire Explorers memories: Greg Greenhoe ~ Memories from Greg Greenhoe, from 30 years ago:
It was the fall of 1994 and the adult leaders and several fire explorers walked into the Angeles National Forest Supervisor’s Office and inquired whether we would consider sponsoring their Fire Explorer Post. Their sponsor at the time was the City of South Pasadena Fire Department, who had decided to go with a Fire Cadet program and terminate their relationship with Explorer Post 99.
I said why not — this could be a good way to recruit young wildland firefighters into our temporary ranks.
With the help of Training Officer Jim Hall and a large number of rank-and-file firefighters from stations and crews all over the forest, the Post was launched. In the spring of 1995 we hosted the first Wildland Firefighter Explorer Academy at Little Tujunga. Now 30 years later the ANF has three Explorer Posts and is hosting their 30th annual academy.
Graduates of the program are now in leadership positions throughout the Forest Service and other agencies. Hats off to all those who have carried the torch and kept this program going over the years — I’m impressed!
FROM GREG:
(currently in travel status)
Just got off the phone with one of my explorers from Class #1 in 1995!
He’s a retired San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputy.
We worked on the Angeles for 5 years. The kid was on the cover of the September 1997 Firehouse Magazine. Haven’t talked to him in 25 years!
Letter from the Chief
It’s been my intention since becoming Chief to rebuild 50% of our non-fire workforce capacity after the 38% drop we experienced in the last 15 years. Our collective efforts have gotten us there – we have hired over 4,000 non-fire employees in the last two years. The hiring actions we undertook were necessary to rebuild the agency to core functionality – and to deliver on the increased expectations that the historic investment of BIL and IRA funds brought to the agency. These capacity increases have led to significant progress in achieving the objectives of major initiatives like the Wildfire Crisis Strategy; the Tribal Action Plan; the Climate Action Plan and the Equity Action Plan, as well as record levels of contracts, grants and agreements executed with a wide array of partners. We have renewed our commitment to equity in our work, working with tribes and underrepresented communities to enact meaningful projects in the communities we serve. I’m proud of the progress we’ve made and grateful to all of you for the incredible work you’ve done to get us here.
Now that we have our FY 2024 final appropriations, we need to make some adjustments in our operating procedures to live within the budget we’ve been given. I want to reiterate that Congress and the American people value the critical work the Forest Service does. We demonstrate our value each and every day. Congress also had to make some difficult decisions this year and those decisions impact the Forest Service. Overall, the agency’s appropriations are down some from last year. Outside of our wildland fire programs, this takes many of our programs back to FY 2022 levels. In addition, while I’m pleased that Congress provided cost of living adjustments for all federal employees at a 5.2% level, they did not provide the agency with funding to pay for those costs outside of wildland fire. As such, we must find ways to absorb the increases within our constrained budget. I also want to clearly acknowledge that our employees face critical challenges in increased costs in housing, utilities, food and other necessities.
While we continue to have supplemental funds like BIL, IRA and GAOA, we need to set ourselves up for the future where those funds will be waning or no longer available. We’ve always known we needed to plan for that eventuality, but the combination of a lower budget and unfunded cost of living adjustments means we are there sooner than we thought. We need to take concrete steps on hiring now to live within this new budget reality.
I want to clearly lay out the steps for a strategic hiring assessment here.
-
- We will temporarily stop processing non-fire permanent full-time hiring/staffing related actions as of now so we can get a clear understanding of exactly what is in the system including the number of new Forest Service employees we expect to onboard in the coming months. We will not withdraw any final offers that have already been made and will continue with onboarding activities associated with those offers.
- We will strategically assess current hiring actions and those planned by all Units for the remainder of the fiscal year.
- We will identify the hiring actions that can be filled by current Forest Service employees to ensure we are providing supervision and leadership for our employees as well as development and promotion opportunities.
- When the assessment is complete, we will collectively prioritize which positions will be allowed to move forward where there is a high likelihood that an external candidate might be selected (e.g. a new Forest Service employee) and which positions will be filled when they become vacant for the remainder of the year.
- We remain committed to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in our hiring. When our agency reflects the communities we serve, we are more equitable, effective and successful. Whether we are growing, stabilizing or decreasing in staffing, it is important that our hiring processes and outcomes foster a workforce that represents the diversity of our country.
- Fire hire will continue as most events are nearly complete for this fire year.
- Non-fire temporary and permanent seasonal hiring will continue as most of these activities are nearly complete for the upcoming season.
- Temporary promotions and details may continue but we ask that NLC members be prudent in their usage since the intent of the assessment is to have stability in the system.
- Other personnel actions such as (but not limited to) lateral reassignments; conversions of employees on Pathways, VRA and Schedule A appointments; career ladder promotions; within grade increases; and awards are not impacted by this strategic assessment of hiring and will continue.
I want to be clear that this is not a hiring freeze but a strategic assessment of hiring. To effectively do that strategic evaluation requires that we have some time where the system is stable. I expect these actions to be complete in no later than 30 days. We will resume
Texas hearings live
Author Kelly AnderssonPosted on Categories Insurance, Prevention, WildfireLeave a comment on Texas hearings live Here’s a tip from Michael Archer’s “Wildfire News of the Day”
ABC 7 in Amarillo is livestreaming the Texas House Committee that’s investigating the deadly Panhandle wildfires; it resumes testimony today in Pampa.Before testimony began, Chairman Ken King, R-Canadian, said Osmose decided the company does not need to participate in the investigation. Osmose is a third-party contractor that inspects power poles for Xcel Energy. The company is named in some of the wildfire related lawsuits.
According to one of the lawsuits, the pole determined to be the ignition source of the Smokehouse Creek Fire should have been removed after it was inspected by Osmose earlier this year.
Day 2 of testimony in legislative hearings on deadly Panhandle wildfires:
One of the witnesses is explaining that without the many loads of water and retardant dumped on the Smokehouse Fire, his town would have completely burned to the ground. (Remember as you listen that the references to the “Forest Service” is not the federal USDA agency — it’s Texas A&M Forest Service.)
Here’s Day 1 of testimony, with a transcript:
Bring another round of brews …
This is the most-fun note in my inbox for at least a couple of months.
Likely more. [cheers]
From: Eric Malofsky Subject: Scooper Beer Hey y’all. Longtime subscriber here.
I just wanted to message you and share that Trans Canada Brewing up here in Manitoba took my suggestion to immortalize the venerable CL-215 by brewing an ale dedicated to fire aircraft -- it's the Scooper Pale Ale!
Not sure how far abroad availability will be, but I know for sure it will be well-received after alerts on tanker bases around here! CHEERS, Eric
“Welcome to our newest seasonal series beer, Scooper Pale Ale,” says Trans Canada. “The CL-215, an iconic Canadian waterbomber commonly referred to as a Scooper, has been guarding the Canadian wilderness for decades. This pale ale boasts tropical and citrus notes with a refreshing bitterness to create a thirst-quenching finish.”
Trans Canada Brewing Co. also makes the FLYING OTTER Light Lager, complete with just about the coolest and most iconic and awesome brew logo EVER, so they can’t be all bad.
⇠ ⇠ Does the Flying Otter lager logo make you think of FirePirates, I mean fire pilots, who drove Twin Otters, I mean twatters, for smokejumpers ????? Yeah, me too !
Trans Canada has a brewery, a taproom, and a general store in Winnipeg’s southwest corner. The company is Manitoba-owned and 100 percent independent — and they’ve got some dandy vintage-style art on their website:
The more you look at that art the better you will like it.
I fully expect this SCOOPER pale ale will become just as iconic with firefighters as Moose Drool (and its family of seasonal delicious brews from Big Sky Brewing) became some years ago in the Northern Rockies fire region.
And the SCOOPER pale ale’s only “available seasonally,” so heads-up on when and where you’ll find it.
— and —
BIG CHEERS and un fuerte abrazo to Our Pal Eric Malofsky for suggesting in the nicest most persuasive way to Trans Canada Brewing Co. that they oughta make us a pale ale branded with a CL-215 ! He just happens to be a 215 mechanic.
(And BTW anyone who ships me a can or six of either one wins a bonus prize.)
This is awesome, thank you so much for the article! I'm glad you like it; we've had quite the response since putting this beer out into the market. I just shipped a case to Quebec to some of the pilots out there yesterday. One thing about our brands is there is always some sort of easter egg hidden in the label. The Scooper label has an Otter plane in the background, and our Flying Otter label is modeled after a Royal Canadian Airforce recruitment poster. Thanks again, I'm going to share this article around the office!
Cheers,
Emma Houldsworth
Brand & Marketing Leader
Trans Canada Brewing Co.
1-1290 Kenaston Blvd., Winnipeg MB R3P 0R7
Burn boss trial moving from Grant County, Oregon to federal court
Author Kelly AnderssonPosted on Categories Prescribed Fire22 Comments on Burn boss trial moving from Grant County, Oregon to federal court Lawyers representing Ricky Snodgrass, the burn boss who was arrested by the sheriff in Grant County, Oregon, are working to move the arresting-a-federal-employee case to U.S. District Court in Pendleton.
Snodgrass had a scheduled appearance on the first of April on the reckless burning charge that followed the local district attorney’s indictment of the burn boss during a prescribed fire on the Malheur National Forest in the fall of 2022.
The D.A. was served with a notice about moving the case to federal court, where charges will likely be immediately dropped.
Kirk Siegler, in his Morning Edition report on NPR, explained that Snodgrass’s arrest and the (much) later indictment were based on a “reckless” burning charge when a spot fire somehow ignited in dry grass across the road from a planned and approved and publicized prescribed fire — grass on the property of the Holliday Ranch, an adjacent landowner. Some of the landowner’s family members and/or friends had been driving up and down the road between the ranch and USFS property, harassing the firefighters, before Snodgrass finally called police to report the problems.
[note: Though Siegler calls this a “reckless burn” charge, Ricky Snodgrass was charged with “reckless burning” by the sheriff.]
After Snodgrass phoned in the harassment and reckless driving by locals, the sheriff in John Day responded to the incident, found Snodgrass supervising the burn under way by federal and state and contract crews, and instead of citing the locals, arrested the burn boss.
Sheriff McKinley handcuffed him, arrested him for “reckless burning,” and drove him into town to the jail in John Day — where he was quickly released.
The burn boss arrest very quickly hit the news and ignited controversy — far beyond Oregon and the wildland fire community. The story was picked up by news organizations including the Washington Post, The Guardian, NBC News, ABC News, Reuters, and others. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore quickly vowed he and the agency would “not stand idly by” after this first-ever arrest, and that he and others would defend USFS employees.
The county D.A. Jim Carpenter in October of 2022 indicted the burn boss on a charge of so-called reckless burning.
Sheriff McKinley eventually completed his investigation and presented the case to Carpenter for review, and on February 2, 2024, the case was finally presented to a grand jury, which returned an indictment against Ricky Snodgrass for Reckless Burning, ORS 164.335, a Class A misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to a year in jail and a $6,250 fine.
In the State of Oregon, a person commits the crime of reckless burning if the person recklessly damages property of another by fire or explosion. Not long after Snodgrass’ arrest, Carpenter laid out what he said was the legal standard for determining whether a burn is reckless. “The risk must be of such nature and degree that disregard thereof constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the situation,” he said.
The head of the NFFE union said the sheriff had interfered with a federal employee in the course of his duties, and one or more of the firefighters under direction of the burn boss pointed this out to Sheriff McKinley on that day. Snodgrass was directing a federal project and supervising crews — not just USFS but also ODF and contract fire crews — on a large prescribed burn, one of a series of planned and approved and publicized burns on the Malheur National Forest.
To no one’s surprise, Sheriff Todd McKinley has declined interview requests.
Grant County officials told NPR the arrest is being overblown. “One man doing his job kind of caused the other one to have to do his,” said Scott Myers, the judge and CEO for Grant County in John Day. He claims the weather conditions that day probably weren’t favorable for a burn — despite the alignment with the specs in the burn plan — and he says the fire somehow “damaged” private property — though neigher Myers nor anyone else has actually claimed this publicly or explained what they’re talking about.
Despite the adjacent landowners’ talk, the slopover across the road blackened not quite 20 acres and was contained inside of an hour — even though the project supervisor had been removed — not by the ranchers but by the federal and/or state and/or contract crews assigned by the USFS to the RxFire.
The eastern Oregon region has a long history of mistrust of and antagonism toward the federal government. Local residents for years before that ranted about how the UN and NATO had a plot under way to take over all federal lands in eastern Oregon — somehow in cahoots, they said, with the Chinese Communist Party.
Trump won the county’s 2020 election with 76 percent of the vote. It’s a sparsely populated place, with just over 7000 people scattered over about 4500 square miles — averaging fewer than two people per square mile.
Grant County has a long history of tension with federal agencies and employees, despite the large number of locals employed by federal agencies in and around John Day. It’s the same kind of tension that stormed the National Capitol on January 06, 2021 — and back in 2016 took over and occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge about 100 miles south in neighboring Harney County.
Not quite 30 years ago, county voters approved a symbolic measure “prohibiting the federal Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service from owning and managing federal lands within Grant County.”
Grant County later asked Congress to grant the county title to all federal lands — about 60 percent of the acreage in the county.
During the 41-day armed occupation in 2016 of the Malheur NWR, several militia members led by Ammon Bundy (who has since disappeared after being successfully sued for defamation by a hospital in Boise) were driving to John Day to meet with supporters. They ran into a police roadblock, and LaVoy Finicum was fatally shot by law enforcement.
Grant County chief executive Scott Myers claims that relations between the county and federal employees have since improved.
“We get labeled a lot to be a whole bunch of gun-totin’ pickup-drivin’ crazy maniacs out here, and I don’t really think we are,” he told NPR.
Thanks and a tip of the hardhat to CARL for this story, but don’t bother looking for news updates from the paper in John Day, because their editor’s now “monetizing their content” behind a paywall.
