By: Liv Stecker
In the wake of a firestorm that devastated communities across the state, local residents rallied to support fire fighting troops from all over the country. Dozens of homes were lost, along with civilian and firefighter lives as fires raged out of control and manpower was stretched thin across the region. As the tragic events unfolded, a new aspect of community involvement became part of the complex puzzle that responders were both helped and hindered by: social media.
The Chelan Complex blows up and surrounds the incident command post with fire (photo credit Christy Phillips)
With the evolution of Facebook groups like the Colville/Kettle Falls Classifieds, the Tri-County Fire Danger page and the Stevens County Volunteer page, among others, both residents and incident personnel alike found a place to track up-to-the-minute information and get urgent messages out to the public. The double edged sword of the two way communication also resulted in a lot of swirling rumors, inaccurate evacuation notices and a few dangerous misunderstandings, but it succeeded in expediting evacuations that county deputies were scrambling to implement. For the sake of both responders and civilians, mediators stepped in to quell the flood of unverified announcements and overall, social media became a useful tool in corralling the chaos.
In the interest of clearing up some of the muddy conversations that transpire on these emergency social media venues, it's important to define some of the organizational structures in Stevens County and beyond that come into play during catastrophes like we saw this August. Each county has an emergency planning team that is on standby for an event like we saw recently. Incident coordinators and planners step in to make sure that all communities needs are met in an emergency.
(photo credit: Gary Peterson Photography)
When a fire breaks out in Stevens County, local fire department resources including fire engines, water tenders and "brush trucks" (smaller, four wheel drive fire engines specifically for wildland fire) are dispatched. Usually each engine has anywhere from 1-3 people, depending on volunteer availability. These first responders are equipped to handle the "initial attack" phase of the fire. Their first priority is the protection of lives and homes, secondarily they are trained to try to catch wildfires in the initial stage. If the fire grows beyond a size that local districts can handle, they can call Stevens County Dispatch (the 911 center) in Colville and request mutual aid from outlying districts or the Department of Natural Resources. Depending on the size and the location, DNR and Forest Service engines may already be in the area and responding to the incident. Stevens County Dispatch coordinates with the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center to deploy state and federal resources.
It's important to understand that DNR and Forest Service resources, including fire engines and crews are dispatched through the Northwest Interagency Communications Center (NWICC) in Colville, which is different than Stevens County Dispatch. These two centers are well-oiled machines, operated by the best multi-tasking individuals you could hope to find. Stevens County Dispatch handles not only local fire department dispatches, but also all law enforcement and emergency medical dispatching as well. Every 911 call in Stevens County goes through this center, where a team of highly trained dispatchers field the calls and determine the best resources to send out. At NWICC, it's a similar story, except the dispatchers are managing state and federal fire resources across a region that spans the whole north east corner of the state. At any given time, a dispatch center will have many calls of different kinds at a multitude of different locations to handle, and they do it like rock stars.
The Marble Valley Fire breaks out August 14th. (photo credit Andrea Corcoran)
When a fire gets big enough that local resources and the closest DNR/USFS resources can't manage it, NWICC begins to dispatch the next tier of incident management in the form of a team. Incident Management Teams are classified by the size and complexity that they are qualified to manage. Starting out at type 3, which can handle small fires with several different kinds of resources including fire engines, hand crews and heavy equipment, and a few "values at risk" (structures, environmental threats, areas of importance to human use), they graduate to Type 2, equipped to manage many more resources and deal with values at risk strategically. Type 1 is the highest, most complex level of incident management, called in for large fires that are complicated by threats to life and many values at risk. The last time we saw a Type 1 incident in the tri county area was the 1987 White Mountain fire on Sherman Pass. This summer we have already had multiple type 2 Incident Management teams at play in Stevens, Ferry and Pend Oreille Counties. When several Incident Management Teams are working in a relatively small geographic area, an Area Command Team can be deployed to help coordinate resources on a larger scale. Either Area Command or Type 1 incidents are often where you will find troops from the National Guard helping out in the firefighting efforts. These teams are trained to managed a myriad of political and logistical issues that arise with so many agencies and moving parts at play. For more information about the Incident Command System and types of management teams, visit www.fema.gov.
Once state and federal fire resources are assigned to a fire, local resources are usually released to be able to take care of any new threats in their respective areas. In the event of a "State Mobilization", which is a statewide call to fire departments with mobilization agreements that goes out, and strike teams (groups of 5 like resources such as engines) will be deployed from around the state to report to the incident management team for support. Usually, engines that come from structure departments will be assigned to structure protection and evacuation while state and federal wildland crews attack the fire itself. Recently, a State Mobilization was called for the Marble Valley fire in the Arden area, but no state resources were available due to massive uncontrolled fires in Chelan and other places around the state. When a "state of emergency" is declared, it ups the ante even more, and upon approval by the governor, grants the state authority to deploy National Guard resources and direct more funding to the specific site. This happened at Marble Valley on August 14th.
(photo credit: Gary Peterson Photography)
As fire crews arrive, the rows of soot-covered, green and yellow clad firefighters are a force to be reckoned with. After local fire department first responders, the next tier of firefighter from the state or federal agencies is an engine or a type II hand crew. Engines come in several types and sizes and are manned by 2-6 people, depending on their designation. Type II hand crews consist of 20 firefighters (occasionally 10) who go into the fire on foot, digging hand line and running lines of hose for miles through rugged terrain. Initial Attack Hand Crews have a few extra qualifications that allow them to operate with some autonomy on incidents. There are privately contracted type II hand crews in addition to state and federally staffed units. There are also type II 20 man hand crews that are staffed by inmates from state correctional facilities, a rehabilitation program that non-violent offenders can participate in.
Even more elite than the die-hard Type II crews are the Type I hand crews, known as Interagency Hotshot Crews, or IHCs. The hotshots come from almost every state and consist of 20 well-seasoned firefighters, including highly qualified chain sawyers. They come prepared to hike into remote wilderness locations and be completely self sufficient for days at a time, packing in MREs (Meals Ready to Eat - military style), water and gear. In areas that would take too long for hotshots to access, federal agencies will send in smokejumpers. These hard-core men and women jump from a couple thousand feet in the air into burning trees. They are used for hard to reach fires that can be contained with a handful of crazy tough people, hand tools and chainsaws. A smokejumper carries over 100 lbs of gear on a jump, and they usually jump along with a support bundle that includes chain saws, fuel and medical gear. In addition to jumpers, some federal agencies staff rappel crews, usually 10 or less people who rappel on ropes out of helicopters into remote locations to fight small fires. Again, these people are the toughest of the tough and have to hike out with all of the gear that they go in with. Some of them are paid just over minimum wage.
(photo credit: Gary Peterson Photography)
These firefighters are supported by a complex web of logistical management, through local emergency management and/or an incident management team. Section chiefs control every aspect from field operations: fire fighting strategy and tactics; to logistics: feeding and providing camp and showers for hundreds of people; to public information, responsible for keeping the worried communities informed and involved. Safety officers are deployed to make sure no corners are cut and everyone comes out alive. Ground support is staffed to make sure that transportation and equipment hauling is taken care of. Local agency and community liaisons keep in stride with the Public Information Officer and make sure that the Incident Management Team is aware of local issues. Dispatch works with the communications unit to set up a set of radio repeater frequencies to handle all of the fire radio traffic without jamming up local channels. Local law enforcement works with incident command to ensure community safety in travel routes and facilitate any evacuations. Medical units are staffed to provide emergency and minor clinical care to the firefighters.
Emergency management is an ever changing machine full of moving parts that are slightly different in every incident. Every community, every piece of ground, every fire is different. The incident management system is designed to change and flow with the specific needs of each emergency.
(photo credit: Gary Peterson Photography)
Civilians come out in droves to support the firefighting forces that are on scene to protect the values at risk. Understanding how the process works can make it easier for the public to help in an emergency situation. Things to avoid doing would include flooding local dispatch centers with phone calls or travelling toward an emerging incident to check it out. Reducing local traffic can help tremendously, as does staying tuned in to communication channels that are quickly becoming common place through social media, and emergency call back systems like Hyper-Reach Notification. Try to trust the process that emergency managers have in place to get the necessary information disseminated. Pay attention to calls for volunteers in evacuee relief centers or needs for donations.
On large fires, communities will donate items ranging from food and water to new socks and underwear and toothpaste, toothbrushes and razors. The long duration of some fires leaves firefighters short on necessities when they have packed for the standard 14 days. Last summer, the Chiwakum and Carleton Complex fires lasted for months and went through many phases of fire, flood and recovery. Firefighters were on the ground for every step and the shattered community rallied around them, providing personal supplies that would have been otherwise inaccessible to the crews. Local bakeries sent donuts and cakes, and cookies from neighborhood families trickled in at a steady pace. Regular meals, water, gatorade and basic firefighting supplies, including a limited amount of medical care are provided to firefighters through the state and federal funds that are set aside for fire season. In the event of a major disaster, emergency responders can request more funding and help from FEMA, but most primary incident funding comes from an annual budget that is distributed nationwide through local agencies as incidents emerge.
In Ione, during the Baldy fire in August of this year, locals began to donate cash to the local coffee shop to provide free coffees to the firefighters. Even with the firefighters taking advantage of the offer, community residents donated so much that there was more on hand than could be spent on coffee. The owner of HWY 31 Grind decided to donate the sizeable excess to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, a group dedicated to supporting the family of fallen or injured firefighters across the country. The impact of an influx of hundreds of firefighters into a tiny community is noticeable. The only gas station in Ione saw a quick surge in business as every engine and crew carrier filled up on their way to the line. Local stores and restaurants are pulled in to cater for fire crews both at the beginning and end of events, or when a big contracted caterer isn't logistically feasible. For some small incidents, resources are housed at local hotels and farmed out to eat at restaurants, which is less expensive than maintaining a fully outfitted camp with shower trailers, toilets, lights and food. Again, all of these costs are covered under the fire budget, but often volunteer departments spend the first few days without this logistical or financial support, as we saw in the Marble Valley and Carpenter Road Fires. Local citizens rallied around the troops and overwhelmed them with donations until management teams took over.
Across the board, the appreciation between firefighters and community members is mutual. Fire resources know that it's a stressful event for the community, and some small towns are not prepared for a sudden population increase. But the gratitude is palpable. In Walla Walla, hundreds of residents lined the streets as fire crews returned to camp from the Blue Mountain Fire line, waving posters and shouting thanks. In Ione, signs were hung from almost every fence in town, declaring the communities love and support for the firefighters.
Often the unsung heroes are the dispatchers in the busy communications centers and the emergency management planners running full throttle behind the scenes to keep the machine moving. As a community, don't forget the unseen forces that are at work. Remember that fire fighting has many phases, and be thankful for the peace of mind that those big engines rolling through town bring. Watch social media for acceptable ways to plug in and help out, and keep the bad information to a minimum by not recycling anything that doesn't come from law enforcement or emergency management. Often even the random firefighter on the ground won't have an accurate picture of the whole incident, and they shouldn't be approached for important information about containment and evacuations. Let them do their job and trust the rest of the team to get the information out. Be patient. Emergencies, by their very nature are controlled chaos at best, and to expect fast answers and solutions is wishful thinking.
Keep up the good work, supporting your neighbors and friends. Sign up to volunteer with your local fire department and get trained up for the next fire season. As we saw this year, there are not enough of these brave troops on the ground out there. Consider taking an EMT course or getting otherwise involved in emergency management in the area. Volunteer for the Red Cross before an incident hits so that when the need arises, you will be ready. Be patient with responders and always remember that there is a bigger picture than you see as you drive by the carnage of a terrible fire. Stay involved, stay alert and work toward a more firewise community with the rest of us!
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