Agencies discuss fire suppression

Representatives from several area agencies met with Sanders County Commissioners last week to discuss the process and procedures of fire suppression. The meeting was led by Plains/Thompson Falls District Ranger Dave Wrobleski and Cabinet District Ranger Michael Feiger as well as County Emergency Management Specialist Bill Naegeli.

During the meeting last Wednesday, one of the main speakers was Ron Swaney, Fire Suppression Management Officer for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. He explained that there are some tribal fire efforts in the eastern portion of the county. His organization hires almost exclusively through the tribe and their area of operation is predominantly within tribal borders. “We’ll join forces in order to keep fires small,” Swaney noted. His sentiments were echoed throughout the meeting, with many other representatives stating that most suppression groups will tackle any fire they see and sort out who “owns” the fire after it is suppressed.

Swaney also stated that the firefighters “prioritize fires based on values at risk,” explaining that fires that more directly endanger things like homes and people are prioritized higher than ones farther out in the wilderness. Swaney mentioned throughout the meeting the need for more preparation. “One thing that’s missing in our fire scheme is that we need to do more burning,” said Swaney, referring to systematic controlled burns ahead of fire season.

All parties agreed that the fire suppression environment is changing. Feiger spoke about fire seasons starting earlier each year. He explained that because the various services contribute resources to fires that occur in other places in the state, those resources are more depleted and have seen more wear and tear by the time the local high fire season starts. One reason given for this was a lack of available resources in the first place. The group spoke of helicopter crews being scarcer as other higher paying and less dangerous jobs become more available to pilots. They also spoke of the lack of available vehicles and higher operating costs. “The guy that laces his boots up, that’s where it starts,” noted Commissioner Glen Magara. He was referring to where the backbone in fire suppression is, and the main problem the forest service seems to be facing.

“We are down 39% from 2002,” Assistant Fire Management Officer for the Cabinet District Dusty Pierson said of recruitment into the Forest Service as a whole. All other departments echoed the same concern that there are fewer firefighters taking on the job, as well as far less people to operate the equipment. Feiger mentioned that the average age of those still operating machines for fire suppression is close to the life expectancy of the average person. Feiger also spoke about the difficulty in the Sanders County area finding affordable housing for recruits, a problem now being echoed across the state. Another dilemma resulting from this was highlighted in an interview with Naegeli after the meeting. He explained the void left is now being filled by other Forest Service fire suppression personnel that then cannot do their other jobs, including management, recruitment and other tasks. He explained that these jobs are now experiencing a backlog.

Commissioner Claude Burlingame asked about budget constraints in pay, and all parties explained that the wage for wildland firefighters just went up to over $15 per hour, and so they believe pay is not the issue. Magera added that he thinks it a shame that young people do not seem to want to get out in the woods and work. With the increase in fire hostility in recent years, limited resources and the ones being used well past regular wear and tear, Feiger compared the situation to “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic,” saying that no matter where the resources go, there is still not enough.