USFS should delegate aerial supervisors to fight wild fires?
Below is a very caustic (appropriate?) article about the U.S. Forest Service’s insistence that a “federal employee” must be the aerial supervisor controlling flights attacking the horrid Airport fires. The primary message from a fire chief is the USFS “conflict of interest” rules. Such ethical rules have valid purposes, but an absolute BRIGHT LINE is a simplistic solution when all such questions tend to be highly nuanced and when there may be AN ALTERNATIVE that maintains integrity and attacks the problem.
The first and premier policy context to be considered is that federal/state/local authorities are battling to preserve our nation’s wildlands, property and people in the MIDST OF THIS GLOBAL FIRE THREAT. In an ironic twist of fate, climate change looks to require MORE FLIGHTS TO FIGHT AN ENVIRONMENTALLY INDUCED CHALLENGE—UNCONTROLLED FOREST FIRES. The aircraft at issue here
are especially suited to combat these blazes at night. Leniency in applying this rule may be justified solely by this destructive phenomenon.
A second consideration, the an inadequate fleet of firefighting aircraft (“fixed wing, rotorcraft and UASs) should merit utilization of all available aviation assets (a squad of night-flying, converted military helicopters that can fly in the dark and each drop 3,000 gallons of water and fire retardant.”) Their aerial supervisors are experts in safety (an incredibly important, but rare, qualification). Providing some leeway appears appropriate for such an exigency and beyond until some permanent resolution can be designed.
A final rational for reconsideration, one that covers all bureaucratic concerns, is found in a GAO report—
a long study of all the federal agencies involved in combating wildfires suggested that there may be better practices to deal with these catastrophes. Another point for a different approach.
Delegation to act on behalf of the federal government has been an extremely effective solution to the lack of employees needed to assure that performance meets rigorous standards. It can be lawful and appropriate to designate a qualified individual to act on behalf of USFS Director Charles F. “Chuck” Sams. The person so designated would be obligated to perform her/his duties in compliance with the USFS directions. Any FAILURE TO MEET THOSE REQUIREMENTS would result in immediate termination of this special privilege plus possible personal sanctions. A service provider receiving favorable treatment could also be subject to negative consequences .
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has a long history of delegating certain tasks to private individuals and organizations to leverage expertise and manage resources efficiently. SINCE 1927 this program has successfully provided necessary surveillance/assessment (performing various certification tasks) of pilot health, pilot proficiency, aircraft design, proof of meeting engineering criteria, noise, production quality, and airworthiness inspections. This system has allowed the FAA to carefully manage the growing demands of the aviation industry while maintaining high safety standards.
USFS should help communities respond to wildfires by appointing qualified third parties to provide the essential AERIAL SUPERVISORS in this national campaign.
U.S. Forest Service, Calif. fire agencies battle over wildfire aviation policies
A requirement that all aerial supervisors be government employees and the use of contractors has become a point of contention
October 05, 2024, 08:00 AM
By Tony Saavedra, Sean Emery
The Orange County Register
ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. — The Orange County Fire Authority and U.S. Forest Service are battling over ACCUSATIONS THAT USFS POLICIES GROUNDED AN ELITE AERIAL UNIT DURING MAJOR FIRES and left the Cleveland National Forest susceptible to the recent Airport blaze that torched 23,526 acres.
The recriminations have caught the attention of Southern California congressional members who want answers from Forest Service officials.
One point of contention involves the Southern California-based Quick Reaction Force, a squad of night-flying, converted military helicopters that can fly in the dark and each drop 3,000 gallons of water and fire retardant.
The force’s operators, led by Orange County Fire Authority Chief BRIAN FENNESSY, allege the USFS at times grounded the team during one of the busiest fire seasons in recent history.
In September alone, wildfires have devoured nearly 118,000 acres and caused millions of dollars in damages to property in Orange, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Riverside counties.
Aerial supervisors at issue
The crux of the issue: for the last four years, U.S. Forest Service policy has required that all aerial supervisors — who direct traffic whenever more than two aircraft are used — MUST BE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES. They don’t have to work for the U.S. Forest Service, but they must work for a government agency. This policy applies only to fires in national wildlands or using USFS resources.
The main reason for the policy, says Forest Service spokesperson Adrienne Freeman, is TO AVOID A CONFLICT OF INTEREST. Contractors in the firefighting aircraft get paid partially by how many drops they make, and so the USFS doesn’t want contractors supervising contractors, Freeman said.
“The policy isn’t there for show, it’s to create accountability for tax dollars,” she said.
Freeman acknowledged, however, that enforcement has been spotty the past few years, allowing the Quick Reaction Force to fly using a contracted aerial supervisor provided by OCFA rather than a government employee. But now the USFS is coming down on the Quick Reaction Force, sparking accusations from Fennessy and other chiefs that bureaucracy is blocking their firefighting efforts and endangering lives.
In a written statement, Fennessy said the Quick Reaction Force uses retired aerial supervisors who’ve worked for the Forest Service and other government agencies and are among the best in the business. In the California market, aerial supervisors are hard to come by, especially those trained to fly at night, which makes the Quick Reaction Force somewhat unique.
Fennessy said his department doesn’t have the “mechanism” to hire an OCFA aerial supervisor for the Quick Reaction Force. The team consists of four contract aircraft with night vision, including three Chinook helitankers each capable of dropping 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant, one supervisor helicopter and a mobile base that can mix 18,000 gallons of retardant per hour.
“This program is operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and has been successful in meeting our objective of suppressing 95% of wildland fires at 10 acres or less,” said a letter sent by Fennessy and other force administrators, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone and Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner, to members of Congress in early September.
During the recent Line fire, which burned more than 39,000 acres in San Bernardino County, the Quick Reaction Force could not use its full contingent of helicopters because of the Forest Service’s policy, diminishing its ability to fight the blaze. The force’s aerial supervision copter also was called off the 54,000-acre Bridge fire in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, again hampering firefighting efforts, according to reports provided by Fennessy.
He said the Quick Reaction Force also was sidelined during major fires in Los Angeles, Butte and Kern counties in July.
With such a successful firefighting tool, the three fire chiefs are asking Congress to get the USFS to rescind its policy so “the communities we serve have available to them the resources they deserve and expect.”
…
“Our desire is to sit down and meet with the USFS to work through a change in policy,” Fennessy said in a written statement.
