Not only will you have to sleep in the dirt, but also cook your own meals and have someone on bear patrol, plus by the time the logistics of getting strike teams to Alaska from California sorted out, it will be snowing.
You also have to remember that the Alaska Fire Service is BLM.
2 Likes
Snow would help a lot. Probably more cost effective too 
3 Likes
The only CalOES you’ll see on a fire are chiefs and I’ll guarantee they are not sleeping in the dirt. The MMA requires firefighters be provided with “Covered Climate Controlled accommodations”. This can be accomplished with yurts, sleeper trailers or hotels.
1 Like
That last half of that sentence says “when reasonably possible”. Sleeping in the dirt for CA local gov happens often.
5 Likes
Speaking from the Logistics Section maybe I should have added not on a CalFire managed incident. We work very hard with the CalOES AReps to meet not only the verbiage but the intent of that clause. Also may I add there is a similar statement concerning operational needs in the contract between CalFire and it’s employees and the clause has been mimicked in most union contracts with LG employee groups.
1 Like
I am a LG captain who went out of state under the CFAA in an overhead position, on a Fed fire, worked 12’s, slept in a tent and it was high 20’s low 30’s. Your generalizations are weak…
4 Likes
You are a LG Captain speaking from your experience on a Fed fire as an overhead. I am speaking as a LSC! on Calfire incidents and how we take care of folks hired under the CFAA. If you were not taken care of to your standards your first contact should have been the CalOES ARep.
1 Like
That’s actually not the point. The point is that we were taken care of best could be and there was no reason to call anybody. It was a remote deployment that only offered these accommodations. There were several California based LG personnel there all experiencing the same conditions. Why? Because we are all firefighters doing our job in a reasonable fashion. There was no need to contact an AREP or the OES Region Chief.
3 Likes
Not sure about the “beer” thing. The govt. is responsible for all employees actions while in “travel status”. Crew personnel can’t just wander off and do their thing. Back in the day there were “closed camps” but pay issues started coming into play about being denied the right to leave. Entire crews have been “released” from incidents due to alcohol and fitness-for-duty. If you are working 16’s most likely getting 5-6 hrs. of sleep max. so rest is surely a priority. R&R on the other hand is a little different while in travel status as far as alcohol consumption but still it ain’t a free-for-all…
2 Likes
That was a big issue on cedar(?)fire in Kern county when a few guys got to rowdy in town…If I remember right they ended up making it a closed camp for a couple days.
This thread has begun to somewhat digress. Please try to keep it on topic, professional, and respectful. Please do not let this turn into the same old infighting that typically occurs when the season has been a little slow. We are all on the same team no matter who we work for. Respectfully, NCFFOBS
9 Likes
Let’s actually think about this before we start going crazy. Everyone in the country is having a slow season. Why would they send local departments up to Alaska when most fed crews are sitting or prepo? Of course they’re going to take the crews that actually travel all over the country to fight fire rather than just up and down interstate 5. Plus not enough hotels for 2 Charlie strike teams in most towns up there.
3 Likes
Then why was there whining about CalFire and motels?
Think you got me confused with someone else bud, my statements were quite the contrary, I fact it spoke of how there was no problem with sleeping in tents when it was very cold because the incident provided the accommodations most reasonably available.
1 Like
100% true, I was in no way saying we are ever free to do whatever we want and I did say “A” beer… Fit for duty is fit for duty. P2P would clear up a lot of things. especially the griping over justifying “no lunch break due to extreme fire behavior” while being hooched up on some cold division…
Mia Culpa!
1 Like
Cal LG and Ditto that !! The only way to fly 
1 Like
We need a fire already to stop this ridiculous banter
25 Likes
Amen brother
7 Likes
Copy that, or hit they streams, they are fishable now…Get those flies or rooster tails out and hit it.
3 Likes