After Action Review (AAR)? – WTF – Terminology and Context Actually Matters

Today, the Orange County Fire Authority has published the above document on the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned website. While the document has some great info and lessons learned, they (ORC) are completely missing out on what an After Action Review (AAR) actually is. HERE is the Orange County report from the Station Fire.

• Call it an Incident Review 
• Call it a Facilitated Learning Analysis (FLA) 
• Call it an Accident Prevention Analysis (APA) / Lessons Learned Analysis (LLA)  
• Call it a Serious Accident Investigation (SAI) or Serious Accident Review (SAR)
• Call it Story Telling by the folks who were there
  

… But, PLEASE don’t call it or confuse it with an After Action Review (AAR). 

The report from the Orange County Fire Authority is a great document with lessons learned for the wildland firefighting community….. but it is not an AAR. The terms used are not interchangeable nor intended to be. Calling it an AAR, greatly injures and detracts from the successful AAR process(es) that are/have become the cornerstones in wildland fire lessons learned and information sharing “within the unit”, and rolled up as appropriate. The lessons learned from an AAR only take a few sentences…. or maybe a few paragraphs at the most to explain… and LEARN from.

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Wildland Firefighter Jobs – 2010 Fire Season

> From the U.S. Forest Service:

The Forest Service offers positions for both permanent and temporary employees. Permanent positions are for full-time employees and provide a flexible range of Federal government benefits. Temporary positions are for part-time or seasonal employees and provide benefits that vary with the position and the location. Due to the seasonal nature of many of the responsibilities of the Forest Service, such as wildfire fighting and seasonal recreation programs, many temporary workers are required.


Temporary employees have a very special place within the Forest Service. After all, most Forest Service career employees started out in temporary positions. Seeking a temporary or seasonal job with the Forest Service is a great way to learn about different opportunities so you can make the best match. It’s also a great way to meet people within the organization and hone your skills so you’ll be well prepared for a permanent position, should you choose to pursue one.

To apply as a seasonal Wildland Firefighter: CLICK HERE
Fire Engines
Hotshot Crews
Helitack (Helicopter)
Smokejumpers


Vacancy Announcement Numbers:


TEMP-OCR-462-3-FIRE Forestry Aid – Fire General – GS-0462-3
TEMP-OCR-462-4-HOTSHOT Forestry Technician – Hotshot – GS-0462-4
TEMP-OCR-462-5-HOTSHOT Forestry Technician – Hotshot – GS-0462-5
TEMP-OCR-462-4-HANDCREW Forestry Technician – Handcrew – GS-0462-4
TEMP-OCR-462-5-HANDCREW Forestry Technician – Handcrew – GS-0462-5
TEMP-OCR-462-4-HLTK Forestry Technician – Helitack – GS-0462-4
TEMP-OCR-462-5-HLTK Forestry Technician – Helitack – GS-0462-5
TEMP-OCR-462-4-ENGINE Forestry Technician – Engine – GS-0462-4
TEMP-OCR-462-5-ENGINE Forestry Technician – Engine – GS-0462-5
TEMP-OCR-462-5-SMKJMP Forestry Technician – Smokejumper – GS-0462-5
TEMP-OCR-462-6-SMKJMP Forestry Technician – Smokejumper – GS-0462-6
TEMP-OCR-462-4-PREV Forestry Technician – Prevention – GS-0462-4
TEMP-OCR-462-5-PREV Forestry Technician – Prevention – GS-0462-5
TEMP-OCR-462-4-FUEL Forestry Technician – Fuels – GS-0462-4
TEMP-OCR-462-5-FUEL Forestry Technician – Fuels – GS-0462-5

WUI Wildfire – Bacolod City, Negros Occidental Province, Republic of the Philippines

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Wildfires: The Expanding Wildland Urban Interface… An International Problem Needing Local Solutions and Response.

Scheduled "Fire Camp Chat" Session on Wildland Fire Issues?

Should we schedule a regular chat session? If so, what is the best time?

Please reply in the comments section below, or send an email to comments@ramblingchief.com .

FIRE CAMP CHAT is provided by this website and blog completely free to our viewers and supporters. It does not collect personal info or save chat logs.

It is simple to register, and even more simple to share your wisdom and experience as a firefighter. Unlike some “other” websites, we will not use, share, or otherwise disclose the info sharing that folks freely contribute as they communicate among their peers.

Day to Day Thoughts, Suggestions, Ramblings, and Info Sharing for Chief Officers, Fire Officers, Leaders, and Senior Firefighters within the Wildland Fire Community… Folks who have “Seen the Elephant” while working in the Fire & EMS Services. Everyone is welcome to view and contribute to this blog, and share your experience and wisdom. Take a look around and enjoy your visit.

Act Now: $25 VISA Gift Card Offer

Update: As of 11:00 AM today, all six VISA Gift Cards have been awarded to new FIRE CAMP CHAT members and to our three new volunteers interested in serving as chatroom moderators and contributors. I thought it would take days… not hours to accomplish. Thanks to everyone for your continued support. leadership. and participation.

As an effort to get the over 400 unique visitors to this site so far… and the nearly 220 return visitors to participate in FIRE CAMP CHAT… I am offering the next three folks who register on FIRE CAMP CHAT the following incentive:

A $25 VISA Gift Card

In addition, I am offering a $25 Visa Gift Card to members already registered who are interested in becoming a moderator for FIRE CAMP CHAT. Currently, we have five moderator positions available with three vacancies that must be filled.

These six gift cards were generously donated by a strong supporter of wildland firefighter issues and of this blog.

Additional offers will be randomly given away in the future as things are donated in support of this website and our goals. Check back often… you’ll be amazed at what’s go’in on.

Admin Note: This website and blog is entirely not for profit. All owners, members, moderators, and contributors are volunteers and not compensated in any way. All proceeds generated from this website are donated directly to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, a 501(c)3 charitable foundation supporting the families of fallen and injured wildland firefighters. None of the views presented here are intended in any way to represent the views of the Wildland Firefighter Foundation or any other group.

Note: No personal information or contact info is obtained during the FIRE CAMP CHAT registration process. It is completely confidential and provided as a free service to the firefighting community at our expense.
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Two New Chat Areas Added

The Fire Camp Chatroom is available from the [link] on the top left-side of this blog.


Two new chatroom features have been added:

1.) FIRELINE EMS DISCUSSION (Secondary Password Required)


An area to chat with peers about developments in Fireline EMS being developed by FIRESCOPE, CWCG, CAL CHIEFS, and NWCG (and the problems with four groups trying to create a “consensus standard” at the same time).


2.) DEVELOPING NEWS (Secondary Password Required)


An area to discuss rapidly developing fire situations such as wildfires, earthquakes, or other emergencies. This area will be heavily moderated in times of entrapments or accidents that involve injuries or fatalities.

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In addition to these two new areas, our original three chatrooms are still open and gaining new members every day.

FIRE CAMP CHAT – (General Discussion) – Open only from 15:00 to 24:00 Pacific Time.
Open to all general firefighting, wildland fire, and EMS chat.

CHIEF’S CHAT – (Secondary Password Required) An area for Chiefs and invited guests to discuss things without interruption. An area to put together thoughts and ideas before they are released to the public.

ADMIN/MODERATORS CHAT – An area for the chat moderators and administrators to discuss the functions of the chat service and this blog.

This Week’s Spotlight Award: The FWFSA

This week’s SPOTLIGHT AWARD goes to the FWFSA

The FWFSA (Federal Wildland Fire Service Association) is an employee association seeking to improve the pay, benefits, and working conditions for federal wildland firefighters nationwide. As part of this employee directed and sponsored mission, the FWFSA hopes to also participate in (and foster) advances in safety, effectiveness, and efficiency within all wildland fire programs.

The FWFSA is comprised of firefighters, family members, supporters, and retirees from the following federal wildland firefighting agencies:

Bureau of Land Management
U.S. Forest Service
National Park Service
Bureau of Indian Afairs
Fish and Wildlife Service
DoD – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Park Rangers)
DoD – U.S. Navy and Marine Corps (Park Rangers)
DoD – U.S. Air Force (Park Rangers)

In all of the above employee groups, the profession of wildland firefighting, EMS, visitor protection & safety has been relegated to “other duties as assigned” without any emphasis on their actual duties and responsibilities….. commonly known in such archaic federal employee classification systems as “forestry technicians”, “range technicians”, “park rangers”, and “biological sciences technicians”.

The FWFSA has a large membership spanning all levels: From GS-2/3/4 “Entry Level Firefighters” to GS-9/11/12/13 “Chief Officers” across all agencies.

The FWFSA also has a diverse spectrum of membership throughout the United States… primarily dependent upon where the above wildland firefighting agencies exist and where wildland fire is a concern to communities.

The Current FWFSA Board of Directors (BoD) are:

President – Mike Preasmeyer (Klamath National Forest)
Vice President – Kenneth Kempter (San Bernardino National Forest)
Secretary/Treasurer – Jim Huston (Cleveland National Forest)

There are also several BoD Chapter Directors who have also volunteered in areas of membership and leadership.

The FWFSA employs Casey Judd as their Business Manager, advocate, and lobbyist to represent their membership goals. Casey Judd has many years of experience navigating the Halls of Congress as a firefighter advocate and former 6th District Vice President of the California Professional Firefighters. Casey has never been a wildland firefighter though, even though he shares the same passions that we all do…. through the synergistic partnership (between the FWFSA leadership and Casey Judd) that started back in the late 1990’s, the FWFSA’s goals and objectives are ongoing… and gaining momentum… and are stronger than ever before.

Recently, the FWFSA has been working on getting the National Wildfire Infrastructure Improvement & Cost Containment Act introduced before the Congress.

For more info on the FWFSA, please visit the following links:

FWFSA Home Page: http://www.fwfsa.org/index.htm

FWFSA Membership Info: http://www.fwfsa.org/membership.htm

FWFSA News & Info: http://www.fwfsa.org/news.htm

Conflict of Interst Statement: Ramblings of a Chief Officer is currently on the FWFSA BoD.

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Baseball Tournament Honors Fallen US Forest Service Firefighter