SAFENET


SAFENET

Wildland Fire Safety & Health Reporting Network

SAFENET Event Information
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SAFENET ID:
20200210-0001        [Corrective Actions]
Event Start Date:
11/20/2019 0800
Event Stop Date:
 
Incident Name:
Prescribed Fire & Project Work
Fire Number:
 
State:
Montana
Jurisdiction:
BLM
Local Unit:
Eastern Montana/Dakotas District
Incident Type:
Prescribed/Fuels Treatment
Incident Activity:
Line
Stage of Incident:
Other
Position Title:
Dispatch Center Manager 
Task:
 
Management Level:
4
Resources Involved:
Overhead and Equipment 
Contributing Factors
Contributing Factors:
Communications
Human Factors:
 
Other Factors:
 
Narrative
Describe in detail what happened including the concern or potential issue, the environment (weather, terrain, fire behavior, etc), and the resulting health issue.
On November 18, 2019, our interagency dispatch center Telex radio communication system was converted from our BLM network to an USFS Radio-over-IP (RoIP) network. Since the conversion to the USFS network, we have had several radio issues that are continually impacting our day-to-day workload to communicate with field-going employees for saw projects and prescribed fire activity.

The radio issues that we have been experiencing are as follows:

1) The USFS radio desktops timeout (of logoff) from inactivity. This is a critical issue, as our field-going employees call us on the phone to confirm radio transmissions, when in fact dispatch has not received any audio. When we log back into the radio desktops, they may stay on all day, but in most instances, we must continue to log in when we notice that have gone to sleep. This has impacted our daily operations and communications.

2) The Telex Unselected Audio does not come through the radio speakers except for the radio that sits at our Aircraft desk. The radios will only transmit the selected repeater through the speakers. We monitor 23 agency repeaters, 3 simplex channels, and Flight Following.

3) Radio console located at extension 2915 is inoperable, because the USFS login does not work.

4) Radio console located at extension 2917 still needs to be installed once a USFS license is issued. This console has been without a radio for numerous years.

5) USFS network requires radio desktops to be restarted for updates. These computers should not require software updates as they are radios.

6) BLM employees are unable to submit USFS Help Desk Tickets for the USFS RoIP equipment, so our only contact is USFS radio technician William Jonke, who is in Billings, Montana.

Please know that our only Montana/Dakotas BLM radio technician, Bob Hoffman, is doing his best, but he cannot service the entire state of Montana by himself.


Our 2019 National Preparedness Review findings addressed many other radio issues, but these issues have surfaced since that review in June 2019.

This is a CRITICAL issue going into fire season and for the various prescribed burns that are occurring this week. Thank you for your time and support!
Immediate Action Taken
Reporting Individual : please describe actions you took to correct or mitigate the unsafe/unhealthful event.
BLM Helpdesk tickets have been submitted, but this is an USFS issue.

Our Montana/Dakotas State Lead and Radio Technician have both been called.

The Montana/Dakotas State Fire Management Officer and Eastern Montana/Dakotas District Manager have both been briefed.

The Radio Technician was able to resolve the following Helpdesk Ticket items:
- Local Simplex was not working.
- BLM Pine Grove Repeater was inoperable for almost a year but works as of last week.


Agency Response

20200210-0001-CA001

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