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SAFENET ID:
20200726-0001
Event Start Date:
07/22/2020 1000
Event Stop Date:
 
Incident Name:
Cedar
Fire Number:
PNM971 1502 
State:
Nevada
Jurisdiction:
Other
Local Unit:
ECFX-10145 NEVADA TEAM 2
Incident Type:
Wildland
Incident Activity:
Line
Stage of Incident:
Extended Attack, Transfer of Command, Mop Up
Position Title:
Firefighter 
Task:
Line construction and mop up 
Management Level:
3
Resources Involved:
Crew, Division, taskforce, and line medic 
Contributing Factors
Contributing Factors:
Communications, Human Factors
Human Factors:
Decision Making, Leadership, Risk Assessment, Situational Awareness  
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.
Our hand crew was dispatched to the Cedar fire in Nevada after previously being on the Shafter fire. Our assignment was to go direct along with two other hand crews during the extended attack phase. The next day we were able to wrap the fire with the assistance of a dozer and our crew inherited 3 miles of hand line and dozer line now division Zulu. The other two crews had been reassigned to mop up in other divisions. The Nevada team 2 was getting in place to take over the fire that day at four separate storm cells converged with lightning strikes within 3 miles of our line and we were forced to find a safe place to wait the storm out. Our Captain took some of this time to ask the Division (Steve Baram deputy fire staff on the Boise NF) and Task Force Leader about what the team's protocols on testing were and if they could help facilitate our crew getting tested before returning to our district.

Our home unit and forest have both stated that they would like us to be tested either before returning home or once we've returned home but prior to coming back to work and going home to our families. Being that Elko, Nevada, is now a hot zone for Covid we thought we would check with the local agencies to see if they could help.

The next morning one of our crew members overheard our Division talking with the Line Medic and Task Force about how ridiculous it was that we were demanding testing. Our Captain went to speak with them about what appears to be a misunderstanding, being that we were not demanding or even asking them to pay for it, simply to help us find a testing facility that could accommodate 17 crew members. The Division became visibly angry stating that fire fighters assume a certain risk when they come out on the line and that the team would not pay for testing because the cost was too high. Our Captain reiterated that we were not asking for them to pay for it, just to help us find a facility to get tested at. The Division and Line Medic both stated they did not have time and walked away.

At that point, we were assigned to three miles of hand line and dozer line to start mopup - a chain in that was not accessible by vehicle with no clear medical plan in place. The dedicated short haul ship was available for IA (and was used), Communications stated to use a repeater that was not functional for CMD. The next day the communications issue and medical plan were still not clarified or fixed. We did received assistance from a contract crew and strike team of engines cutting our workload down to 1.5 miles of line to secure 1 chain in. Our captain ended up getting a flat tire while putting our lookout\human repeater in place to help with the coms issues, while doing this he punctured a tire. Division asked him to stay on the line since he was able to use the spare but would have no option if something were to happen again. There were qualified crew members that would allow him to leave inorder to get the tire fixed.

At the end of the debrief that day Taskforce and Division were given an update and stated we would be back out the next day to finish up. However, the next morning our crew was demobilized. The Captain went to speak with the Division along with HR to figure out why this happened because it some of the actions were looking like reprisal for asking about testing. The HR rep had a conflict of interest due to the fact that he was detailed to the Boise office and recused himself, So the IC, IC trainee, and Operations were all brought into the conversation and assured us it was just part of the glide path that was projected - even though we were the only crew demobilized and had been told the day earlier that we would be back on the division.

The Division made unsafe decisions on the fire line with regards to the ruptured tire and failed to ensure safety on the fire line with a cohesive medical plan. His lack of awareness on Covid-19 protocol and the situation in Elko, NV, is dangerous. DIVS acted like a bully when presented with safety concerns and belittled subordinates, dismissing concerns without explanation or mitigation. He is either negligent in his duties or our removal from the fire was an attempt at reprisal for wanting to follow our local and national protocol: to maintain a safe work environment and protect our families back at home.
Immediate Action Taken
Reporting Individual : please describe actions you took to correct or mitigate the unsafe/unhealthful event.
We have been maintaining temperature and symptoms checks, wearing masks, using gloves, and maintaining proper hygiene along with limiting exposures at stores not going to restruangs and finding safer camp arrangements to protect against covid 19.
For comunications we put in place a human repeater and lookout.
For the incohearant medical plan we have 3 emt's and one advanced EMT who has medical direction from the USFS and was granted reciprocity in NV.

As a result of these events our district over head were notified of our current situation.


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