This week has been particularly challenging at Grass Valley ECC due to persistent and disruptive network issues. During a critical 24-hour period, we experienced 22 new lightning starts, and in the midst of initial attack operations, all four dispatch pods suffered repeated network outages. Our team was forced to manually switch from wired connections to Wi-Fi each time the network failed. Once the Wi-Fi became overloaded, we began cycling pods back to the wired network—only for that system to collapse again. This loop of connectivity failures created a chaotic and stressful environment, compounding the pressure of managing multiple active incidents.
Aircraft dispatches were delayed because the aircraft dispatcher could not access the e-106, directly impacting operational efficiency. These failures unfolded in full view of our deputy forest supervisor and several district rangers, who were on the dispatch floor at the time. Their concern was palpable.
In the middle of this chaos, our center manager had to pause critical duties to open a support ticket. Despite clearly communicating that this was a high-priority, dispatch-related issue affecting over twenty active wildfires, she was told only that someone would return her call—and that no immediate action could be taken. It’s been three days, and no one has returned this call. This situation is unsustainable. What more needs to happen before meaningful steps are taken to ensure reliable network infrastructure for emergency response operations? |
