The first-ever NPS Fire and Aviation Management Workshop, held this week in San Antonio, Texas, came to a successful conclusion yesterday afternoon.
A closing presentation by noted author Steve Pyne was the last in a series of addresses, workshops, plenaries and poster presentations on structural fire, aviation and wildland fire that were offered during the week to the approximately 350 attendees at the conference – the first time that representatives from across the system in all three of these specialties had met together at one time.
Highlights of the week included:
Fire and Aviation Management Division Chief Tom Nichols opened the workshop by emphasizing the importance of “removing the firewalls” between the three professions and maximizing communication and regular interaction.
Deputy Director Dan Wenk spoke on Director Jarvis’ four primary goals – resource stewardship, education and interpretation, relevance (connecting all Americans to the places managed by the NPS), and reinvestment in the workforce – and concluded by emphasizing the importance of safety for all: “Your welfare and safety is our priority…Everyone needs to come home intact at the end of the day.”
Gordon Graham, a highly-regarded consultant and speaker on organizational and operational risk management and public safety, spoke forcefully on the need to avert accidents and tragedies by identifying and controlling the causes of problems before they occur. He offered seven rules for attaining that objective along with his three basic rules of risk management – there are no new ways to get into trouble, there’s always a better way to stay out of trouble, and things that get you into trouble are predictable.
Vicki Minor, director of the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, talked about the work the foundation does in support of the families of firefighters lost in the line of duty, and praised the NPS for being exceptionally supportive of its employees during times of crisis (she was presented with a check for $4,000, raised during a silent auction at the conference).
Steve Pyne, noted author on wildland fire subjects and professor at the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University, gave a keynote address on the history of wildland fire in the United States, focusing on benchmarks and critical points in its evolution, then speculated on future trends.
Conferees also attended a series of hands-on workshops on an array of topics, including:
Guidance for implementation of wildland fire policy
Aviation lessons learned and program planning
Structural fire challenges and solutions
Wildland fire communications and education
Operational leadership
Climate change
The workforce of the future
Safety issues
Bill Kaage, branch chief of wildland fire, closed out the session by summarizing some of the main lessons learned during the week, including:
The importance of having solid data in program documentation
The importance of fostering a culture of safety
The need to support both fellow workers and firefighter families in times of trial and tragedy
The need to work toward a younger and more diverse workforce, to acculturate new employees to the NPS, and to have more women as role models at the leadership level
Workshop proceedings, including session notes and Powerpoint presentations, will be uploaded to the Division of Fire and Aviation Management Sharepoint site after the workshop. An announcement will appear in this publication when the documents are posted.
