Elk Creek Fire demonstrating high level of competence

Just what did McLaughlin think that CSFS was going to do at that point in time? ECFD and NFFD had an active fire going, it was up to them to do something about it.

JEFFERSON COUNTY - The Elk Creek Fire Chief tells 9Wants to Know he couldn't communicate with state fire crews for an hour during the Lower North Fork Fire due to radio problems.

"It was very frustrating it took us a while to really get all the information we needed," Chief Bill McLaughlin said Friday afternoon.

The problem occurred because local fire departments on scene, including the North Fork Fire Department, were on a different radio frequency than fire crews with the Colorado State Forest Service.

From 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., McLaughlin says the only way to get messages to the incident commander with the Forest Service was to drive to his location and talk to him face to face.

McLaughlin says that made fire fighting tough.

Source

Perhaps Chief McLaughlin should have taken some time during his first month as fire chief to become familiar with the communications situation in the area, or at least have consulted with someone, such as the North Fork Fire Chief, who is well familiar with it.

Fire Chief Never Received Lower North Fork Burn Plan

Some items from this article that I think should be considered by Elk Creek Fire Department (ECFD) during their AAR:

Initially, fire crews did not know where the fire was burning. Then, they didn't know how to get there.

"The key piece that we were missing was how to find the road in to where they were, and that was definitely a delay for us," said McLaughlin.

The initial tone out indicated that it was a slop over from the prescribed burn, the location of which was well publicised on 3/19. ECFD and North Fork Fire Department (NFFD) were toned out at approximately the same time. NFFD, in whose jurisdiction the prescribed burn took place, was well familiar with the location, as well as how to access the area, and this information was provided on the air. ECFD does have access to NFFD frequencies, NFFD has access to ECFD frequencies, and they did communicate with each other on those frequencies.

Elk Creek firefighters did not have a direct line of communication with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Deputies. Their messages had to be delivered in person or relayed through Jefferson County Dispatch.

Did ECFD ever ask Jeffco Dispatch to patch the Deputies into a frequency accessible to ECFD?

McLaughlin said he was attempting to mobilize the initial response on the ground, but only had access to outdated topography maps.

"So, when we look at those maps, we don't know where homes are and we don't know where roads are in a lot of cases that have gone in since the last time those maps were updated, which was 1994," said McLaughlin.

Does ECFD not have access to the Internet? Google Maps/Google Earth are undoubtedly not 100% current, but they are certainly much more so than 1994.

"I haven't looked at the burn plan at all because that wasn’t provided to us prior to them going out and doing the work," said McLaughlin.

McLaughlin did receive a phone call notification from the State Forest Service the day before the burn. 7NEWS asked McLaughlin if a phone call was enough.

"I think that getting the burn plan and reviewing it would've been essential. Having that burn plan and reviewing it and making sure that we’re comfortable with it should be something that’s done any time anybody is burning within our response area," said McLaughlin.

Did McLaughlin request a copy of the burn plan when he was notified the day before the burn? The burn was not in ECFD's jurisdiction, but I would expect that the Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) would have been happy to provide a copy if asked.

VOTE - we have reps. WE also control the purse strings - perform or perish (reality for most of us).

We can always hire replacements. Three died - 27 homes burned......we indeed are watching this closely.

To be clear - and I spent 1/4 century in military service - both enlisted and Officer -
The young fire fighters are doing what they are paid to do - they as I did risk their lives to do the right thing.

The leadership is responsible for their actions - the leadership and culture are ultimately responsible - the focus should be there.

I HAVE CERTAINLY HAD MY BOOTS ON THE GROUND

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the culture and the leadership are at fault.......period.

Kipling got it "right" "Its Tommy this, and Tommy that - and throw him out the lout.......BUT its saviour of his country when the guns begin to shout".


Keep this in mind.


And the culture and leaders determine performance.

To keep this on track toward issues which should be considered in AAR by all involved parties, here are a few more items:

The initial Incident Commander (IC) was the NFFD Chief. How many times did this change, to whom, and was it clearly communicated to all involved?

The initial command frequency was NFFD's main frequency. How many times did this change, was there always only a single defined command frequency, and was it clearly communicated to all involved?

The Jefferson County Type 3 IMT was requested at approximately 2:40 PM, and this request was repeated multiple times. Why was this request not acted upon immediately, when was the team activated, and when did they take over command of the fire?

Why was the staging location changed multiple times, especially why was it changed back and forth to/from Inter-Canyon Fire/Rescue (I/C) Station 3?

Why was even Jeffco Dispatch not aware of all the resources that had been ordered in the early hours? How was it possible for at least one responding crew to wander around untracked and unassigned for apparently over an hour?

It is on track - IF accountability and culture and leadership are the focal points. A common ploy is to attempt to baffle the audience with detail and BS. Been around much too long to fall for this.

BTW - this is what the Trial Lawyers will indeed focus on - BTW I am an engineer not a lawyer BUT have done a LOT of expert witness business. Good fotune with the spin.