No preview available
HomeMy WebLinkAboutC08-136EAGLE COUNTY ANNUAL WILDFIRE OPERATING PLAN FOR CONTROL AND EXTINGUISHMENT OF WILDLAND FIRES This Annual Wildfire Operating Plan for Control and Extinguishment of Wildland Fires ("Operating Plan") is made and entered into this 15th day of April, 2008, by and between the Eagle County Sheriff's Office, the Colorado State Forest Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. RECTTALS 1. The parties recognize that the public health, safety and welfare of the inhabitants of their respective jurisdictions will be best served by providing the highest quality of wildland fire control and extinguishments services, including coordinated back-up services should the need arise. 2. Each party desires to be able to provide assistance to each other party in a coordinated fash"ion, and to receive assistance from each other party in a coordinated fashion, in the event the circumstances of a fire renders the jurisdictional agency unable to timely or effectively control and extinguish the fire. 3. Pursuant to SS30-15-512, 513, the Eagle County Sheriff shall act as fire warden in case of prairie or forest fires, and shall assume charge of such fires or assist other governmental authorities to control and or extinguish such fires. 4. In performance of those responsibilities, Eagle County has entered into certain agreements with the State of Colorado, which in turn enters into agreements with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service, providing resources for and procedures for coordinating those resources for control and extinguishments of wildland fires. Through these agreements, Eagle County secures for the benefit of the parties to this Agreement wildland firefighting resources of the Colorado State Forest Service, USFS and BLM. Hereinafter, these, individually and collectively, are referred to as the "Umbrella Agreements." 5. The parties hereto have firefighting equipment and personnel, including equipment distributed to them by the State pursuant to its Agreement with Eagle County, and have primary firefighting responsibility within their respective political boundaries. 6. The parties hereto desire to set forth the terms and conditions by which they will provide and receive mutual aid to and from each other and to and from the parties to the Umbrella Agreements to control and extinguish wildland fires and certain non-wildland fires on private property outside the jurisdictional boundaries of the municipal and fire protection district parties. 2 ARTICLE I DEFINITIONS 1.1 "Assisting Party" or "Agency" means and refers to the agency party rendering firefighting assistance outside of its jurisdiction to another agency party to this Operating Plan pursuant to the terms herein. "Mutual Aid Period" is defined as: • Not to exceed 24 hours • Will end at midnight of the first burn period when the Incident Commander determines that the fire cannot be controlled within 24 hours of the original ignition 1.2 "Jurisdiction" means and refers to the physical boundaries of a party hereto together with the extra.-boundary lands for which it contracts to provide fire protection services. Jurisdictional boundary lines for USFS, BLM and Eagle County (state and private lands) are shown on the USFS White River National Forest Map. 1.3 "Requesting Party" or "Agency" means and refers to the agency party to this Operating Plan in need of and requesting firefighting assistance within its jurisdiction. 1.4 "Wildland Fire" means and refers to a forest or prairie fire as referred to in SS30-10-512, 513, CRS. 1.5 "Umbrella Agreements" means and refers to authorities for this plan Colorado Interagency Cooperative Fire Management Agreement BLM #CCFMA060001 USFS #06-F1-11020000-048 NPS #F1249060026 BIA #AG06M000002 FWS #14-48-60139-K001 CSFS - No Agreement Number Used Emergency Fund Contract for Forest and Watershed Fire Control CSFS form #108, April 27, 1991 Agreement for Cooperative Wildfire Protection in Eagle County CSFS #109, March 12, 1990 ARTICLE II TERM AND TERMINATION 2.1 Term. The initial Term of this Operating Plan shall commence on the execution by all parties hereto and shall end on May 1, 2009, unless sooner terminated as provided in Section 2.2 or Section 2.3 below. 2.2 Termination Without Cause. Any party may terminate this Operating Plan, without cause, by giving sixty days written notice to each of the other parties. 3 2.3 Termination For Cause. A party asserting it is aggrieved by a breach of this Operating Plan may serve on the party responsible for the alleged breach a written notice describing the breach. If the alleged breach is not cured within thirty days of giving notice, the aggrieved party may immediately terminate this Operating Plan by giving written notice to each of the other parties. ARTICLE III ANNUAL REVIEW 3.1 Annual Review of Operational Plan. The parties shall meet at least annually, before the beginning of the wildland fire season, to review and, if appropriate, to propose amendments to this Eagle County Annual Wildfire Operating Plan, with a goal of having any such amendments or replacement plan formally renewed not later than May 1 of each yeaz and be coordinated with the Umbrella Agreements. Proposed amendments shall take effect upon execution by all of the parties hereto. If no changes aze made, a statement letter with signatures of all parties to this operating plan will be distributed. ARTICLE IV MUTUAL AID 4.1 Primary Purpose. The parties hereto respectively pledge their good faith in attempting to assist each other based on their needs, requests for mutual aid, and the circumstances of a wildland fire. Each party will take aggressive actions to contain, control, and fully extinguish all wildland fires during the mutual aid time period and thereafter, and agrees the primary concern is the extinguishing of wildland fires, and none will delay extinguishment efforts while deciding ultimate responsibility for such fires. Mutual Aid Time Period. Mutual Aid is defined as: ~ Not to exceed 24 hours • Will end at midnight of the first burn period when the Incident Commander determines that the fire cannot be controlled within 24 hours of the original ignition 4.2 County-wide Mutual Aid. Mutual Aid has been established county-wide without regard to jurisdictional boundaries. Agencies aze responsible for their own costs during the mutual aid time period. The BLM helicopter stationed in Rifle is considered a mutual aid resource, and if not assigned to another fire, is available without chazge to county fire agencies during the mutual aid time period. It is understood that no agency will be required or expected to commit its forces through mutual aid to assist another agency to the extent of jeopardizing the security or responsibilities of its own jurisdiction. Severity Resources: Severity Resources of the UCR will be available for mutual aid response. This does not include smoke jumpers, heavy airtankers or heavy helicopters. ARTICLE V FIRE PROTECTION RESPONSIBILITIES 5.1 Fire Protection Responsibilities. Each jurisdictional agency has ultimate responsibility for wildland fire protection on its own lands. The fire protection responsibilities of the County Sheriff and the Colorado State Forest Service on state and private lands aze outlined in the 1973 Colorado 4 Revised Statues. The U.S. Forest Service has responsibility for fires on national forest lands and the Bureau of Land Management has responsibility for fires on BLM public lands. Responsibility for wldland fire control or suppression on state and private land within Eagle County is shared by the Sheriff and the various local resources. Reimbursable costs shall be covered as mutually agreed upon by the County Commissioners, Sheriff and participating agencies. In the event that costs to be covered by the County exceed $25,000.00, the Sheriff or Sheriff s designee will contact the Board of County Commissioners or its designee regarding the commitment of additional County funds. It is clearly and mutually understood that the Upper Colorado River USFS-BLM will promptly attack wildfires and follow through on all necessary suppression actions on Denver Water properties in Eagle County. 5.2 Mutual Aid Dispatch Areas. Mutual aid wildfire protection has been established Countywide between all signatories to this Plan, see section 9.4. EXHIBIT A shows mutual aid resources available from cooperating agencies. 5.3 Special Management Considerations. Denver Water Board Lands - Notification - When a wildfire occurs on lands owned by Denver Water, the CSFS Granby District representative (FDO) must be notified. This FDO will respond, at his/her discretion, to serve as the landowner's representative on the incident and to facilitate reimbursement. - Use of Mechanized Equipment -Use of mechanized, earthmoving equipment such as bulldozers, graders, etc., will not be permitted on Denver Water lands without the expressed approval of CSFS or Denver Water. - Aerial Retardant Use -The use of aerial retardants on Denver Water lands is restricted within 100 feet of lakes, rivers and live streams. Federal Lands Use of roads on federal lands, presently closed to vehicular travel (outside of wilderness or wilderness study areas), is hereby authorized to all parties to this Wildfire Annual Operating Plan as follows: - Access for detection and suppression is allowed on established roads behind locked gates. - Access for suppression only is allowed on roads which have been designated as "closed." Detection and reporting within areas marked as "low response" on the White River National Forest Wildland Fire Response Areas map is authorized. Suppression efforts should not be taken unless authorized by the U.S. Forest Service. Detection or suppression within designated wilderness, wilderness study areas and/or "roadless" areas, as designated on the White River National Forest Wildland Fire Response Areas map, is authorized as follows: - The use of mechanized equipment (vehicles, chainsaws, pumps, etc.) within wilderness azeas is prohibited. - Non-mechanized detection and suppression efforts aze authorized in those portions of wilderness azeas that aze not part of a "low response" azea. - Detection and reporting only is authorized within wilderness azeas that are also within a "low response" area. Natural ignitions in these azeas will be evaluated for, and may be managed as, Wildland Fire Use incidents. 5.4 Repair of Wildfire Suppression Damage. Repair of wildfire suppression damage is the responsibility of the jurisdictional agency/agencies unless otherwise agreed to by a unified command group. The state Emergency Fire Fund (EFF) is strictly a fire suppression fund and cannot pay for rehabilitation. Repair of damage directly related to suppression, i.e., water bazs on dozer lines, may be authorized by the CSFS line officer only when part of the Incident Action Plan during the EFF period. Repair of wildfire suppression damage on Denver Water lands is the responsibility of Denver Water, unless otherwise agreed to by the unified command at the time of fire close out. All efforts will be made by agencies involved in suppressive action to minimize damage through the use of "light on the land" techniques, or through rehabilitation activities conducted at the time of the incident. Examples of these rehabilitation activities would include: water barring firelines; placement of logs or rocks across firelines; etc.... ARTICLE VI RESOURCE LIST 6.1 Resource List. Resources available for wildland fire suppression or support aze listed by agency or department on Cooperative Resource Rates Forms in EXHIBIT A. ARTICLE VII PROTECTION AREA MAP 7.1 Protection Area Map. The USFS White River National Forest map shows jurisdictional boundazies for the purpose of this Plan. The map legend shows jurisdictional boundaries, but generally the following colors correspond to the jurisdictions shown: COLOR AGENCY White, Purple County Green U.S. Forest Service Orange Bureau of Land Management 6 ARTICLE VIII FIRE READINESS 8.1 Fire Plannins. Eagle County has developed a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). This operating plan will become an addendum to the CWPP, which will have a primary purpose of planning and prioritizing wildfire mitigation and protection in the county. 8.2 Wildfire Training Needs and Coordination. Standardized, NWCG approved fire training courses are provided periodically by the CSFS, USFS, BLM and other agencies. As these courses are scheduled, all participants will be informed and invited to participate. ARTICLE lX WILDFIRE SUPPRESSION PROCEDURES 9.1 Incident Command SXstem &Multi-Agency Coordination. The Incident Command System will be utilized on all wildfires. All extended attack multi jurisdictional incidents will utilize unified command. Under unified command affected Federal, State, and County jurisdictions will provide on scene representation. These designated representatives will communicate direction and objectives to ONE incident commander who has no collateral duties. The incident will have ONE fireline operations section chief to implement strategy and tactics. All requests for fire information will be approved by the IC utilizing a single fire information officer. A local Multi-Agency Coordination group may be initiated when two or more agencies are experiencing incidents requiring a significant commitment of county resources. 9.2 Detection. All reports of actual or potential wildfires will be made to Vail dispatch. All wildland fire reports will be forwarded by Vail dispatch to the appropriate jurisdiction and Grand Junction Interagency Dispatch Center. The participating agencies that can take the quickest effective fire size-up or suppression action will be dispatched for initial attack. The jurisdictional agency will respond and establish command at the earliest possible time. If fire dispatch requirements exceed the ability of Vail dispatch or impede other functions of local dispatch centers, an expanded dispatch center may be designated to assume dispatch responsibilities for the incident. 9.3 Notification About Fires. Assisting agencies making initial attack on fires outside their jurisdiction will ensure, through Vail dispatch, that the jurisdictional agency is promptly notified. The actual size up report should be made by the initial attack incident commander directly to GJC if possible. The initial attack incident commander is responsible for ensuring that Vail dispatch notifies GJC of all fires reported on USFS, BLM and Denver Water lands. It shall be the responsibility of the Upper Colorado River USFS-BLM to notify the Colorado State Forest Service if Denver Water lands are involved or threatened. Failure to notify Colorado State Forest Service may jeopardize the opportunity for reimbursement of suppression expenses for Denver Water lands. 9.4 Mutual Aid Dispatch Areas. Mutual Aid will be exchanged between the participants regardless of jurisdictional boundary lines. Each agency or department is responsible for providing Worker's Compensation Insurance for its own personnel. County-Federal Mutual Aid. Mutual aid is exchanged between the County, participating municipalities and fire protection district parties hereto, in the aggregate, and the United States parties. As to such mutual aid, the jurisdictional boundaries aze those on the White River National Forest Map, delineating the boundazies of USFS, BLM and "Eagle County" (representing all state and private lands) without regard to the boundaries of individual municipalities and fire protection districts. Infra-County Mutual Aid. Mutual aid is exchanged between the County, participating municipalities and fire protection district parties hereto. As to such mutual aid, the relevant jurisdictional boundaries aze those of the municipalities, the fire protection districts and the County. County-wide Response. When dispatched, participants will respond to wildfires in the County regazdless of jurisdiction. The level of activity or involvement by assisting agencies making a response may vary. At a minimum, assisting agencies will send such personnel and equipment necessary to size-up the fire and report the situation to the jurisdictional agency. Upon arrival, the initial attack incident commander will determine legal description and the need for appropriate jurisdictional fire investigator. Coin-wide Initial Attack. The closest forces should be dispatched without regard to jurisdiction. Participants will initiate suppression activities regardless of jurisdiction when it is within their capability to do so. Assisting agencies will not initial attack fires on another jurisdiction if initial attack puts personnel at unreasonable risk, such as a remote fire discovered at night, or if asked to stand down by the jurisdictional agency. Agencies taking independent action within another agency's jurisdiction should notify that agency as soon as possible. The jurisdictional agency should assume responsibility for suppression at the eazliest possible time, or as otherwise agreed. No party to this agreement shall be required to make resources or assistance available to the requesting party if by so doing would impair the party's ability to provide effective emergency services within its own service area. 9.5 Dispatching and Resource Ordering Procedure. All requests for out of county resources, either received or provided, will be processed in accordance with the Colorado State Resources Mobilization Plan as authorized by CRS 24-33.5-1210. The sequence for request for resources for an Eagle County incident will be: Incident Commander --~ Vail Public Safety Communication Center -~ Grand Junction Interagency Dispatch Center ~ Providing Agency Dispatch Center The sequence for request for air resources will be: Incident Commander ~ GJC NOTE: GJC will advise VPSCC of air NesouYCes in Eagle County The sequence for request for Eagle County resources for an out-of-county response will be: Incident Commander ~ Their Dispatch Center -~ Grand Junction Interagency Dispatch Center -> VPSCC ~ Requested resource - It shall be the responsibility of the Upper Colorado River USFS-BLM when responding to a wildfire on Denver Water lands to order needed assistance, or acquire replacements to relieve their initial attack crews or the crews of assisting agencies. 9.6 Reinforcements and Support. All requests for additional resources beyond initial attack will be made by the applicable agency representative, using the ordering procedures outlined under section 9.5 above. 9.7 Interagency Procurement. Non-federal participants to this Plan may purchase fire suppression supplies from GSA through CSFS. Any other loaning, sharing, exchanging or maintenance of facilities, equipment or support services will be considered on a case-by-case basis as mutually agreed to by the concerned parties. 9.8 Interagency Use of Communication System/Frequencies. Federal, State, and County radio systems are largely incompatible at this time; however, all fire agencies in Eagle County are equipped with the Fire Emergency Radio Network (FERN-1) and 800 MHz capabilities. FERN-1 (154.280) and 800 MHz system channels maybe used for interagency communication on a wildfire if one agency's operational channels are not compatible with another agency's radios. For the purpose of conducting business authorized by this Operating Plan, all parties to this Operating Plan agree that assisting agencies may use the jurisdictional agency's radio frequencies as needed to conduct emergency communications on fires. No participant to this Operating Plan will use, or authorize others to use, another agency's radio frequencies for purposes beyond the scope of this Operating Plan. Radio frequencies specifically authorized for use on wildfires are shown in EXHIBIT A. 9.9 Eagle County Fire Pr~aredness Levels. Local preparedness levels are not currently in use in Eagle County. ARTICLE X FIRE SITUATION 10.1 Wildland Fire Situation Analysis. Federal agencies will complete a Wildland Fire Situation Analysis (WFSA) on all fires on federal lands or Denver Water lands that escape initial attack to determine appropriate response. The CSFS line officer will assist in preparation or review and approve the WFSA for fires that have the potential to be designated an EFF fire or affect multiple jurisdictions and have the potential to go through an extended attack period into a project fire situation. When a fire is burning on or threatens to burn on multiple jurisdictions, one WFSA should be prepazed that considers all jurisdictions (the whole fire). All jurisdictions impacted by the fire should participate in the WFSA process. CSFS requires that an Emergency Fire Fund Analysis Form (CSFS-108A, see EXHIBIT B) be prepared on all non-federal fires, including fires on Denver Water land, that have the potential to exceed County control capabilities. The County Sheriff, or his designee, should use this form to help determine if a fire might be eligible for EFF designation. 9 10.2 State Emergency Fire Fund (EFF1. Eagle County and Denver Water are members of the State Emergency Fire Fund (EFF). The purpose of EFF is to provide funds for fire suppression on multiple fires or a single large fire on non-federal lands that exceeds the suppression capability of the County. Funding for EFF is provided by participating County governments and Denver Water. Each participating County pays annually into the fund based on the total assessed property value and acres of private and state land. If and when EFF funds are exhausted, CSFS will make every effort to obtain additional funds as needed from the Governor's emergency fund or from a special appropriation of the Colorado Legislature. Implementation of EFF can only be done by the State Forester of Colorado, or his designee, upon recommendation of the CSFS Granby District representative, following a request from the County Sheriff. For this reason it is important that the CSFS Granby District representative be notified immediately of fires that threaten to exceed control capabilities of the County. EFF implementation can only occur with a CSFS Granby District representative on the fire scene. It is the duty of the CSFS Granby District representative to evaluate and report the situation to the State Forester and to formally request implementation of EFF. Requests for EFF implementation must be done in writing using the CSFS Fire Funding Request Form (CSFS 164). In the case of EFF implementation, the CSFS Granby District representative will act for the State Forester until relieved by a CSFS line officer. It is the sole responsibility of CSFS to act as administrator of EFF funds. The County Sheriff, or designee, is responsible for initiating a written analysis of the fire to help determine if a request for EFF implementation is warranted. The Sheriff, or designee, will complete the EFF Analysis Form (CSFS 108A) prior to requesting EFF implementation. The CSFS Granby District representative should assist with the analysis, In the case of EFF implementation, the Sheriff is responsible for assigning control duty to CSFS by completing and signing the Assumption of Fire Control Duty Form (CSFS 168). The Sheriff and the County will continue to put forth a maximum wildfire control effort. County resources committed to the fire shall not be less than shown in EXHIBIT B. The Sheriff, or designee, will act as the County representative of any unified command group. The Sheriff, or designee, will assist with daily analysis of the fire (Wildland Fire Situation Analysis) and assume command when the incident is back within the County's ability to control. The above forms, CSFS 108A, 164, 168 are shown in EXHIBIT B. It is the duty of other County agencies to assist the Sheriff in maintaining a maximum control effort for the duration of the fire. If any federal lands are involved in the fire, those agency representatives will be a partner in a unified command structure. CSFS will relinquish command of EFF fires back to the County Sheriff when daily situation analyses show that the fire is within the County's ability to control. The County will mop-up and patrol the fire until declared "out" according to directions provided by CSFS or the unified command group. 10.3 Traffic Control. Traffic control will be provided by the County Sheriff, upon request, to expedite the routing of vehicles to and from major fires and to exclude unauthorized personnel from the fire area. 10 10.4 Law Enforcement and Fire Investi ag tion. It will be the responsibility of the jurisdictional agency to take appropriate law enforcement action. Law enforcement personnel from non jurisdictional agencies may assist, upon request, from the jurisdictional agency. The jurisdictional agency will have responsibility for investigating fires and any civil or criminal actions taken. The County will coordinate fire investigation for EFF fires. Assisting agencies will cooperate with fire investigations, upon request, of the jurisdictional agency(ies). Assisting agencies will make every effort to identify, protect and report all evidence to the jurisdictional agency. 10.5 Post Incident Action Analysis. Post incident analysis of events and actions taken by suppression forces during wildland fires will be conducted by the jurisdictional agency commensurate with the complexity of the incident. 10.6 Jurisdictional Assignments. Incident qualification cards (red cards) may not be required for initial attack of fires within Eagle County; however, firefighters without red cards may be released from an incident by the authorized representative of the jurisdictional agency. The authorized representative of the jurisdictional agency will coordinate the release of assisting agency personnel through the ranking officer/representative of the assisting agency. ARTICLE XI AVIATION PROCEDURES 11.1 Aviation Requests and Operations. All requests for air support resources should be made to the Grand Junction Interagency Dispatch Center. Please refer to section 9.5 on pace 7 of this document. When aircraft is requested by any agency for suppression efforts, the request must include the following: - Name and agency of person ordering - Name and location, geographical or township/range Additional information that is helpful: - Lat/Long in preferred datum WGS 84 degrees/minutes/decimal minutes - Elevation of fire - Name and radio frequency of ground contact at the fire (FM Air to Ground frequencies must be used, No FERN or non-federal frequencies) - Other aircraft in the area, including radio frequencies in use - Aircraft hazards in the area Initial orders for aircraft may be authorized by the local on-scene incident commander. Requests for additional air support resources beyond this initial request must be authorized by the jurisdictional agency. The County Sheriff or his designee will notify the CSFS Granby District representative immediately when aircraft is ordered for anon-federal fire. Grand Junction Interagency Dispatch Center will make a courtesy call to CSFS whenever the county orders air support resources. 11 11.2 Leadplane/Air Attack Activation. Heavy air tankers aze dispatched with a leadplane when one is available. Single engine air tankers maybe dispatched without a leadplane if the pilot is initial attack qualified. Aerial supervision (Air Attack or Lead Plane) will be ordered when multiple aircraft aze over the fire at one time or if requested by pilots on scene. Wildfire Emergency Response Fund. The Wildfire Emergency Response Fund (WERE) was created by the legislature to provide funding or reimbursement for AIR RESOURCES or GROUND RESOURCES to a wildfire at the request of any sheriff, municipal fire department, or fire protection district. This fund will be utilized to assist on non-federal lands only. The fund will be utilized as outlined in the attached WERF Guidelines 11.3 CSFS Single Engine Air Tankers (SEAT). Single engine air tankers may be pre-positioned at the ICremmling or Rifle airport when a combination of factors or events warrant having an aircraft in the azea. Requests for pre-positioning will be made by the County Sheriff through the CSFS Granby District Representative. Conditions that may warrant pre-positioning a SEAT include: - Multiple fire starts within a 72-hour period. - High occurrence of dry lightning. - Persistent Red Flag Warnings. - Local resources aze occupied with other assignments. - Other factors as determined by the Sheriff of CSFS Granby District representative. Eagle County airport will not be used for SEAT operations due to performance issues for fully loaded SEATS maneuvering in the narrow valley near the airport. ARTICLE XII FIRE PREVENTION 12.1 Information and Education. Each agency will prepaze and release fire prevention material and radio/TV presentations according to their own prevention plans. Coordination with cooperating agencies will be followed in order to prevent a conflict in released material. All releases for fire prevention will carry USES, CSFS, fire district and County Sheriff acknowledgements. Fire prevention signs will be maintained as required by each agency for lands under their jurisdiction. The Grand Junction Interagency Dispatch Center (GJC) will monitor local fire danger levels. GJC will make fire weather watches, Red Flag wazning bulletins and other fire information available to cooperators via the Internet at http•//www.fs.fed.us/r2/fire/rmacc.html 12.2 Burning Permits. Parties to this Agreement have the responsibility of issuing burning permits in their respective jurisdictions. The burning permit shall require the holder to notify Vail dispatch of controlled burning on all land(s) prior to ignition. In addition, all pertinent state and federal regulations will be followed. 12 12.3 Burning Restrictions/Closures. Restrictions governing use of open fires during hazardous periods will be a coordinated effort of cooperating agencies. A flow chart that outlines the procedures for implementing and rescinding fire restrictions is attached as Exhibit C. ARTICLE XIII FUELS MANAGEMENT AND PRESCRIBED FIRE CONSIDERATIONS 13.1 Management and Considerations. The participants to this Operating Plan will cooperate in the development and implementation of prescribed burning programs and projects including planned ignitions, wildland fire use and modified control strategies and tactics applied to fires within remote areas. The Eagle County Community Wildfire Protection Plan includes prioritized wildfire mitigation project areas. Wildfires resulting from escaped prescribed fires ignited by a party to this Operating Plan on lands it manages, shall be the responsibility of that party. The party responsible for the prescribed fire will reimburse other parties to this Plan consistent with the terms and conditions contained herein for costs incurred in suppression of such fires. If parties to this Plan conduct a cooperative prescribed fire, details covering cost sharing, reimbursement, and responsibility for suppression costs, should it escape, shall be agreed upon and documented in the burn plan. ARTICLE XN COST REIMBURSEMENTS 14.1 Reimbursable Costs. Each agency will assume responsibility for its own expenses during the mutual aid period. The mutual aid period is defined as: • Not to exceed 24 hours • Will end at midnight of the first burn period when the Incident Commander determines that the fire cannot be controlled within 24 hours of the original ignition The assisting agency(ies) may request reimbursement for costs incurred after the mutual aid period. The jurisdictional agency will reimburse assisting agencies for costs incurred after the mutual aid period. Costs incurred by an assisting agency for services beyond the mutual aid period shall be considered reimbursable. Services provided by assisting agencies beyond the mutual aid period must be requested by the jurisdictional agency. On Denver Water Board lands, costs incurred by the Upper Colorado River USFS-BLM for the mutual aid period and beyond, and for additional time or efforts which may be requested by the Colorado State Forest Service or Denver Water, shall be considered reimbursable, following approval by the Colorado State Forest Service. Any agency that provides a reasonable initial attack response on Denver Water lands, may request reimbursement from Denver Water. The Initial Attack Response Guidelines, shown in section 9.5, will be used to determine minimum reimbursement to the Upper Colorado River USFS-BLM for initial attack of wildfires on Denver Water lands. Reimbursement may be adjusted upward according to site specific fire conditions after consultation among participating agencies by the CSFS Granby District representative. Initial response 13 agencies should dispatch those forces it deems appropriate for the place and conditions of the fire. Response forces should be further adjusted by the incident commandgr from the scene as warranted. Actual reimbursement will consider values at risk, actual fire behavior, and the proficiency of the firefighting force. When fire occurs on lands of more than one jurisdictional agency and costs are incurred beyond the scope of mutual aid fire protection, costs will be borne by each agency proportional to the size of the burned area on each agency's jurisdictional area or as mutually agreed upon by the unified command. When a fire is accepted by the State as an EFF incident, the Cost Share Principles agreed to by State and federal agencies will apply. 14.2 Reimbursement Procedures. If reimbursement for an incident can best be handled at a local level, the assisting agency may invoice the jurisdictional agency directly. If deemed more efficient, the County may aggregate expenses incurred by the County and local fire departments to suppress fires on federal jurisdictions and may present an invoice for such expense to CSFS who will then reimburse the County and subsequently bill the jurisdictional federal agency or agencies. Federal agencies may submit bills and statements for reimbursements from County and/or fire districts for federal suppression on non-federal lands to CSFS. CSFS will make such reimbursement and subsequently invoice the County or department as appropriate. Cooperator reimbursement procedures, forms, and examples are contained in E~~IT F. as Hart of this agreement. Payment for reimbursable costs on lands owned by Denver Water Board require that CSFS be notified of fires by the responding agency. Failure to notify CSFS will jeopardize the opportunity for reimbursement to the responding agencies. Payment for reimbursable costs for fires on Denver Water lands must be coordinated through the local CSFS District Office. Requests for reimbursement should be accompanied by a copy of the incident report. Invoices are required to have proper documentation: - Invoice memo addressed to the Denver Water Board on the billing agency's letterhead, requesting payment for resources involved in wildfire suppression on the incident located on Denver Water Board lands. Reference the fire dates and times; legal location; Denver Water Board land parcel name or location; size of fire; fire number (if assigned by Interagency Dispatch Center); and referring to the attached supporting documentation and costs verifications. - Personnel time in the form of: Crew Time Reports; photocopies of USDA/USDI Fire Time Sheets, Optional Form 288 for personnel from the federal government (both regular employees and those hired under the AD Plan for Emergency Workers). - Equipment Shift Tickets for all equipment; photocopies of Emergency Equipment Rental Agreements or Equipment Use Invoices for equipment contracted; photocopies of all current Cooperative Resource Rate Forms (CRRF's) that may apply to the equipment or personnel from the Upper Colorado River USFS-BLM. The equipment or personnel utilized should be highlighted or marked on the CRRF's for cross-reference to the supporting documents. 14 - Denver Water Board will reimburse the assisting agency for the actual costs of supplies and materials used for the fire effort. Complete requests on Form SF 95; Claims for Damage, Injury or Death, as revised. Reimbursement requests will be reviewed by the local CSFS District Office for verification or correction of actual costs to be paid. When verified, the CSFS District Office will coordinate with the CSFS Special Projects Forester for Denver Water lands, and a recommendation for payment will be forwarded to Denver Water. Payment will be made directly to the requesting agencies from Denver Water. Subsequent payments from the agency or department to its personnel or contractors will follow that entity's internal policy. 14.3 Resource Use Rates. Cooperative Resource Rate Forms (CRRF) should be completed every two years by cooperating agencies. These forms will show the rates of equipment that may be used on a wildland fire. Resources listed on a CRRF are considered Mutual Aid resources and, as such, will not be billed for during the mutual aid period. The use of resources not listed under a Cooperative Resource Rate Form may not be reimbursable unless rates are mutually agreed to, in writing, at the time such resource is requested. See Cooperative Resource Rate Forms, EXHIBIT A. ARTICLE XV GENERAL PROCEDURES 15.1 Periodic Program Reviews. Program reviews will be conducted at the annual fire operating plan meeting. 15.2 Resolution of Disputes. The primary purpose of this Operating Plan is to ensure prompt suppression of wildland fires. Any interagency dispute arising from these procedures will be resolved on site by the Unified or MACS Command Group. When necessary, following the conclusion of the incident, a panel of agency representatives, other than the parties involved in the incident, will review and resolve the dispute. ARTICLE XVI DIRECTORY OF PERSONNEL 16.1 Directory of Personnel. See Mobilization guide, EXHIBIT A. ARTICLE XVII COOPERATIVE RESOURCE RATE FORMS 17.1 Cooperator Resource Rate Forms (CRRF~. Cooperative Resource Rate Forms, attached to this operating plan as part of Exhibit A, set forth agreed upon equipment and personnel rates, conditions of use, and reimbursement procedures. Cooperators that choose not to complete the Cooperative Resource Rate Form as an attachment to this operating plan will be required to complete the Emergency Equipment Rental Use Agreement at time of the incident and will be restricted to the standard Rocky Mountain Area equipment rates. 15 17.2 En ig ne Equipping and Staffing. Engines will be staffed and equipped according to current NWCG standards. Refer to Interagency Standards for Fire and Fire Aviation Operations (Redbook). 17.3 Equipment Availability. Cooperator equipment availability status for out of county use should now be maintained in ROSS. Cooperators may "self status" in ROSS by requesting a password from Marlinda Acevedo, Marlinda.Acevedo~n,cdps.state.co.us, Colorado Department of Public Safety (CDPS) at (720) 852-6743 or 720-219-3411. Cooperators who prefer not to "self status" may have CDPS maintain their status by fax: (720) 852-6735 or Email: ross-status(a,cdps.state.co.us Grand Junction Interagency Dispatch Center (GJC) will continue to dispatch wildfire resources for out of county assignments utilizing ROSS. Cooperators must change status in ROSS and notify GJC of any unexpected status changes. ARTICLE XVIII TYPE II WILDLAND FIRE HAND CREW 18.1 Fire Hand Crew. Not currently in use. ARTICLE XIX PERSONNEL AND PERSONNEL COMPENSATION 19.1 Personnel. Every person employed in or providing services pursuant to this Agreement is the sole responsibility of the party by whom that person is employed on a full-time, part-time or volunteer basis, and no person providing services hereunder shall have any right associated with employment by or provision of services to another party. No party shall be called upon to assume any liability for the personnel performing services hereunder as a result of the employment or provision of such personnel by another party, or any liability other than that provided for in this Agreement. No party shall be liable for compensation or indemnity to any employee or volunteer of another party for injury or sickness arising out of his or her employment or services rendered under this Agreement. 19.2 Compensation. Pursuant to SS 29-5-109, 110, CRS, all compensation and other benefits enjoyed by every person employed in their own jurisdiction shall extend to the services they perform under this Agreement, including, without limitation, worker's compensation coverage and pension fund benefits and payments. 19.3 Personnel Qualifications. Each agency is responsible for the training and qualification of its personnel for fighting wildfires. Each agency shall dispatch in a mutual aid response only personnel qualified for the incident. If it comes to the attention of the jurisdictional agency or multi jurisdiction command, as the case may be, that a fire fighter is not properly qualified for an incident (or his/her assignment with respect to the incident), it may require that the fire fighter be withdrawn from the response or assigned to tasks for which he/she may be properly qualified. Also, see section 10.6. 16 ARTICLE XX PLAN APPROVALS 20.1 Plan Approvals. This Plan will remain in effect until May 1, 2009, or until superseded. Participants will meet ri r o fir se on each year to review and update the Plan for official approval. ~'~~ Eagle County, Colorado Date By and through its Board of County Commissioners ~ ° o~ .~ Z°I u ° Attest: County Cler ° Date ~h~i; ~ Eagle County Sheriff Date Colorado State Forest Service Date U.S. Forest Service Date Bureau of Land Management Date This Plan may be executed in multiple counterparts, each of which shall be an original and all of which, when taken together, shall constitute but one and the same Agreement. 17 18 EXHIBIT A MOBILIZATION PLAN PERSONNEL DIRECTORY (all area codes are 970 unless otherwise written) COLORADO DIVISION OF PARKS & OUTDOOR RECREATION Grand Junction Office ........................................................................................................248-7319 Sylvan Lake State Park ...................................................................................................... 328-2021 COLORADO STATE FOREST SERVICE Granby District Office ...............................................................887-3121 887-3150 fax Ron Cousineau, District Forester .................................................................... 217-7022 cell Hans Rinke, Assistant District Forester .............................................................. 485-0541 cell Paul Cada, Forester ..................................................................... 433-5206 cell If contact cannot be made with district personnel call the CSFS state office Fire Duty Officer, 491-6304. This number can be used 24 hrs a day. After normal business hours this number will reach the Colorado State University Police. Ask them to page the CSFS fire duty officer. EAGLE COUNTY SHERIFF' S OFFICE ................................................................328-8500 Joseph D. Hoy, Sheriff ...........................................................926-2810 (home) / 376-7023 (cell) Barry Smith, Eagle County OEM ...................................524-9683 (home) / 471-4048 (cell) USDA FOREST SERVICE -WHITE RIVER NATIONAL FOREST / BLM Grand Junction Interagency Dispatch Center .....................................................................257-4800 Ross Wilmore, UCR East Zone FMO ........................328-6388 (office) / 328-5607 (weekend) 777-1222 (home) 948-5766 (cell) rwilmore~n,fs.fed.us Lee Rickard, UCR Central Zone FMO ............................................................ 625-2872 (office) NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FIRE WEATHER FORECAST OFFICE......243-7007 VAIL DISPATCH ..................................................................... Joe Ribeiro .............................................................. ........................479-2201 /-2245 ................ 479-2231 376-6189 (cell) FIRE DEPARTMENTS BASALT & RURAL FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT Business Office 704-0675 Dispatch 920-5310 Scott Thompson, Chief 618-9401 (cell) Jerry Peetz, Operations Director 618-1256 (cell); 927-4715 (home) EAGLE RIVER FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT 748-9665 (business hours); Dispatch 479-2201 (after hours) Charlie Moore, Chief 748-4732 (office); 904-1466 (cell) John Willson, Battalion Chief 977-1001 (cell) GREATER EAGLE FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT Jon Jon Asper, Chief 328-7244 or 328-1779 (office); 977-6234 (cell); 328-7201 (home) GYPSUM FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT Dave Vroman, Chief 524-7101 (office); 376-4976 Fire Duty Officer ................................................................................................................471-1992 VAIL FIRE DEPARTMENT Mark Miller, Fire Chief 477-3474 (office) Mike McGee, Deputy Chief 479-2135 (office); 376-0738 (cell) 3 RADIO FREQUENCIES RX Freq. FERN 154.280 NLEC 155.475 Weather 162.550 RX Tone TX Freq. TX Tone 154.280 155.475 Basalt & Rural FPD Basalt & Rural 154.445 FERN 154.280 NLEC 155.475 Eagle Coun Sheriff Direct 800MHz FERN 154.280 NLEC 155.475 100.0 153.770 100.0 154.280 155.475 154.280 155.475 Eagle River FPD Direct 800MHz FERN 154.280 154.280 Greater Ea lg a FPD Direct 800MHz FERN 154.280 154.280 Gynsum FPDFPD Direct 800MHz FERN 154.280 154.280 Unber Colorado River Intera~ency Fire Management Unit all narrow band WRF Castle 170.5250 166.7250 127.3 BLM Castle 168.2250 168.8500 162.2 Twilight 169.9250 166.5625 141.3 WRF Vail 170.5250 166.6750 94.8 WRF Ptarmigan 170.5250 166.6750 118.8 WRF Sunlight 169.9250 166.5625 156.7 FERN 154.280 154.280 NLEC 155.475 155.475 Vail Fire Department Direct 800MHz FERNb 154.280 154.280 4