Brian13
Addicted to ArboristSite
That would be cool! I will be looking to volunteer on some RX burns, I just need to acquire the necessary gear. I dont have the nomex pants/coat, or even non-steal toe/shank boots yet.
Fireline Safety Classes Start Now
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slowp there is no pack test for hired vendors. Those people are dozer operators, skidgine drivers, runners, fallers, water tender drivers, etc. We do have to throw fire shelters in a timely manor. I hung around after class because our instructor also works in finance and wrote our contracts before we left. (Equipment inspections are good for three years and mine was last year. Inspections are another day.) I mentioned that there were alot of gray haired people in the room and I doubt many would pass a pck test. She said Cal Fire feels that hardly any vendor would pass a pack check and they take that into account on the fireline.
You have to understand this is California and we do things differently. First off taxes and fees go up constantly to pay for fire protection but the level of service goes down. For example the state did not want to pay for a dozer swamper/dozer tender. Since there is no dozer tender acting as a pilot car then the D6 dozer can no longer run an angle blade. The problem with straight blades is they are less stable on side slopes due to the narrow blade and they are also slower working a grass fire because they can't sidecast material as effectively. So the dozer fleet is less effective AND there are far fewer dozers than 20 years ago. Cal Fire dozers have a winch instead of rippers so they are not so good during rehab either. So now Cal Fire is reducing the size of the dozers in some units because of no pilot car but they want an angle blade. A D4 on a beaver tail, the type CDF stopped using a few years ago in some units, are making a comeback.
Cal Fire wants to contract out much of the dozer work but at the same time they are also reducing the contract pay for the dozer (and everyone else). The fire management is filled with younger people every year. It is not unusual to have a division supe who in his or her late twenties. They are liable to make demands that can not be met, but some Captains/ supervisors who might be even younger will take unnecessary risks to try to look good.
So back on topic... there was no pack test. I think I can still pass the pack test because I get out and hike with the scouts carrying more than 45lbs for 45 minutes at 4 MPH. On flat ground anyway. My falling skills are decent but I am not a full time faller and I feel I am just barely good enough to be a fireline faller. I have good gear and I understand fire and the fire service and I will tell them if I feel an assignment is too risky. I do wish Cal Fire would assign us radios rather than (me) having to spend $1,500.00 on a radio I may not use for a year or two. I also will not respond to a fire as a single resource! I will only respond as a module, either 2fallers or a faller and a swamper. I will not work alone!
That's a very good policy.
For those who have asked about becoming a fireline faller in Cali and having your name listed in the Emergency Resource Directory (ERD) all you have to do is take the class and sign the contract and have your equipment (saws and truck) inspected. To be able to work on the line you need appropriate PPE. That's it.
forestryworks
Addicted to ArboristSite
What is "the class"?
The class is "Fireline Safety Awareness for the Hired Vendor". Go to fire.ca.gov and search for it.
OregonSawyer
ArboristSite Operative
Sounds like a hell of a summer job there pard. Unfortunately/fortunately I have the rest of my foreseeable summers booked up. Always thought that looked like a kick in the ass though!
I know I am necroposting here on this old thread but there is a reason. Two weeks ago I was in Cal Fire's Santa Clara Ranger Unit headquarters in Morgan Hill. I ran into the BC who filled out my paperwork after a fire last year and he saw my knee bandaged up. We talked about this coming summer and the lack of fallers signed up through his unit. If we have a busy summer he said he will run out of fallers in a day of two. If you have the skills and the gear there might be a few classes left. I will probably watch this fire season on TV the way my knee is feeling.
