Western Fire Resources
Family of Companies
Western Fire Resources
Family of Companies
Family of Companies
Family of Companies
The Western Fire Resources family of companies currently consists of 3 companies, each providing important services relating to wildfire suppression, wildfire risk assessment, and fuels mitigation. Thank you for visiting our site. Please also visit our Western Fire Resources Facebook page.
Western Fire Resources provides the premier firefighting resources in wildland fire contracting. With 23 years of Federal, State, Local, and Private firefighting experience, owner Derrick P. Holdstock set out in 2018 to create a company that would be employee-centered and would possess a combination of the best characteristics from the many outfits he has worked for and with. Watch the video to see our BFX Fire Apparatus Model 643U type 6 engines.
Millions of dollars in property are lost annually to wildfires, yet technology exists that can be used to identify where risk is likely to occur and to help design the most cost-effective fuels treatments to mitigate those risks. That is just one of the things JK Simulated Wildfire can do for you. Whether you own property, insure property, or represent a governmental entity responsible for minimizing wildfire risk to communities, we can help you gain a better understanding of wildfire risk and what you can do about it.
ACD Tree Service is your obvious choice for wildland fire fuels mitigation. We specialize in Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) fuels treatments to achieve NFPA's Firewise USA standards of home protection. We can also clear fencelines and right-of-ways, as well as install hand firelines for future prescribed fires or general fire protection in terrain not conducive to heavy equipment.
Western Fire Resources strives to be the premier firefighting resource in wildland fire contracting. We know that in order to do this, we must pay attention to every detail and to spare no expense on our equipment and employees.
3 Pillars of Our Business
1) Provide top pay and benefits to our employees, who are our greatest assets.
2) Provide training and advancement opportunities that allow our employees to seek a career in wildland fire, not just short-term employment.
3) Provide our employees with the best and most well-equipped resources on the fireline.
Our Equipment
Our Engines and Water Tender programs are based in Canadian, Texas and dispatched in Region 3.
Type 6 Engines
Our type 6 engines meet the current US Forest Service specifications for a Model 643U apparatus and are manufactured by BFX Fire Apparatus. Engines have 3-cylinder diesel-powered pumps, automatic foam proportioners, full back seats, and external storage for personal gear bags and line packs. We stock our engines well beyond NUS standards, not just the VIPR minimums, with additional items including AEDs, air compressors, mechanic's tool sets, and additional radios on each engine.
Type 3 Support Water Tender
Our type 3 support water tender is 2,200 gallons, operates off of a PTO driven pump, and has front, rear, and side sprayers.
Our Personnel
When you show up with equipment like ours, expectations are high. That is why we are very picky about the employees we select to operate our resources.
Our employees all come to us having demonstrated initiative, a strong work ethic, and a strong commitment to excellence in prior endeavors. In fact, we value these qualities over prior fire experience, which is why many of our past rookies got their initial fire training and experience with us. We adhere strictly to all NWCG standards for qualifications, experience, and fitness. Our firefighters complete a 2-week critical training prior to each fire season. Trainees are put through not only the required, but also the recommended trainings, and are never fast-tracked.
We realize that requiring such high standards from our employees cannot come without cost to the company, but any investment into our workforce is viewed as a great investment. First and foremost, no employee must enter into any non-compete agreement with us. We prefer to maintain our workforce through providing an amazing work environment, unmatched training and advancement opportunities, top pay and benefits, top of the line equipment, and opportunities outside of fire season such as occasional project work and paid PT to maintain fitness. We must be doing something right because we have experienced zero turnover since 2020. The following are some of the perks our firefighters enjoy.
1) We assign firefighters to engines for the entire season, so there is never a time when someone will be left home wondering if they will be assigned to the next roll.
2) Regardless of how few hours are listed on the shift ticket, our firefighters are paid as if they work 16 hours.
3) Our permanent firefighters are provided a $500+ boot allowance and are outfitted with top-of-the-line equipment, including Mystery Ranch line packs and gear bags, personalized Dragonwear Exxtreme Nomex fleece jackets, Stihl MS500i chainsaws, and BFX Fire Apparatus Model 643U Type 6 engines outfitted well beyond NUS standards.
4) Our permanent firefighters are all given annual memberships to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation 52 Club.
5) Our firefighters have access to a company-owned hot tub.
In order to truly understand the effects a wildfire may have on a property, you must understand all of the elements of fuels, weather, and topography that will affect how a fire will burn. Allow us to make sense of it all for you.
It is one thing to understand wildfire risk and another to come up with an efficient plan as to what to do about it. Developing treatments that are specific enough to make the fuel complex burn at the desired, more manageable, intensity, yet not destructive enough to make what is left look like a parking lot, is very difficult without modelling that future risk. That is where we can help you make sure you are not just throwing money at the problem, but rather developing a sound plan.
Whether it is to recreate a past fire or to simulate a future fire under specific conditions, animations provide a visual way to demonstrate fire spread and are a great way to educate people about the danger of untreated fuels. Animations can be run with current fuels and then again on "treated" fuels prior to treatment in order to demonstrate the expected effects. These can be coupled with maps depicting fire behavior as the flaming front passes.
Whether you are just trying to evaluate what holding resources you will need on your prescribed fire or determine how your critical holding points change with wind direction in order to select the optimum conditions under which to burn, don't rely on non-spatial BEHAVE predictions. We can help you visualize your prescribed fire well in advance of that GO/NO GO decision.
Maintaining defensible space is likely the most important thing you can do to protect your property before a wildfire occurs. Who better to help than professional wildland firefighters. Our expertise, gained from years of protecting values at risk from wildfires, makes us uniquely qualified to create defensible space. We are intimately familiar with NFPA's Firewise USA standards and can manage your fuels accordingly. We can also clear fencelines and right-of-ways on ranch and farmland. If planning a prescribed fire and you need some "line punched in", we can create mineral hand firelines with reduced fuels alongside to make your holding duties minimal on burn day. Whatever it is, give us a call and see what services we can offer. ACD Tree Services is most active around Canadian, Texas, but is capable of traveling for projects.