A Commitment to Excellence
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 Engine program is based in Canadian, Texas and dispatched in Region 3. 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.
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 engines. Our employees all come to us having demonstrated initiative, integrity, 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 nearly all of our past rookies got their initial fire training and experience with us. We adhere strictly to 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. Position Task Books are reviewed by a task book committee consisting of federal, state, local, and private reviewers before being certified.
We realize that requiring such high standards from our employees cannot come without cost to the company, but any investment in 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 among our permanent firefighters 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. The engine takes 2 days off to reset whenever the crewmembers have to.
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 $580+ boot allowance and are outfitted with top-of-the-line equipment, including Mystery Ranch line packs and personal 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.
Our Standards
Western Fire Resources maintains a high set of standards, far above and beyond what is required by our water handling agreement with the US Forest Service. You may wonder why a company would go to such efforts and extremes, incurring such great expense, without any direct profit motive. Higher standards will not lead to more resource orders. They won’t lead to better performance evaluations when evals only have “unsatisfactory” and “satisfactory” as options. It is not even for the sake of our reputation. We maintain high standards because it is the right thing.
We believe that we do not deserve it,…and never will. In fact nobody deserves it…but we should do everything in our power every day to try to.
“It”, in the above statement, may refer to our loyal, dialed employees. “It” may refer to a good reputation. “It” may just refer to the profound honor and privilege of serving our nation when ordered to an incident. In fact, “it” may represent just about anything worth pursuing, but it is about the pursuit, not the result. Success is fleeting and can be lost on any single decision, but if we are constantly pursuing excellence in every aspect of our operation, the rest should take care of itself.
Maintaining high standards is a way to honor our employees and to demonstrate our commitment to excellence. When a company commits to excellence, it can demand excellence from its employees. But, when an employee commits to excellence, they become an invaluable asset to that company, able to demand preeminent pay, benefits, opportunities, and treatment from that company. Western Fire Resources believes it is of utmost importance to assist our employees in their pursuit of excellence. Doing so keeps both the employee and the company moving forward, and working toward each other’s success.
Minimum Standards for Position Task Books
– We wait a minimum of 2 solid fire seasons before initiating a Firefighter 1 (FFT1) position task book. The reason is twofold. (1) We do not believe that firefighters can acquire the experience required to safely lead other firefighters without significant time spent on the fireline, with 2 seasons being a bare minimum in order to demonstrate that they are ready to take their first leadership step. (2) Contractor qualifications are (rightfully) scrutinized, and we do not want any of our firefighters to be hampered by a perceived fast-tracking, should they take their qualifications elsewhere. Our qualifications must be beyond reproach.
– Upon completion, all position task books are subjected to an interagency task book committee, composed of Federal, State, Cooperator, and contractor personnel. While final certification rests with the company, feedback from this committee is considered and is made part of the permanent record to supplement a firefighter’s training record.
– In between the completion of the Firefighter 1 (FFT1) position task book and the initiation of the Engine Boss (ENGB) position task book, our prospective Engine Captains complete the Engine Operator (ENOP) position task book. While not required by our agreements, this provides us with a way to gauge the readiness of a qualified FFT1 to begin the ENGB trainee process.
– Supervisors present subordinates with an ICS-225 – Incident Personnel Performance Rating after every trainee assignment. This initiates a 2-way dialog on performance, documents strengths and weaknesses, and provides an opportunity to form development plans. This too becomes part of their permanent training record and will assist the interagency task book committee in their assessments. We also encourage this for firefighters not in trainee positions but rather serving in qualified roles.
Minimum Standards for Contractor Performance Evaluations
– It is company policy to seek performance evaluations covering all days on each assignment, with all evals turned into the incident and follow-up submittal to US Forest Service Contracting Officers.
Minimum Standards for Training
– For each position, all required and recommended trainings will be completed before a firefighter will be considered for qualification to a position. The addition of the recommended courses, while not required by our VIPR agreement, will increase their understanding of the position duties, and will ultimately lead to greater success in position task book completion.
Minimum Standards for Annual Critical Training
– All permanent seasonal call-when-needed firefighters will complete an annual Critical Training. This training will include the annual fireline refresher, work capacity test, first aid, CPR, AED, stop-the-bleed, daily PT, the BLM Fire Fitness Challenge, a leadership day, and project work on the Santa Fe National Forest to build crew cohesion and restore muscle memory for common fireline tasks.
Minimum Standards for Physical Training
– All permanent seasonal call-when-needed firefighters will receive bi-weekly PT pay throughout the calendar year (when not on fires) to maintain physical fitness.
– At the annual Critical Training, all permanent seasonal call-when-needed firefighters will participate in the BLM Fire Fitness Challenge with an initial goal of 200 points and an annual goal of improving their score from the previous season.