7/4/16 NIMO Manages Saddle Fire with Color Country Type 3 IMT's

Saddle Fire ICP

The Dixie National Forest requested a National Incident Management Organization (NIMO) Team to respond to the Saddle Fire located on the Pine Valley Ranger District. An in-briefing occurred on June 20, 2016 and a delegation was issued to NIMO from the Dixie NF and UT DOF.

The Delegation was non-traditional in the sense that it tasked NIMO to work with Color Country Team 2, a Type 3 IMT (Chris Henrie, IC) that was presently assigned to the incident. NIMO was tasked with only providing additional management capacity, but mentoring the members of the Type 3 IMT to provide additional training and experience increasing the management capacity and skills of the Type 3 IMT.

On July 1, 2016 Color Country Team 1, Shawn Peterson, IC, merged with the NIMO organization as Chris Henrie's IMT demobilized. On July 6. 2016 command of the Saddle Fire was transferred to Shawn Peterson, Color Country Team 1 Incident Commander.

The NIMO Saddle Fire assignment showcased all 4 NIMO Workgroup's:

Saddle Fire Basecamp - "The camp in a hole
without cell service in a larger hole with marginal service"

Workforce Development: Two NATP Participants were assigned to the Saddle Fire and received experience in a multitude of areas. In the Spring of 2016, the Workforce Development Workgroup conducted Type 3 specific training to the Color Country IMT's. This incident showcased the value of that training prior to a complex incident.

Cohesive Strategy: The community of Pine Valley, UT, the State of Utah, and the USFS working together, showed that the Cohesive Strategy works. The ultimate outcome was that the community of Pine Valley was protected through that collaboration and cooperation, even with a large wildland fire on its doorstep.

Risk Management: Early in the incident, Life First was clearly the priority and firefighters did not engage the fire on steep ground with miles of under slung line. Instead, the decision was made to engage the fire on more favorable ground. The Saddle Fire had an outstanding safety record due to the Risk Based Decision Process following the "LIFE FIRST" principle.

Learning and Innovation: Cell service was non-existent at the Saddle Fire base camp, members of the L&I Workgroup used a combination of resources to bring service into base camp. This including engaging cellular companies, a private cell booster company, local emergency management, and the UT National Guard. Through this collaborative effort, cell service was brought into base camp best described by the cell company as, "A hole without cell service within a hole with marginal cell service."

The Saddle Fire was a very successful use of NIMO and allowed many of NIMO's off season Workgroup projects to come to fruition and help make the Saddle Fire a safe and successful incident.