2006 Fire Season Roll Call

[ak_telemike]

If I go off-Forest, I'll be sure and keep 5 pennies in my pocket (or pack) at all times.

[char]

[MT]

I don't think the Tongass is a bad place to be "stuck" Mike.

[ak_telemike]

Not at all - hell, we even get a few rippers here in Southeast once in a while. Still, I'll miss the off-Forest squadie assignments in the Interior, Montana, etc.......

[lemon boy]

Don't let MT fool you boys, that mofo's flyin a desk this year. REMF.

[ill-advised strategy]

It's starting to look more and more like another season of dispatch.

Unless I hear from one of the engine jobs I applied for.. I start in 2 weeks.

I'm already having nightmares: the other night I was on my way to go skiing and stopped by to say hi and drop off some paperwork and they made me stay for some initial attack. I was wearing my ski clothes with my helmet and ski boots... and I was all hot in there but it was so busy I couldn't even put the phone down to take my ski clothes off. I had no idea what the hell was going on I just started answering phone calls. That was not a happy dream.

[VC]

Dispatch eh, well if you ever want to name request a crew......

[ill-advised strategy]

...well if you ever want to name request a crew......

Redding, Lassen, Plumas, Tahoe, El Dorado, Diamond Mountain, Klamath, Mendocino or Modoc?

[VC]

Diamond

12345

[zion zig zag]

I'm taking this season off, and all the rest of the seasons. Just retired after 32 fire seasons, and sadly this one looks like the same-o same-o here in the southwest. I'm going to go climbing and fishing and have the summer to myself for the first time since 1974.

But be safe, and remember there's nothing out there worth getting hurt over. The most important things is to come home in one piece to the people that care about you. It's likely to get way ugly in the southwest this year.

Thanks for the years you put in, congrats on the retirement.

And thanks to all you wildland fire peeps, thats some hard mf'ing work!

[ill-advised strategy]

I'm going to be curled up in a ball rocking back and forth sobbing and drooling in a corner of NIFC for the next week.

pray for me maggots, for I am entering the belly of the beast

[Meadow Skipper]

I'm going to be curled up in a ball rocking back and forth sobbing and drooling in a corner of NIFC for the next week.

pray for me maggots, for I am entering the belly of the beast

Ha ha, better you than me! Go downtown and hoist a few at Bitter Creek - it might help.

[char]

I'd put money on the fact that you or someone else has lost that radio in the woods before.

[ak_telemike]

Nope, not me - that's why I did that, though.

[ill-advised strategy]

things are not going well for me so far this season.

My supervisor is after me, I'm scared I may lose my job and not be able to pay the bills. Job/house/skiing, all of this is in the balance. Can't get another fire job when I have a supervisor spreading vicious lies about me, can't get other jobs because most of my adult life has been in fire or skiing. I'm waiting to hear from WA-OLF but that's going to take time...

Heartburn, stress, endlessly planning some sort of financial/career/life escape route waiting for any of the small things that go wrong in my job to be blown way way out of proportion they way they've been. I think if I don't get this engine job I may not last the season here. I may have to sell the house and motorcycle and skis and/or move to another town to scrape by. Won't know until it happens though.

[bdog]

things are not going well for me so far this season.

My supervisor is after me, I'm scared I may lose my job and not be able to pay the bills. Job/house/skiing, all of this is in the balance. Can't get another fire job when I have a supervisor spreading vicious lies about me, can't get other jobs because most of my adult life has been in fire or skiing. I'm waiting to hear from WA-OLF but that's going to take time...

Heartburn, stress, endlessly planning some sort of financial/career/life escape route waiting for any of the small things that go wrong in my job to be blown way way out of proportion they way they've been. I think if I don't get this engine job I may not last the season here. I may have to sell the house and motorcycle and skis and/or move to another town to scrape by. Won't know until it happens though.

Hang in there Bro. It will get better. When things heat up you'll get work. Your experience counts and out weighs crap from your supervisor. Don't panic. Thought about contract crews? It's a possibility.

[ill-advised strategy]

so, they gave my job in washington to a girl with very little experience, she's a FFT1 trainee

the forest supervisor cares more about hiring a woman than hiring someone with 10 years of fire.

I was so stoked about this job, my friend up there and I had a long talk about what we wanted to do, how we were going to build the fire program up there. It's all gone because they had to hire a female...with no experience I was so stoked to get the hell out of this office, to cut trees and travel...all of it. gone

so, I'm stuck in dispatch, where my petty, weird bipolar boss hates me and is actively trying to make my job suck and me personally uncomfortable in it. Every single day that I've worked this season has been the worst day of my career, and my career is what sustains every part of my life, fire pays for ski season, it pays for my home, it's all I've done with my summers since 1996. Additionally, every day I've been taken aside and chewed out for some petty thing like not tucking my t shirt in or coming into work 15 minutes early or asking if we had a phone number for an engine, I can't really win for losing in there.

I'm honestly not sure what to do. I honestly think that if I could afford it I would go to a shrink. Somebody asked me the other day what I do for fun and I couldn't think of a good answer, all I do is work, it's fire season so you know how that is, and every work day is hell, and my only way out for this season is now gone.

[ak_telemike]

yetiman - You can afford a shrink if you want one. The FS will pay for it. Ask someone at work about the Employee Assistance Program. I've used it, and counseling was free. Check yo PM's.

[SherpaStyle]

Damn dude! Sorry to hear things are going so shitty for you. The hiring system sucks. Either you're getting beat out by a minority or a vet or some FMOs sister-in-law's cousin. I would tell you to stick it out...its only a few more months, but your position sounds pretty shitty. Fire, dispatch, the FS will always be there. Maybe you should think about leaving it for the summer. There is a lot I sacrifice for fire, but when things get shitty and I'm hating life I find myself contemplating whether it's really worth it. How much of your happiness and livelyhood are you willing to sacrifice?

If I were you I'd probably be looking for another job. Maybe private contract an engine or tender or something... You'd make a killing.

Good luck, I hope things work out for ya.

[ill-advised strategy]

I guess they didn't care what Wally thought...

Representative Wally Herger (R-CA)
Testimony before the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversite Subcommittee on Civil Service

"I appreciate this opportunity to address the Committee on the important matter of racial and gender preferences in federal agency hiring and promotion decisions. Mr. Chairman, I have several documents that I would request unanimous consent to be included in the record which are numbered and have been made available to the members of the committee.

Mr Chairman, I represent an area which includes all, or parts of eight national forests and I have had dozens of US Forest Service employees contact me to express their disgust with the forest Service's discriminatory and unfair hiring and promoting practices.

They tell me about how careers have been derailed, morale has been devastated, personnel costs have skyrocketed, and public resources and even public safety have been put at risk due to the imposition of bizarre hiring and promotion decisions. According to Webster's Dictionary the word "discriminate" is defined as to make a difference in treatment or favor on basis other thatn individual merit.

Mr. Chairman, I will use my time today to exhibit how the US Forest Service has continually and blatantly engaged in discriminatory hiring and promotion practices and has outright failed to hire on the basis of merit for many positions.

Example 1: One Forest Service job announcement declared that, and I quote "Only Unqualified Applicants May Apply", unquote. This was an attempt by the Forest Service to avoid hiring or promoting qualified employees in order to fill the jobs with minority. . . but unqualified employees. If this is not discrimination, I don't know what is.

Example 2: Notes from a Forest Service Civil Rights Action Group meeting state, quote, "there are many factors involved in the selection process and the objective is to select a qualifiedperson, not necessarily the most qualified," unquote. Again, the Forest Service is directing their supervisors to not hire the most qualified individual. . .that's discrimination.

Example 3: A memo from a Forest Service Assistant Director for Affirmative Action states, quote "The only legal requirement f e to meet entry level qualification requirements. Greater tenure may produce candidates who are over qualified but that is irrelevant to the issue at hand, which is getting on with and agency affirmative action program", unquote.

I cannot imagine too many private sector business' that would last very long if they deliberately passed over the most qualified person for the job. This is discrimination.

Example 4: A "White Paper" produced by the Plumas National Foreset, which is located in my Congressional District, spells out in grim detail the consequence of quota hiring plans. Quote, "In a growing number of instances, we are not filling positions when there are no women applicants. In the past three months, we have either re-advertised, left vacant, or filled with unqualified temporaries eleven permanent positions becaue we could not find female applicants. If the position is in fire prevention or forest fuels management, the job simply doesn't get done and we face the consequence of additional person-caused fires". Continuing with the quote, "When the roster was completed, the majority of applicants were male and the top of the roster was blocked by male veterans. The Plumas attempted to fill five fire positions from the roster, but could only reach two women. Both women declined our offers. No offers were made to men. All fire positions are presently vacant or filled by unqualified temporary employees", end quote.

Now, with this example, not only are federal workers being discriminated against by the Forest Service, but civilian citizens are being put at risk. Innocent people could have died or had their homes destroyed because the Forest Service refused to fill critical fire fighting positions due to their ridiculous quota requirements.

When cirticised for its quota policies, the Forest Service often blames a court order to diversify their workforce. However, a 1994 letter from the Department of Agriculture Assistant Secretary for Administration states, quote "The (consent) decree required that one selection factor in all cases was to be whether the applicant contributed to the Agency's diversity. . .It also limited the use of this factor either as tie-breaker when all other quaifications were equal, or as one of several factors", unquote. The letter goes on to say that only, quote "One of those expectatons is that competitive promotions will be based on merit factors. If someone comptetes for a position and is the best pqeson quaified for the job, he or she will be selected", unquote.

Regrettably, that was not the case.

Clearly, the consent decree did not mandate the abandonment of all common sense. But, the Forest Service has gone well beyond the requirements of both the court and common sense. Indeed, a memo from one Forest Supervisor warned his employees against aggressively pursuing diversity goals and admitted that doing so was a violation of the law.

Quoting from the document, "free and open discussion have occurred regarding such things as creating or filling a position with an affirmative action candidate or not filling the position at all, or providing significant career enhancing opportunities/education to affirmative action candidates that are not available to other candidates. These types of discussions are violation of the laws and regulations mentioned and should not occur, and the penalties for this type of conduct are severe", unquote.

Mr. Chairman, the Forest Service is admitting that what they are doing is in violation of the law. Furthermore, this is still happening now. In February of this year, under strong criticism because of its quota policies, the Forest Service issued a Merit Promotion plan. The plan stipulates that promotions "shall be based solely on job-related criteria". But a few paragraphs following that statement, the document explains that, quote "Selection procedures will provide for managements right to select or not select from among a group of best qualified candidates", unquote. How can it be a merit plan if it specifically permits the Forest Service to avoid selecting from the pool of best qualified candidates even in an attempt to solve their acknowledged problems with discrimination, the Forest Service once again astablishes unfair hiring and promotion practices. The Forest Service quota policies are inequitable to both the public and our federal employees. They are divisive, morally indefensible, and blatantly unfair.

We cannot combat past discrimination by engaging in yet more discrimination. I commend the committee for addressing this crucial issue."

[skifishbum]

Yo no matter what your sit. The clock is always running and soon enough you shall return to this.

Hang tough, Be safe
Winters but a few 100000 hours away

[zion zig zag]

Winters but a few 100000 hours away

Holy shit! Winter is 35 years away!?!?

Yeti, sorry to hear about your problems man. Women getting jobs that they aren't necessarily qualified for in fields that are dominated by men isn't likely to go away any time soon.

[Meadow Skipper]

Somehow I almost missed all this drama with your job YetiMan. Let me offer some condolances, and some advice that's sure to be worth what you pay for it.

If you're seasonal, there are almost always other locations and other agencies looking for people with experience, even at this time of year. People take other jobs or don't show up. If things are as crappy as you say, start calling around talking to FMOs and dispatch centers and ask if they have any last-minute vacancies. Don't be afraid to look into BLM or head for another state.

If you're career-conditional, that's a little different, but mostly in that it'll take longer to land another position. Still, you should be looking at the vacancies pretty much daily. Or maybe you can get detailed somewhere - that often takes some connections, but if your boss hates you he might be willing to go that route.

Over the years, I had some shitty summers and bosses, but I either moved on or outlasted them. Lots of times, a dickhead's karma will catch up with them. When everything else fails, patience helps.

[ak_telemike]

I just got off the phone with someone in HR in Region 5 about a couple of positions I applied for on the Plumas. She tells me that the consent decree is no longer in effect and that as of Feb 2005 they no longer are required to give extra consideration to women. One job I applied for had the closing date extended 2 weeks because the applicant pool was not diverse enough ethnically. Things are a bit tougher in HR in R5 right now becaue the Region is about to take over all HR functions from the Forests - nothing will be at ASC until something like 2008.

That's a long-winded way of saying that it ain't going to get any easier to get a job in R5 any time soon.

There are a shit ton of FEO and Dispatch jobs on AVUE right now.......

[Meadow Skipper]

usajobs.opm.gov shows a BLM 5/7 dispatch position in Susanville, and a buttload of 5/6/7/8/ BLM engine jobs, including some in Bishop. BISHOP, dude.

Search on California and "fire"