2022 Annual Report - Minnesota Incident Command System

2022

Annual Report

Minnesota Incident Command System

2022 MNICS Board of Directors

Tom Remus

(Chair)

Fire Management Officer

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Bob DeGross

Superintendent

Voyageurs National Park

Tom Hall

Forest Supervisor

Superior National Forest

Michael

Stansberry

Forest Supervisor

Chippewa National Forest

Russ Langford

Deputy Regional Fire Management Coordinator

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Paul Lundgren

Fire Section Manager

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Joe Neuberger

Operations & Training Bureau Chief

Department of Public Safety

2022 MNICS Task Force

William Glesener

(Chair)

Wildfire Operations Supervisor

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Greg Carlson

Fire Management Officer

Voyageurs National Park

Cory Berg

Fire Management Officer

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Seth Grimm

West Zone Fire Management Officer

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Chase Marshall

Forest Fire Management Officer

U.S. Forest Service

Jacob

Beauregard

Mutual Aid and Logistics Coordinator

Homeland Security Emergency Management

MNICS Mission

To provide coordination, education and implementation of the Incident

Command System in Minnesota and support fire and all-risk incidents

nationwide.

MNICS Goals

• Provide timely, safe, and cost-effective mobilization and demobilization of

resources under the closest forces concept.

• Collect and disseminate intelligence data within specified local and national

time frames.

• Assess capabilities within Minnesota to respond to critical emergency situation

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR .......................................................................... 2

MNICS ....................................................................................................................... 3

FIRE INTELLIGENCE .......................................................................................... 3

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE .................................................................... 5

MINNESOTA WILDFIRE ACADEMY RECONVENES IN 2022 ............... 7

MNCC ........................................................................................................................ 8

AVIATION ............................................................................................................ 10

NORTHEAST INTERAGENCY SUPPORT CACHE ................................... 11

BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS ..................................................................... 12

MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES .................. 14

HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ............ 16

USDA FOREST SERVICE ................................................................................. 19

U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE .................................................................. 20

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE ........................................................................... 22

MNICS PARTNERS CONDUCT AIR TO GROUND WILDFIRE

COMMUNICATION SIMULATION IN MEEKER COUNTY .................... 23

MNICS WORKING TEAM UPDATES ........................................................... 24

IN MEMORY ......................................................................................................... 29

2022 MNICS AWARDS .................................................................................... 30

As 2022 comes to a close, there have been some notable

changes in personnel, an increased return to the office

environment post-pandemic, a marked change in the fire

season from 2021, and a significant number of resources that

mobilized out-of-state. With all of these events, MNICS

firefighters and support personnel stepped up to the dynamic

nature of the work. I think many of us can agree that changes

seems like it is happening more frequently, even beyond the

fire environment.

While change is a part of our daily lives, it is no less important

for everyone to keep their skills sharp, especially during

apparent slower seasons. Taking this valuable time to build

the experience slide reel is becoming increasingly important

as new boots on the ground walk the paths of those who are

enjoying well-earned respite. The established relationships

formed over 37 years ago continue to be honed to ensure the

best outcomes for the citizens we serve (both in Minnesota

and beyond).

These valuable relationships helped establish today’s

Minnesota Interagency Coordination Center on the second

floor of the Minnesota Interagency Fire Center. They are also

valuable relationships that allow all of the MNICS partnering

agencies to participate on the Extended Attack Incident

Management Teams, which successfully transitioned from

Type 2 to the Type 3 (plus) organization only a few years ago.

In particular, the recent deployment of Team Bravo to the

Braun fire allowed us to “knock the rust off” during the only

team deployment this season. Through these relationships,

we can train as one, even when six member agencies are

navigating their policies behind the scenes to make MNICS

successful.

As I transition out of the Chair role and Greg Carlson from

Voyageurs National Park takes the helm, continue to lean into

issues with a critical eye and provide solutions that will keep

MNICS successful as opportunities present themselves.

Together, we will navigate through all the changes and strive

to help each other to stay one step ahead of the many pitfalls

that can impede a single agency. Finally, and most

importantly, keep up the good work and remain vigilant

because that next ridge top is only a few steps away.

William Glesener (Minnesota DNR)

MNICS 2022 Task Force Chair

Message

from the

Chair

MNICS

Fire Intelligence

2022 Wildfire Situation

On November 15, 2022, MNICS agencies

reported 680 wildfires totaling 3,751 acres for

the calendar year 2022 thus far.

Agency

Wildfires

Acres

BIA 122 261

FS 58 45

FWS 18 443

NPS 1 1

State 481 3,001

2022 Totals

680

3,751

2022 Prescribed Burning

Prescribed burning efforts for MNICS partners

were limited this year by a late start to the spring

season, spring flooding, and the U.S. Forest

Service's decision to pause prescribed burning

agency-wide for 90 days in June 2022.

Agency

Prescribed Burns

Acres

BIA 65 14,038

FS 26 808

FWS 156 18,338

NPS 3 15

State 439 38,825

2022 Totals

689

72,024

Fire Situation Review

The extreme dryness that held strong through the

latter half of the 2021 summer months, gave way

to wetter conditions throughout the fall and

winter. The precipitation along with a lengthy

cold spring contributed to flooding conditions in

Northcentral and Northwest Minnesota and

resulted in significantly lower spring wildfire

activity compared to the 10-year average.

Dryer conditions that were more favorable to

wildfire returned to the southern two-thirds of

the state toward the latter half of the spring

season. With abnormally dry conditions

expanding in the central and southern portions of

Minnesota, wildfire activity increased slightly

above average for the month of June.

Wildfire occurrence was near or below average

for the remainder of the summer season as fire

conditions tapered off with timely storms events

that brought precipitation to most of Minnesota,

though dryness lingered in the central region.

As fall approached, a sustained build-up

contributed to an increase of wildfire occurrence

throughout the end of summer. By late fall, fire

weather conditions involving strong winds and

low relative humidity amid the expanding

drought conditions coincided with an increase of

notable fire activity throughout Minnesota in

early November.

MNICS

Fire Intelligence

Contributor: Michael Griesinger 5

Rainfall in 2022 was defined by two separate camps

– before and after June 1 (Figure 1). The year 2021

was characterized by one of the worst droughts

Minnesota has seen since 1988, especially across the

northern half of the state. However, a very snowy

winter followed by a wet spring quickly flipped the

script on the drought across the north. Many

locations in the Northland went from one of the

worst droughts ever observed to record flooding in a

span of nine months as a wet winter gave way to

frequent spring rains that produced a very quiet

spring fire weather season for the region.

Upon the transition into summer, rainfall suddenly

became scarce, with dryness extending into October.

From June 1 to October 31, a strip of Minnesota

extending from the Twin Cities southwest to

Marshall experienced precipitation deficits of 10-12

inches. Conditions would have been worse, however,

if not for the near-normal precipitation in August.

While the drought was intense for the southern

region of Minnesota this year, it paled in comparison

to the 2021 drought for Minnesota as a whole. At its

peak in mid-August of 2021, 57% of the state was

covered by D3 drought or worse, with that same

number peaking at 7% in 2022. While June through

October was a particularly dry stretch for the Twin

Cities area, looking farther back in time, the

beginnings of the current drought can be traced to

July 2020. From July 2020 through October 2022, 23

out of 28 months featured below-normal

precipitation in the Twin Cities (Figure 3). The dry

summer in central and southern Minnesota resulted

in a fall fire season that was more active than the

spring, with the fall fire season peaking November 2,

the busiest day for reported fall season wildfire

starts since 2011.

Due in part to the lack of a significant spring fire

season, the number of Red Flag Warnings issued in

2022 was quite low, with the majority occurring atop

the Buffalo Ridge in Southwest Minnesota (Figure 1).

This was one area that didn’t hold a stable snowpack

during the winter and had drier conditions during

the spring, with this being an extension of the busy

fire season seen this past spring across Nebraska and

South Dakota.

Figure 1.

Percent normal precipitation for January 1 -May 31,

2022

Percent normal precipitation for June 1 – October 31,

2022

National Weather Service

Figure 2.

Peak of 2021 drought - August 24, 2021. Peak of 2022 drought – November 8, 2022

Figure 3.

Monthly precipitation anomalies for MSP International

Airport from July 2020 through October 2022.

Figure 4.

Number of times a county was included in a Red Flag Warning

in 2022

National Weather Service

Contributors: Leanne Langeberg

Minnesota wildland firefighters returned to the

Grand Rapids area this past June for the 20th

Minnesota Wildfire Academy after a two-year

postponement due to the COVID pandemic.

The academy was hosted at the Minnesota North

College, Itasca campus from June 6 through June

10, 2022. The week-long training sessions drew

in more than 500 students who attended 23

courses involving wildland fire planning,

operations, safety and leadership.

The Minnesota Wildfire Academy is one of the

largest wildland fire training events held in

Minnesota. Since 2001, the academy has become

the primary training model for cultivating new

talent. Students are exposed to knowledge, career

opportunities, and a network of professionals

who can offer valuable support toward their

career goals.

"We recognize the increasing shortage of skilled

wildland firefighters in today's workforce," said

Todd Manley, wildfire training specialist with the

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. "As

we prepare the next generation of wildland

firefighters, we know recruitment begins with

exposure. The academy is one of the most

powerful tools we have in Minnesota to publicize,

recruit, train, and grow the skills necessary for

today's highly sought after wildland firefighters."

Minnesota’s success in wildland firefighting is

rooted in collaboration between wildland fire

response agencies. The Minnesota Wildfire

Academy promotes development of firefighting

skills and further develops these working

relationships. Many of the instructors are

associated with Minnesota Incident Command

System’s (MNICS) federal, state and tribal

partners.

Coordination of the Minnesota Wildfire Academy

is an extensive collaborative effort between the

MNICS event organizers, the college and the

community of Grand Rapids to assure a safe,

quality learning experience for all participants.

The logistical coordination of this year’s academy

was guided by an interagency incident

management team (IMT), led by Incident

Commander Mike Aultman. As is traditional, the

Academy IMT was stationed onsite at the campus

throughout the duration of the academy.

Minnesota Wildfire Academy

Reconvenes in 2022

Contributors: Mike Mackey, Tasha Woodwick, Angela Porter, Jake Serfling 8

Minnesota Interagency Coordination

MNCC

MNCC Season Review

Minnesota Interagency Coordination Center

(MNCC) carried out another busy season that

provided opportunities for change, challenge,

growth and resiliency. Filling staffing shortages in

a few of our critical dispatch roles continues to be

an area of focus, though we are not alone in our

efforts to fill these roles as many national

coordination centers work through similar hiring

constraints. We express sincere appreciation to all

the dispatchers who stepped up this year and

supported MNCC by accepting resource orders or

short-term detail assignments to fill the voids.

While hiring has been a slower process, we

welcomed Jolene Soltis (Fire Intelligence) and Jake

Serfling (Aviation) to our team. Efforts are

underway to fill the vacant Assistant Center

Manager for Operations, and three permanent lead

dispatch positions, which we remain optimistic

will be filled by the end of January 2023.

Many of the applications, tools, and services MNCC

dispatchers utilize to support Federal, State and

Local government agencies continue to be updated

and improved. C-soft kiosks have been installed at

the MNCC aviation desk. We are looking forward to

the release of the new computer-aided dispatching

software - WildCAD-enterprise. The program will

modernize how we dispatch resources to an initial

or emerging incident and share information

between fire applications. It will also play an

important role in the ongoing discussions between

several agencies on what initial attack dispatching

will look like in the coming years.

Mobilizations and Requests

The 2022 wildfire season resulted in a higher than

average number of requests nationwide. At MNCC

we mobilized a steady number of resources out-of-

state to support fire suppression needs. Our

resources mobilizing out-of-state filled over 1000

requests and supported 25 states with personnel,

engines, modules, crews and aviation assets.

2022 MNCC Logistics

Resources supporting Minnesota Incidents

(Resources filled between Oct. 1, 2021 – Sept. 30, 2022)

Local resources supporting Minnesota Incidents

• Overhead - 173 resources filled 215 requests

• Equipment – 47 resources filled 59 requests

Non-local resources supporting Minnesota

Incidents (26 States)

• Overhead – 93

• Type 6 Engines – 11

• Type 1 Interagency Hotshot Crew – 1

States included:

• Alaska Arkansas Arizona

• California Colorado Iowa

• Idaho Illinois Indiana

• Louisiana Michigan Missouri

• Montana N. Carolina New Hampshire

• Nevada Ohio Oregon

• S. Dakota Tennessee Texas

• Virginia Washington Wisconsin

• West Virginia Wyoming

Minnesota resources Supporting Non-Local

Incidents (25 States)

(Resources filled between Oct. 1, 2021 – Sept. 30, 2022)

• Overhead – 369 resources filled 840 requests

• Equipment – 82 resources filled 189 requests

• Crew – 3 resources filled 10 requests

States supported by Minnesota Resources

• Alaska Arkansas Arizona

• California Colorado Florida

• Idaho Illinois Indiana

• Michigan Mississippi Missouri

• Montana Nevada New Mexico

• N. Carolina Oregon Pennsylvania

• S. Dakota Texas Utah

• Virginia Washington Wisconsin

• Wyoming

Minnesota Interagency Coordination

MNCC

2022 MNICS Type 2 IA Crews

MNICS rostered a Type 2 Interagency (IA) Crew

this season after a two-year pause through the

COVID Pandemic. MNCC continues to support the

crew mobilizations.

Type 2 IA Crew members working on the

Arrastra Fire in Montana.

MNICS Type 3 IMT Mobilizations

MNICS Team B mobilized to the Braun fire near

Delano, Minnesota on November 6, 2022.

2022 MNCC Aviation

(Reported dates: April 9 – Nov. 5, 2022)

• 71 aircraft requests on 31 fires

• First fixed wing mission flown on April 11

• Last fixed wing mission flown September 8

• Fixed Wing Air Tankers responded to

o 9 – DNR fires

o 1 – U.S. Forest Service fire

o 1 – National Park Service fire – Isle Royal

• Air attack responded to 9 – DNR fires.

• DNR completed 332 hours of flight time on 16

detection routes

• U.S. Forest Service used 3 – Beaver aircraft to

complete detection route flights on the

Superior and Chippewa National Forests

Fixed Wing Aircraft

Agency

SEAT

CWN

Fire

Boss

Fire

Boss

CWN

BIA

DNR

Forestry

USFS

DNR Enfrc.

* EU - exclusive use, CWN - call when needed

* Single Engine Air Tanker (SEAT)

Agency

LAT

CL-215/

CL-415

ATGS

F/W

BIA

DNR

Forestry

USFS

DNR

Enfrc.

* EU - exclusive use, CWN - call when needed

* Large Air Tanker (LAT), Air Tactical Group Supervisor

(ATGS), Detection flights including Beavers (Lt F/W)

Helicopters

Agency

CWN

BIA

DNR

Forestry 8 - - - -

USFS

Total

* EU - exclusive use, CWN - call when needed

Minnesota Interagency Coordination

Aviation

Accomplishments

Interagency Meetings & Training

Events

• S-372 Helicopter Manager (MNICS, led by

USFS)

• A-219 courses in MO, OH and three

courses in MN. (MN courses - 3 USFS led, 1

MN DNR led)

• N9016 Plastic Sphere Dispenser Operator

training three sessions held for 14

operators and 5 contract pilots (USFS)

• S-271 Helicopter Crewmember – Ely, MN

and Concord, NH (USFS)

• Annual MN Aviation Workshop was held

virtually over Teams and the Wildfire

Learning Portal

• Ran an interagency emergency simulation

with a downed aircraft with real

communications to be as close to real

world situation as possible

Minnesota Wildfire Academy – Minnesota

North College Itasca Campus

• S-270 Basic Air Operations

• S-271 Helicopter Crewmember

Project Work

• Aerial Seeding completed on 2,994 acres

on state and county land this spring, 1,000

acres this fall

• Aerial photos for wetland monitoring were

completed for entire state

• Tree seedlings brought into remote sites

by sling load

• Helitorch ignition 3500 acres at Mille Lacs

WMA

Assistance to Minnesota

(Jan 1—Sep 7, 2022)

Assistance received with the following positions:

• ATBM (2), SEMG (1), RAMP (3), MXMS (1),

HMGB (2), HECM (3), ACDP (6)

Alaska and Nevada supported the Aviation desk

by sending aircraft dispatchers.

Out-State Assistance (Mar 21—

September)

Minnesota DNR

• Supported the Wyoming BLM and

Wyoming State Forestry in Casper, WY at

the SEAT base with

o 1 – ATBM

o 7 – FWPT

o 3 – MXMS

o 5 – RAMP

o 5 – RTCM

o 6 – SEMG

• ATGS supported incidents in AZ, ID, NV, TX

and UT

• ABRO and ACDP supported incidents in

AK, AZ, NM and WA

• HMGB supported incidents in AK, ID, MT,

SD and WA

• HECM supported incidents in AK, CA, ID,

MT and WA

U.S. Forest Service

• HECM supported incidents in AK, ID, OR,

WA, MT and MO

Contributors: Brian Wise

Northeast Interagency Support Cache

The 2022 fire season was a slow one for the Eastern Region and most of the

rest of the country. The cache supported two Type 3 incidents, and these

occurred late in the fall. The Northeast Support Cache (NEK) processed and

shipped 3,240 line items of supplies totaling over $1.6 million. We processed

1,422 line items of returns totaling $1.2 million. The National Cache System

was utilized with bringing in $1.1 million from other caches to support fires

in Minnesota.

NEK supported the National Cache System by shipping over $1.3 million of supplies to caches in several

states, including California, Colorado, Montana, Oregon, Idaho, Arizona, Kentucky, and Alaska. NEK also

supported the National System by refurbishing pumps for the Southern Area and Rocky Mountain

Caches.

In additions to supplying eight contract helibases and four tanker bases, the Cache provided supplies

and equipment of more than $317,000 for the following trainings:

• Itasca Community College’s Natural Resources Program

• S-130/S-190 Basic Firefighter Course

• Vermillion Community College’s S-211 Pumps class

• MN DNR’s S-212 Chainsaw Course

• MN DNR’s S-130/190 Class

• Lake Superior College’s S-211 Class

• Minnesota Wildfire Academy

NEK staff supported the western fire season by assisting in the following positions: Assistant Cache

Manager, Supply Technician, Materials Handler, and Equipment Manager, and completed a total of five

fire assignments.

National Symbols Program

The National Symbols Cache processed 1,752 orders for over $821,000 in

sales in fiscal year 2022. Due to the pandemic, sales are still down from

our average of approximately $1 million annually. However, we are seeing

an uptick in orders and hope to get back to our normal sales next year. We

currently stock 94 products, plus 45 downloadable digital products. New

products this past year for Smokey Bear included sticker sheets, jar opener, rain gauge, crayons, magnets,

and a paw stamp. New Woodsy products included sticker sheets, a whistle/compass/thermometer, 12

inch ruler, pencils, and a signature stamp. These products, along with our standard product offerings, can

be viewed and ordered on the website at www.symbols.gov.

Staffing Updates

Bill Lauer and Don Green, two of our material handlers, retired this last year. We welcome their

replacements, Jason Hanks and Adam Fremling. Long-time Assistant Cache Manager Tom Staydohar

passed away September 29. Tom had worked here since the NEK and MIFC opened their doors in 1991.

Please read the article about Tom located in this Annual Report.

Contributor: Cory Berg 12

The MNICS partnerships are part of the foundation that allows for safe and effective wildland fire

operations in Minnesota and throughout the United States. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Tribal

Fire Programs of Minnesota Agency and Red Lake are proud to serve their communities and assist our

interagency partners.

Season Review

This year was a very busy season for Minnesota Agency and Red Lake even though local fire numbers and

acres burned were significantly lower than average. The lower fire occurrence at home allowed for many

BIA and Tribal firefighters to accept multiple assignments in Oklahoma last winter. The BIA’s Eastern

Oklahoma Region has been in a state of severe drought for the last year and Minnesota resources were

able to make a significant difference in fire response and management. Resources returned to Minnesota

just as our spring season started in April. Many then left shortly after our spring fire season to support

tribes in Arizona and New Mexico. By mid-summer, many resources had returned to support Eastern

Oklahoma again. BIA and Tribal resources also supported suppression efforts in Alaska, Montana,

Washington, Wyoming, Alabama, California, and Oregon.

Engine Operator Qualifications

New in 2022, the BIA is utilizing the Engine Operator (ENOP) qualification. The Midwest Region hosted

two ENOP Academies in September 2022. The first academy was held at the new Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe

Community Center, and the second at Bay Mills, Michigan. Local BIA and Tribal firefighters joined the

National Bureau of Land Management (BLM) ENOP cadre and carried out two great courses.

One of the more exciting prescribed fire projects to initiate in 2022 was the partnership between Fond du

Lac and the University of Minnesota’s Cloquet Forestry Center (CFC). The Fond du Lac Band and CFC have

shared objectives to reintroduce fire as an ecological and cultural process in the pine stands at the

Forestry Center, which is within the Fond du Lac Reservation boundary. The burns were part of a

Reserved Treaty Rights Lands (RTRL) project the BIA is supporting.

Personnel Changes

The Bureau is pleased to add Mike Mansson to the Minnesota Agency staff as the Fire Operations

Specialist. Other changes in staffing include Missy Gregerson who accepted a position with the BIA

Midwest Region as a Fire and Forestry Budget Analyst.

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Reservation Wildfires Acres

Prescribed

Fires

Acres

Red Lake 86 184 20 13,103

White Earth 27 69 37 807

Fond du Lac 1 1 5 103

Mille Lacs 5 6 - -

Bois Forte 0 0 - -

Grand Portage 3 1 3 25

Leech Lake* N/A N/A - -

Total 122 261 65 14,038

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Contributors: Leanne Langeberg, Allissa Reynolds, Craig Ferguson, Todd Manley, Darren Neuman 14

Cooperative Fire Response

Fire response throughout the 2022 spring

wildfire season resulted in lower-than-average

wildfire activity. The lower response needs

throughout Minnesota have allowed available

resources to support out-of-state fire needs.

More than 350 resources from Minnesota DNR

mobilized to 17 states this year, with the highest

level of support provided to Texas, Montana,

Alaska and Wyoming. In addition, the MNICS

Type 2 Initial Attack (IA) hand crew mobilized to

Colorado to support severity needs. A 20-person

Type 2 IA hand crew supported with Minnesota

DNR employees mobilized to Montana to

support the Hop Creek, Busman Road, and Deep

Draw fires.

MNICS partners periodically review and revise

shared protection agreements to ensure the

closest resources are prepared and ready to

respond within the first 24 hours. This year,

MNICS partners are collaborating to review and

revise the shared protection agreements for

State, National Forests and Tribal managed land.

In addition to shared protection response on the

ground, shared protection benefits from a

standardized dispatch infrastructure and

software systems. MNICS partners are working

on upgrading a system-wide dispatching

infrastructure to the WildCAD-e system.

Incident Management Teams

The most recent MNICS Type 3 Incident

Management Team (IMT) request occurred in

early November 2022 to manage the Braun Fire

near Delano, Minn. The value and contributions

of the MNICS Type 3 IMTs are well recognized

among the MNICS partners, who continue

contributing their agency personnel to fill the

rosters for the MNICS Type 3 and Eastern Area

(EA) Type 2 IMTs. Due to no large fire incidents

within the state this year, no Eastern Area Type

2 IMT was requested for in-state wildfire

response this fire season.

Aviation

Minnesota DNR acquired a new Daher Kodiak

airplane and was delivered in mid-November. It

will be primarily used for air attack, aerial

photography and transportation.

A hanger located at the Grand Rapids/Itasca

County airport was purchased to provide a

secure facility for the division of forestry and

enforcement aircraft. The hanger also provides

additional infrastructure for helibase

operations, and as a result, the Hill City helibase

was relocated to Grand Rapids.

Due to a nationwide shortfall of qualified air

tanker base personnel and the growing wildfire

concerns in Wyoming that developed in early

June 2022, a training and partnership

opportunity grew between Minnesota DNR and

the State of Wyoming Forestry Division. The

shortfall allowed Minnesota's Air Tanker Base

staff to extend their training season while

supporting a critical need out west.

Minnesota DNR's air tanker base personnel

conducted several 14-day assignments with

small teams of four to five people. The teams

staffed the Bureau of Land Management’s Single

Engine Air Tanker (SEAT) base in Casper,

Wyoming, from mid-June to mid-September.

Multiple trainees participated in the

assignments and gained valuable hands-on

experience operating the equipment and loading

water and fire retardant into aircraft.

Minnesota Department

of Natural Resources

Fire Prevention

The Fire Prevention team contributed to the

development, testing and release of the Northeast

Wildfire Risk Assessment portal. The interactive

site was released to the public earlier this year.

Wildfire prevention programs are progressively

transitioning to in-person audience attendance.

The annual Wildfire Prevention Week was hosted

the third week of April this year. During the 12-

days of the Minnesota State Fair, thousands of

visitors interacted with Minnesota DNR fire

prevention staff during the Governor’s Fire

Prevention Day and at the fire tower and

prevention building.

Firewise Minnesota continues to support

community wildfire resilience with technical and

financial assistance. The USDA Forest Service

grants have supported five new community

contracts and the continuation of the Firewise in

the Classroom project that provides a wildfire

and GIS distance-learning curriculum for high

school students. Firewise staff are also assisting

with the Forest Service’s new Community

Wildfire Defense Grant program, which provides

one billion dollars annually toward the

Community Wildfire Protection Plan

development and implementation.

Training

Minnesota wildland firefighters returned to the

Grand Rapids area for the 20th Minnesota

Wildfire Academy after a two-year postponement

due to the COVID pandemic. The academy is one

of the largest wildland fire training events held in

Minnesota. It drew in 521 participants who

attended the 23-course offerings this year,

including several local fire departments and State

Fire Marshall’s Office staff.

Minnesota IQS Web

Planning and coordination efforts will continue in

2023 to bring Minnesota IQS Web (IQS Web) to

local and state government fire departments. IQS

Web software will allow local fire departments to

track and produce Incident Qualification cards

(Red Cards) for the wildland fire qualifications

their firefighters earn.

The program and server for IQS Web is hosted by

the Minnesota DNR’s division of forestry, and

links wildfire qualifications to the national

Interagency Resource Ordering Capability (IROC)

system.

Rural Fire Program

The division of forestry’s rural fire program

continues to be highly utilized throughout

Minnesota. The program saw another busy year

servicing the Firefighter Property and State

Surplus programs. The Volunteer Fire Assistance

(VFA) program awarded 152 grants providing

more than $504,000 to Minnesota’s rural fire

departments this year.

In addition to assisting local fire departments

with supplementing their vital programs with

equipment and supplies through the excess

property programs, the Rural Fire Program was

instrumental in locating an office trailer that will

be retrofitted for the MNICS Type 3 Incident

Management Teams.

Minnesota Department

of Natural Resources

Contributor: Amber Schindeldecker 16

National Qualification System

As a key component of the National Incident Management System (NIMS), the National Qualification

System (NQS) provides a foundational guideline on the typing of personnel resources within the NIMS

framework. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety division of Homeland Security and Emergency

Management (HSEM) will be working to implement a process within Minnesota over a three-year period.

The goal is to better align with federal standards and guidelines allowing first responders, from multiple

disciplines, to become qualified and credentialed under the NQS system. The first step in that process has

been to recruit and hire a NQS Coordinator to lead the project, with HSEM completing the first round of

interviews as of October 2022. We look forward to working with the MNICS partners as this project moves

forward.

MNNG helicopter lifts pump into place

Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) Missions

In April, the Minnesota National Guard deployed a Chinook helicopter, with crew, to North Dakota to

conduct heavy lift operations by emplacing large pumps atop a dam, relieving hydraulic pressure and

preventing failure.

In September and October, two Class-A Surface Water Treatment Operators, one from the City of

Minneapolis and the other from the City of Eden Prairie, were deployed in support of the “Jackson, MS

Water Crisis.” Both individuals were instrumental in getting systems back online and producing clean

drinking water for the residents.

Also in October, the Minnesota All-Hazards Incident

Management Team (AHIMT) deployed to Florida in

response to Hurricane Ian. The team was assigned

to DeSoto County, which is 50 miles inland from the

Gulf Coast. The area became flooded after Ian made

landfall and storm surge caused the Peace River to

run over its banks. During their deployment, the

AHIMT planned and executed daily response and

recovery actions, set up a base camp for emergency

personnel, managed donations, and established

points of distribution.

Figure 1: Members of the AHIMT with Director of Florida

Division of Emergency Management. New SEOC Project

HSEM continues planning and preparation work on the new State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC)

facility. It will be a much larger, standalone building situated on a 10-acre parcel of land north of St. Paul.

The project is in the design phase with a firm drawing up final plans for the facility. Construction will start

in early 2023. It is set to open in fall of 2024.

Homeland Security and

Emergency Management

2022 State and Federal Disaster Declarations

As of October 2022, Gov. Walz authorized the use of the State Disaster Contingency Account for nine

incidents so far this year. President Biden has also declared three federal disasters making Public

Assistance (PA) available to state, tribal and local governments throughout Minnesota. HSEM recovery

specialists will work with the counties to reimburse them for repair and recovery costs related to those

incidents

Mudslide - Winona County

Flooding - Rainy Lake

Homeland Security and

Emergency Management

State Disaster

Number

Incident

Period

Incident Type Counties Included in Declaration

SD-060 (state) April 12 Severe thunderstorms and

tornadoes

Fillmore, Mower, Rice and Winona

SD-061 (state) May 19 Heavy rain and flash flooding Winona

SD-062 (state) May 8-13 Severe thunderstorms with

heavy rains, flash flooding,

damaging winds, large hail

and tornadoes

Benton, Lyon, McLeod and Murray

SD-063 (state) June 13 Severe thunderstorm with

heavy rains and flash flooding

Cottonwood

SD-064 (state) July 5 Severe thunderstorms with

heavy rains and flooding

Cottonwood, Freeborn and Rock

SD-065 (state) April 22 –

June 15

Straight-line winds and

flooding

Becker

SD-066 (state) June 20-24

Severe thunderstorms with

damaging winds, heavy rains

and flooding

Aitkin, Cass, Crow Wing, Itasca, Lac qui

Parle, Morrison, Norman, St. Louis and Todd

SD-067 (state) July 23

Severe thunderstorms with

damaging winds, tornadoes,

heavy rains and flooding

Houston and Renville

SD-068 (state) August 24 Heavy rains and flooding Houston

DR-4658

(federal)

May 8-13 Straight-line winds,

tornadoes and flooding

Aitkin, Big Stone, Cass, Chippewa,

Cottonwood, Douglas, Grant, Kandiyohi, Lac

qui Parle, Lincoln, Morrison, Noble, Pope,

Redwood, Renville, Stearns, Stevens, Swift,

Todd, Traverse, Wadena, Wilkin and Yellow

Medicine

DR-4659

(federal)

April 22 -

June 15

Straight-line winds and

flooding

Bois Forte (Nett Lake), Leech Lake, Red Lake

and the White Earth Tribal Nations Beltrami,

Clearwater, Cook, Kittson, Koochiching,

Lake, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen,

Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, Red

Lake, Roseau and St. Louis

DR-4666

(federal)

May 29 -

Straight-line winds,

tornadoes and flooding

Aitkin, Big Stone, Cass, Chippewa, Crow

Wing, Douglas, Grant, Itasca, Kandiyohi, Lac

qui Parle, Pine, Pope, Renville, Rock, Stevens,

Swift, Todd, Traverse, Wadena and Yellow

Medicine

Homeland Security and

Emergency Management

Contributor: Angela Porter 19

Wildland Fire Response

Both Chippewa and Superior National Forests

noted significant declines in the number of fires

and acres burned compared to their totals last

year.

• The Chippewa National Forest’s fire

season began April 12 with the Brush fire

and had a combined total of 35 fires that

burned 39 acres for the season.

o Scoffner Fire, on the Walker District,

was the Chippewa National Forest’s

largest fire this season. It burned 18

acres in leaf and pine litter.

• The Superior National Forest began fire

season on April 27 with the Gopher fire

and had a combined total of 24 fires that

burned 14 acres.

o Lake Three was the largest fire

reported on the Superior National

Forest. It started on September 7 and

burned a total of nine acres in light to

moderate timber.

Prescribed Fire

Prior to the USDA Forest Service Chief’s

implementation of a nationwide prescribed fire

operations pause in May, the Chippewa National

Forest completed six prescribed burn projects

for 207 acres, and the Superior National Forest

completed 13 prescribed burn projects for a

combined total of 372 acres.

Wilderness Crews

The MNCC Operations dispatch continued

dispatching for Superior National Forest’s

Wilderness Program, assisting with the tracking

and movement of wilderness rangers in the

Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The

program ensures continuity for wilderness

crews across the East and West zones. A total of

119 wilderness missions were tracked.

Search & Rescue

The Superior National Forest welcomed a new

USDA Forest Service pilot, Jeremy Harmon, this

summer. The program now maintains three full-

time pilots out of the Ely Seaplane base.

MNCC assisted with 32 Search and Rescue,

Medical Assistance, and Public Assistance

incidents, at the time of reporting. Our aviation

staff was flexible in their approach to providing

excellent public assistance while cooperating

with emergency services partners, and still

providing for responder safety.

Personnel Changes

• Rob Heavirland retired as the Forest

Aviation Officer for the Chippewa and

Superior National Forests

• Connie Cummins retired from her role at

the Superior National Forest Supervisor

• Patrick Johnson accepted the East Zone

Fire Management Officer position on the

Superior National Forest

• Tom Hall accepted the Forest Supervisor

position Superior National

USDA Forest Service

Contributor: Seth Grimm 20

Season Review

In complete contrast to the 2021 fire season, the

2022 season offered many unique opportunities.

Spring was wet and cold, and led to significant

impacts on prescribed fire and wildfire

operations. Multiple large fuels projects kick

started following the passage of two major pieces

of legislation signed into law this year.

• 2022 Disaster Relief Supplemental

Appropriations Act

• Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL)

Large fuel breaks were started at Minnesota

Valley National Wildlife Refuge and Sherburne

National Wildlife Refuge. Zone-wide detailer

support was also funded to increase local

capacity. Fiscal year 2023 BIL projects are at

various stages of implementation at all locations

in the zone. Projects range from large interagency

prescribed fires, increase of pile burning to

landscape level fuels mastication and fuel breaks.

Critical specialty equipment has been purchased

to aid in FWS employees performing the work in

addition to contracting of fuels reduction work.

The opportunity to get ahead on large fuel

reduction projects is an investment that will pay

dividends for years to come. Work is expected to

continue through Fiscal Year 2026.

Looking back to January, the Service started the

new year by supporting a Service IMT that was

mobilized to work on an Unusual Mortality Event

(UME) of manatees in south Florida, mobilizing

resources to assist with Air Force fire operations

and providing the National Prescribed Fire

Training Center with a module leader and a RXB2-

T participant. In early spring, resources from

Minnesota traveled to Iowa, Illinois, and Texas to

assist with fuels projects and prescribed fire

implementation. The cold, wet and windy spring

had significant impact on prescribed fire and

wildfire numbers. Despite the challenges, USFWS

field stations were able to conduct 156 prescribed

burns for a total of 18,338 acres. There were also

18 wildfires for 443 acres on Service land.

Mobilizations

The fire season proved to be very busy this year

with 90 personnel being dispatched off district in

Operations, Logistics, Finance, Plans, Information,

LE and command positions across 12 states.

Personnel Changes

• Krishna Parthasarathy joined the West Zone

as the first Region 3 apprentice position and

is stationed at Minnesota Valley National

Wildlife Refuge.

• Jacob Johnson accepted the Prescribed Fire

and Fuels Technician located at Glacial

Ridge National Wildlife Refuge.

• Pete Beam accepted the Forestry

Technician (Fire) located at Glacial Ridge

National Wildlife Refuge.

• Zac Doffin accepted the Prescribed Fire and

Fuels Technician located at Fergus Falls

Wetland Management District.

• David Blatz was hired as a Prescribed

Fire/Fuels Technician at Litchfield Wetland

Management District.

• Eric Earhart left fire management for a

position with Realty.

We are in process of hiring five GS-5 Career

Seasonal positions and a GS-8/9 Fire Operations

Specialist position in the zone to complete filling

positions authorized from the Department of

Interior’s 2021 Workforce Transformation.

Special thanks to MNCC and all partners for a safe

and productive 2022 season!

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Wildfire and Prescribed Burn Statistics as of November 2, 2022

Station Wildfires

Wildfire

Acres

Prescribed Burns

Prescribed

Burn Acres

Agassiz NWR

Big Stone NWR

1,249

Crane Meadows NWR

1.3

211

Detroit Lakes WMD

230

1,642

Fergus Falls WMD

2,183

Glacial Ridge NWR

3,448

Hamden Slough NWR

308

Litchfield WMD

2,365

MN Valley NWR

984

Morris WMD

4,474

Rydell NWR

Sherburne NWR

Tamarac NWR

Winona DIST

199

Windom WMD

Zone Totals

443

156

18,338

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Contributor: Greg Carlson 22

The 2022 fire season began in April with

Voyageurs National Park completing several acres

of invasive cattail prescribed burns as part of a

wetland restoration project. The burning and

mechanical treatments will likely be used over the

next several years to produce the desired outcome.

In May of 2022, rapid thaw of the heavy winter

snowpack combined with spring rain events

brought on record flooding at Voyageurs National

Park and surrounding communities, and fire

management staff assisted with the emergency

flood response well into the month of June.

Voyageurs National Park continued to receive

adequate rainfall throughout the summer, which

resulted in a fire season that was almost

nonexistent. One fire, less than a tenth of an acre,

was suppressed.

Isle Royal National Park did have a 6-acre fire

which was reported on August 13th. Firefighters

and aircraft from Minnesota and Michigan

responded to and suppressed the Mount Franklin

fire within a few days. A big thank you to the

Minnesota Coordination Center staff for all the

support and coordination of that response.

An extensive pile burning operation was

conducted at Isle Royal in late October. Piles that

were created as a result of structure protection

efforts during the Horne Fire of 2021 were

consumed.

The western portion of the Border Park Zone

consisting of the North Dakota Parks also

experienced a slow fire season due to rainfall at

regular intervals keeping the grass fuel types

green well into August.

Personnel Changes

Kurt Fogelberg retired in late July with more than

30 years of service with Voyageurs National Park,

wearing hats as a supervisory forestry technician

and acting Fire Management Officer. Kurt will be

missed, but he expects to be back in some function

in the coming years. Progress is being made with

filling Kurt’s vacant position, and we hope to have

someone in that role by the spring of 2023.

National Park Service

Meeker County Fire Departments participated in a live wildland fire simulation involving water-dropping

aircraft and active-controlled fire Saturday, May 7, 2022. The training exercise, coordinated jointly

between the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was

conducted at the Litchfield Wetland Management District (WMD) headquarters in Litchfield, Minn.

Volunteer firefighters from Cosmos, Dassel, Eden Valley, Grove City, Litchfield and Watkins attended the

four-hour live simulation. In addition, Litchfield WMD staff incorporated the aviation training simulation

into one of their pre-planned prescribed burns. The active fire from the prescribed burn provided realistic

fire conditions for the local fire departments who requested aircraft through the Meeker County

Emergency Management dispatch during the simulation. The request then followed an established

communication chain that relays through the Minnesota State Duty Officer to the Minnesota Interagency

Fire Center in Grand Rapids, Minn., where all wildland fire response is coordinated. Within 30 minutes of

the initial call, aircraft, pre-positioned at the air tanker base in Princeton, Minn., arrived on the scene.

Two Fire Boss single-engine air tankers and a helicopter with an attached bucket delivered the water

drops onto the active flames. The local fire departments communicated with the pilots through the third

fixed-wing aircraft that provided air traffic control above the airspace over the fire.

Minnesota experienced a prolonged and active fire season from mid-March well into November 2021,

amid extensive drought conditions. The Minnesota Interagency Fire Center recorded more than 2,000

wildfires that burned nearly 70,000 acres state-wide, and approximately 900 aircraft missions flew on

300 of these wildfires. While the DNR is the leading wildland fire response agency for state and private

land, the timely response could not have happened without interagency partnerships between local

volunteer fire departments and federal wildland fire management agencies who contribute to the

coordinated wildfire response.

“As communities continue to expand further into wildland areas, the concern for threats from

uncontrolled wildfires increases,” said Taylor Schenk, Fire Specialist with Minnesota DNR. “Preparedness

is key to protecting life and property, and timely response both on the ground and in the air helps wildland

firefighters keep wildfires smaller and more manageable.”

The training simulation brought together all of the local, state, and federal partners who respond to

wildland fires in Meeker County. “When you think about the complexity involved to request, coordinate

and communicate with aircraft and ground resources during a wildfire, the situational awareness each

participant gained from this simulation was truly invaluable,” said Schenk.

Each aircraft completed two water drops and departed as the simulation concluded. Litchfield WMD staff

carried out the final activities to complete the prescribed burn while the simulation coordinators

reviewed the training events with the local fire departments.

MNICS partners conduct air to ground

wildfire communication simulation in

Meeker County

MNICS Working Team Updates

Air Operations Working Team

MNICS Air Operations Working Team proceeded

with several tasks in 2022 including:

• Large-scale mishap simulation with MNCC

Aviation Desk and multiple role players from

MNICS agencies.

• Defined role of the Aviation Duty Officer to

assist MNCC Aviation Desk with aircraft

prioritization of incidents.

• Aviation training during the RT-130 revisited

decision making and fire behavior.

• Outreach efforts focused on keeping UAS

(drones) five miles away from wildfire

smoke. The efforts this year focused on

educators drone programs or technology

instructors considering a drone program.

Darren Neuman, Working Team Rep.

Communications Working Team

MNICS utilized one communication trailer this

year during the Minnesota Wildfire Academy

and during a DNR law enforcement training – it

performed flawlessly. MNICS acquired a used

trailer that will be upfitted next year. The search

for a second trailer of similar capability

continues. The trailers will be equipped with

new BKR-5000 radios and two rechargeable

batteries available to sign out at an incident.

The 100 ft portable tower was replaced. The

local amateur/HAM radio group used the 50 ft

portable tower during a group gathering.

MNICS COMTs practiced with the new

communications equipment available through

National Interagency Incident Communications

Division during out-state assignments.

MNCC Aviation Desk upgraded the consoles to

CSOFT, which matches the IA Dispatch. IA

dispatch is currently dispatching for Chippewa

and Superior National Forests, Minnesota DNR -

Two Harbors area, and the BIA - Red Lake and

Grand Portage.

David Jalonen, Working Team Chair

Dispatch Working Team

2022 - MNICS Dispatch Working Team began

planning for future trainings, meetings and

workshops. This plan began with identifying

additional locations throughout the state where

we can offer these courses. The DWT has

identified 3 locations in addition to the MIFC

Training room to host courses as we move

forward to in person training. We also continued

our annual assignments including the revision of

the annual Single Resource FAQ sheet that is

distributed to those mobilizing on off unit

assignments, hosting IROC (Incident Resource

Order Capability) training for IMT and Finance,

MNICS MOB Guide review, and continuing to plan

for the bi-annual dispatch workshop.

2023 – MNICS Dispatch Working Team will

partner with the Eastern Area Dispatch Working

Team to host a virtual Dispatch Workshop. Plans

are underway. A survey was distributed earlier

this summer to learn more about what topics are

most important to the dispatch community. Watch

for an email announcement early 2023 with

registration information.

Training remains a big challenge with dispatch

courses no longer required to become a qualified

dispatcher. The dispatch community is in favor of

continuing to offer courses, as they provide a more

well-rounded foundation for anyone interested in

beginning down this career path. The MNICS

Dispatch Working Team will be hosting dispatch

courses in 2023.

• D-110, Expanded Dispatch Recorder is

currently being planned for the first

quarter of 2023.

• D-310, Support Dispatcher is tentatively

being planned for mid to late June 2023 at a

Minnesota location to be determined.

The Eastern Area Dispatch Working Team

sponsored the annual IROC (Incident Resource

Ordering Capability) practice trainings sessions

again this past spring. This Geographic Area effort

provides general orientation and an opportunity

to get into IROC and check out updates and

changes. The Minnesota Interagency Coordination

MNICS Working Team Updates

Center served as the host dispatch center for two

of the 6 practice sessions in 2022. Many of our

dispatchers took advantage of this opportunity

and gained a better understanding of IROC. These

practice sessions will continue in 2023 and dates

will be announced in early 2023.

Nationally, there is a critical shortage of qualified

and trainee dispatchers. MNCC mobilized fourteen

dispatchers filling 23 out-of-state requests in

2022. Our dispatchers mobilized to support fires

in twelve states, providing much-needed

assistance to busy centers and expanded dispatch

locations including:

• 11 – EDSD, Support Dispatcher

• 6 – IADP, Initial Attack Dispatcher

• 5 – ACDP, Aircraft Dispatcher

• 1 – EDRC, Expanded Dispatch Recorder

Six of these requests were filled with trainees who

gained valuable experience on western

assignments. The shortage of dispatchers

continues to be a nation-wide concern. Anyone

interested in becoming a dispatcher is highly

encouraged to talk with a member of the MNICS

Dispatch Working Team for more information.

Ginger Humphrey, Working Team Chair

Finance Working Team

The Finance Working Team met last December

and continued discussing issues of administrative

management on emergency incidents.

We looked forward to offering a finance class at

the Academy this year; however, the course didn’t

make the list. The last finance class offered at the

academy was in 2018, and we hope to offer a class

in 2023. The finance refresher meeting was held in

March, and focused on the topics of IROC for

Finance, e-ISuite tips, Electronic Doc Box and

Inbox, Reading Contracts, T3 teams. and out-of-

state resources in Minnesota.

The Incident Management Remote Response

finance calls have been invaluable to our team

members and draws the entire national Finance

community (regardless of agency) to a consistent

meeting space and time. In addition, several team

members participated in out-state assignments.

Donna Edelman, Working Team Chair

Information Working Team

MNICS Information Working Team members

stayed busy despite Minnesota’s slower fire

season. Several priority tasks on our list were

accomplished, including delivering a virtual PIO

Workshop, assisting with the Fire Academy,

updating Local Incident Organizers, and staying

current with incident communication platforms

(InciWeb, FireNet). Throughout the fire season,

team members shared schedules and prepared for

local assignments while continuing to assist with

out-of-state incidents.

We had a great turnout at the MNICS-wide

information officers virtual PIO Workshop, held

March 15-16. We even welcomed a few new folks

interested in the work we do. The Task Force

Chair, Incident Commanders from the MNICS Type

3 Teams and MIFC/MNCC staff shared updates

and expectations for the season. Topics covered

during the workshop included:

• agency updates and fire weather outlook

• Use of InciWeb for DNR managed fires

• New PIOT position

• digital and social media 508 compliance

• lessons learned from the 2021 fire season

MNICS PIOs once again supported the Type 3

Incident Management Team that formed for the

2022 Wildfire Academy. The academy is always a

great training opportunity for developing PIOF-t

to work with the media, write daily updates, and

work with the fantastic instructors and students.

Training opportunities beyond academy were

limited this year due to postponed prescribed

burn plans and the overall low fire occurrence this

spring and summer. PIOs who had the interest and

flexibility picked up great experiences during out-

of-state fire assignments.

As we say so long to some great PIO team

members who took on new jobs or ventured into

other opportunities, we offer a BIG THANK YOU.

We wish you all well on your next adventures. DYK

someone who would be great in the PIO role? We

want to meet them! Send them our way.

Peg Robertsen, Working Team Chair

MNICS Working Team Updates

ITSS-GISS Working Team

The work of the ITWT has revolved around the

following areas:

• Ongoing infrastructure updates to

maintain the MNICS website. Software

updates and patches were applied to keep

the site running, and to improve security.

• Managing and configuring the equipment

purchased by the NWCG for EACC team

use. This includes laptops, tablets,

networking gear, FirstNet phones, and

printers.

• Work was completed to interface with

Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) to recruit

additional depth for GISS and ITSS support

both in-state and nationally. The

recruitment effort is revolving around

getting folks in the pipeline to attend free

national ITSS training the week of

February 27, 2023.

Jonathan Lord, Working Team Rep

Logistics Working Team

Last year, the Logistics Working Team acquired

two fully enclosed trailers through the Federal

Excess Property Program. The 22 foot trailer will

be dedicated to communications, and the 44 foot

trailer will provide general office space. Each

trailer is equipped with power, air, and heat.

Work is in progress to retrofit the interior of the

trailers into usable workspace and bids for the

upgrade work are expected to go out this winter.

The 100 foot antenna trailer was repaired and

rolled out for the 2022 fire season.

The push pallets were available by request for the

incident management teams. Filling the pallets

was a collaborative effort between finance and

plans sections from the MNICS Type 3 Teams and

implemented by logistics. The pallets were used

late this fall when the MNICS Team was called up

to manage the Braun Fire. Several minor technical

issues were encountered and resolved.

Discussions on recruitment for the Logistics

Working Team to gain stronger membership

from other agencies are ongoing. Currently, team

membership is made up of Minnesota DNR and

U.S. Forest Service members.

Joe Weflen, Working Team Chair

Operations Working Team

The Operations Working Team focused rostering

two MNICS Type 2 IA crews after the two-year

COVID response pause. Many alternates applied,

but very few applicants applied for the primary

crew boss or squad boss positions. As a result,

only one primary crew, with Zach Saumer as the

CRWB and Bill Alleman as a second qualified

CRWB, was rostered. Having two qualified CRWB

members on the roster allowed for more

flexibility and training opportunities. The crew

went on one assignment to the Arapaho

Roosevelt National Forest in Colorado and

worked a couple of fires and project work.

In 2023, efforts will be made to make

modifications the MNICS Type 2IA Crew program

and deliberately focus on recruiting more

primary applicants.

A special note of congratulations is extended to

Kurt Fogelberg and Greg Vollhaber on their

retirements and a special note of thanks for all of

the years they invested in the Operations

Working Team. Welcome and thank you to Greg

Carlson and John Furr as their agency voting

replacements.

Adam Cook, Working Team Chair

Prescribed Fire and Fuels

Working Team

For 2022, the majority of the work the group

handled was delegated to individuals or sub-

groups within the team, and routine recurring

tasks.

• Continuing to monitor the Fire Danger

Operating Plan for edits that may be

needed.

• Coordinated with National Weather Service

on the Fire Weather Operating Plan.

• Coordinated between agencies to prioritize

burn opportunities and aviation needs for

prescribed burning.

• Coordinated response needs for the EPA

Fire Emissions Inventory.

MNICS Working Team Updates

Fire Needs Assessment

The fire need assessment is a long-term project

aimed at helping to identify areas of Minnesota

that are in the greatest ecological fire need.

Work continues, led by Mike Lynch, Forest

Stewards Guild, and agency representatives who

are providing information and assistance as

needed. When completed, the information from

the project will help land management agencies

prioritize fire treatment on the land.

Brian Jenkins, Working Team Rep

Prevention Working Team

The Prevention Working Team has reorganized

with new membership, and re-establishing

interpersonal relationships, goals, and duties

after two years of absence due to the pandemic.

The U.S. Forest Service’s Nicole Selmer accepted

the chair role, and the Minnesota DNR’s Linda

Gormanson accepted the vice chair role.

Prevention has met several times since this

spring and accomplished:

• Review and approval of the Prevention

Working Team Charter

• Transitioning the burning restrictions

information currently in the MNICS MOB

Guide to the Minnesota Fire Danger

Operating Plan as an appendix.

• Developing the Prevention Working Team

FireNet Channel to facilitate collaboration

and communication among all Prevention

Working Team members.

• Developed a timeline calendar for annual

MNICS-wide fire prevention messaging.

As the team continues to coordinate prevention

efforts, they are working with the Minnesota

DNR’s efforts to update the USDA Forest Service’s

Community Wildfire Protection Plan updates and

development for the upcoming Community

Wildfire Defense Grant. The team is also working

to identify needs for communication wildfire

occurrence, and risk throughout Minnesota.

MNICS teams or agencies that have a project

involving prevention costs are asked to submit a

copy of an itemized Project Request Form or

Letter to request financial support via email.

Nicole Selmer, Working Team Chair

Training Working Team

The MNICS agencies resumed in person

instructor-led fire training starting in 2022.

Prior to that most in-person instructor led fire

training had been suspended in accordance with

COVID-19 safety guidance.

The MNICS organization recognizes the

importance of maintaining a broad base of

firefighters trained to respond to incidents as

they arise. To help us with long term strategy

MNICS puts out a Training Needs Assessment

annually in August. The assessment is sent to all

MNICS agency staff. The results are used to help

the MNICS Training Working Team for training

in 2023 and 2024. With the cooperation of

MNICS and GLFFC, the DNR offered more than

45 courses in FY22 to member agencies, fire

department and affiliates. Courses range from

basic firefighting to advanced leadership.

• S-231 Engine Boss

• S-234 Ignition Operations

• S-270 Basic Air Operations

• S-290 Intermediate Fire Behavior

• L-280 Followership to Leadership

• EVOC Emergency Vehicle Operations

• S-211 Wildland Fire Pumps

• S-261 Applied Business Management

• RT-130 Annual Fire Safety Refresher

Additional courses to be determined. Visit the Fire

Training Calendar for updates.

Preparations and plans began early in 2022 for

the Minnesota Wildland fire Academy, which

was held June 6th – 10th ,2022 at Minnesota

North College, Itasca Campus. This was the 20th

Annual Wildland Fire Academy. The weeklong

training event featured over 20 nationally

certified courses related to basic wildland

firefighting wildland fire planning, operations,

and leadership. A total of 521 students were

registered for 23 courses in 2022. In addition,

nearly 50 instructors were involved in the Fire

Academy. In addition to the student and

instructors, the Wildfire Academy is supported

by a MNICS Incident Management Team. The

IMT supports all aspects of the academy

including serving as a training opportunity for

MNICS Working Team Updates

overhead team member trainees. Those who

took previous NWCG training and are working

toward national certifications could request

participation as team trainees for the week.

Trainees gain real-world experience while being

mentored by certified Team members. Over 15

trainees worked with the Incident Management

Team at this year’s Academy

Eastern Area Priority Trainee Program: Each

year members of the TWT collect names for the

Eastern Area priority trainee program. This has

proven to be a very good tool in getting MNICS

staff the opportunity to gain experience as well as

get task books signed off.

MNICS Training Needs Assessment: The

annual training needs assessment was sent out

in August with results to be posted on the MNICS

website for all to view. This tool helps the

Training Working Team select and plan future

training for the next two years. The results will

also be shared with the eastern area Training

Working Team so they are aware of the higher-

level training needs MNICS agencies may have

that we are not able to meet locally.

The MNICS Training Working Team is busy

setting up training for calendar year 2023 and

planning for 2024. The following courses are

scheduled:

MNICS Sponsored Wildland Fire Courses ‘23

• M-410, Feb. 6-10, 2023

• RX-410, Feb. 27-March 2, 2023

• S-390 Fire behavior, March 13-17, 2023

• S-131 ADV Fire Fighter, Feb. 8-9, 2023

• RT-130 Instructor Handoff, Feb. 7, 2023

Wildland Fire Academy

Mark your calendars - 2023 Minnesota Wildfire

Academy, June 5-9, 2023, at Minnesota North

College – Itasca Campus, Grand Rapids, Minn.

Tentative Course Listing

• ICS- 300

• S-130/190 L-180 Basic Firefighter

• S-131 Advanced Firefighter

• S-200 Initial Attack IC

• S-211 Pumps

• S-212 Wildfire Power Saws

• S-230 Crew Boss

Todd Manley, Working Team Rep

MNICS Type 3 Incident

Management Working Team

What a difference a year makes. After a banner

year for team assignments in 2021, only one team

was ordered late season in 2022. However, there

were still a number of items that kept the

Working Team busy.

Tasks completed by the Working Team this past

year included rostering the three MNICS T3

teams, reviewing and updating the MNICS T3

Standard Operating Guide, planning and

facilitating the spring MNICS Team meeting.

Planning for the spring annual MNICS Team

meeting started at the winter MNICS meeting.

With the change in COVID protocols a hybrid

meeting was held in March with primary team

members invited to attend in person as well as a

virtual option available for alternates. It was

beneficial to meet in person. The meeting was

well attended.

As the season winds down, the Working Team has

been soliciting applications for the 2023 season

rosters. We are also leading the task to get a

process in place prior to next season to facilitate

ability to list a Team as available for GACC and/or

National availability. More to come at the winter

and spring MNICS meetings as we get a process in

place.

The Teams continue to look for additional

opportunities to be utilized in the future and

there are many opportunities to become involved

and contribute to the MNICS interagency

organization and efforts. We continue to seek a

diverse membership and for anyone interested in

providing their expertise to the Type 3 Teams

please contact a Working Team member for more

information.

Primary MNICS Type 3 IMT Working Team

Representatives:

• MNCC-Natasha Woodwick

• BIA-Terry O’Conner

• DNR-Brian Leitinger

• USFWS-Dan Paulson

• USFS-Nick Petrack

• NPS-Greg Carlson

Aaron Mielke, Working Team Chair

In Memory

Tom Staydohar

1954 – 2022

Tom Staydohar made a lasting impression on the

wildland fire community throughout his 35-year

career with Minnesota Department of Natural

Resources (DNR). He joined the DNR in 1987 as a

smoke chaser, picking up supplies from DNR's two

fire supply warehouses in Grand Rapids and St.

Paul, then delivering them to firefighters in the

field.

After a few hectic wildfire seasons as a smoke

chaser, Tom accepted a full-time job as a DNR

general maintenance worker for the Northeast

Region headquarters in Grand Rapids. Even with

his full-time job responsibilities, Tom enjoyed

supporting the firefighters and would pick up

extra shifts during his off hours to help deliver fire

supplies to the field.

In the early 1990s, Tom was part of a unique

interagency DNR and U.S. Forest Service team

tasked with locating a large warehouse facility

capable of storing each agencies’ cache supplies

and equipment in one central location. The

successful mission led them to today's Minnesota

Interagency Fire Center (MIFC), a former

Anheuser-Busch wild rice processing plant and

warehouse. From Tom's perspective, the location

couldn't have been a better fit with its ample

warehouse space and ideal location near the

United Parcel Service (UPS) distribution site in

Grand Rapids, Minn., and interstate access to U.S.

Highways 2 and 169.

After the Northeast Interagency Support Cache

(NEK) formalized, Tom accepted the assistant fire

cache manager role and moved to the MIFC

location. He would spend the remainder of his

career in this role, working alongside his cache

team building the robust warehouse inventory

(worth more than $6.5 million today) outfitting

the wildland fire community with supplies and

equipment.

Tom rarely turned down an opportunity to meet

with wildland firefighters or support staff for their

spring meetings, assist MNICS Interagency Type 2

Initial Attack Hand Crews and Incident

Management Teams gearing up supplies for in and

out-of-state mobilizations, and guiding tours

through the NEK cache for a variety of interagency

visitors. His expansive knowledge of warehouse

distribution and the internal NEK working

operations, along with his impressive

understanding of how the cache team could

seamlessly transition their focus supporting the

national support cache system during periods of

high-fire needs, left many visitors in awe.

Tom was a dear friend, who’ll be remembered for

his tireless contribution to the wildland fire

community, and his role in an important chapter

of Minnesota's wildland firefighting history.

Legacy Award

TOM STAYDOHAR

Leadership Award

ROBERT “BJ” GOTCHIE JR.

Retirement Award

MIKE BEAULIEU

KURT FOGELBERG

DON GREEN

ROB HEAVIRLAND

BILL LAUER

TODD VOGELGESANG

Thank you to Bill Aleman, Keith Flood, Todd Lewis, Phil Millette, Lane Johnson, Leanne Langeberg, Greg Carlson,

Amber Schindeldecker, Jeff Jackson, Taylor Schenck, Craig Ferguson, and any others we missed, who contributed

photos toward the MNICS Annual Report. Your support helps share the story about the incredible work we do.

WILDFIRE ON ICE

January 13 & 14, 2023

__________

Walker, Minnesota

Visit www.wildfireonice.com to learn more

2022 MNICS Awards

Recipients