State Fire Marshal
2009 CICCS Workshops Summary
Introduction
Five CICCS workshops were held in 2009. The first workshop was held in Cal EMA Fire and Rescue Region II. Subsequent workshops were held in Sacramento, Pechanga, Pasadena and Clovis. The format was similar at all workshops in order to achieve consistency of the CICCS Task Force throughout the state.
The workshops consisted of a panel of CICCS task force members taking questions from participants after a PowerPoint presentation that covered the background and development of CICCS and its general components. Some of the significant points covered were:
Background
CICCS is a certification system for positions in ICS. It is a performance based system utilizing minimum training standards and documented experience.
Certification is the process where State Fire Training issues a certificate that an individual has met the required coursework and documented experience. Certification is the role of the State Fire Marshals Office.
Qualification is the process where the fire chief affirms physical fitness and currency within the ICS position and makes the individual available through the mutual aid system. Utilizing personnel through the mutual aid system is the role of CalEMA Fire and Rescue.
The CICCS Task Force is a sub-committee of the State Board of Fire Services. The PACE V Committee is constituted under State Fire Training Policies and Procedures. CICCS became attached to the SBFS as State Fire Training is the only means to certify personnel. However, some people think that OES because it is the end user of trained and experience personnel would be the better place to certify and qualify individuals. The TF has considered addressing this but it is not a priority.
The four system components used to develop CICCS were covered; peer review, position task books, NWCG courses or equivalent and the use of the NWCG 310-1 format (minimum training standards, experience, fitness standards, IQS and currency).
Key points covered during the workshops:
Historical Recognition
Historical recognition is over. There may be a need in the future as new positions come on line to initiate new historic recognition periods. The task force will develop some procedures to implement this process. The TF is aware that new positions have been developed such as; structure protection specialist and fireline paramedic that may require a defined process. The TF will define a process in the CA Incident Qualifications Guide.
Fire Chief Involvement
The involvement of each agency fire chief is important and required to adequately implement ICS. The fire chief or their designee reviews training and experience and determines whether their employee should hold an ICS position as a trainee or fully qualified by approving at the ICS 100-200 levels or sending to the appropriate peer review committee for their review. The fire chief is also responsible to determine whether their personnel meet currency and department physical fitness requirements. The task force is developing guidelines for decertification for use by the Fire Chief to use in case of negligence or other reasons to discipline individuals.
Participation in CICCS
A common question at the workshops “if CICCS is voluntary why should we participate?” In an agencies own jurisdiction departments can follow their internal process, however, if they participate in responses to other agencies incidents the value of a common system becomes important. As long as everything is going well, participation in CICCS does not sound important. When an agency incurs some sort of liability then the system looks pretty good. CICCS is a recognized industry standard for certification and would be looked to after an accident or injury to determine if the individuals involved were properly trained and accredited for the positions they were in at the time of the incident. The California Fire Assistance Agreement requires that responding personnel meet either the requirements of the State Board of Fire Services accepted version of NWCG 310-1(2006) or CICCS requirements for the position they are filling.
Qualifications Guide
The current qualifications guide authorized by the State Board of Fire Services is the NWCG 2006 310-1. When the Task Force began work on CICCS an anchor point and the 2000 version of the NWCG 310-1, WildlandFire Qualifications Guide, was chosen. This has not clearly understood by the California Fire Service and there was a period when there were some departments using the 2000 version and some the 2006. There was a good deal of confusion and CICCS Task Force requested the State Board of Fire Services to adopt to the 2006 version of the NWCG 310-1 until a California specific All-Risk Qualifications Guide can be completed. To avoid this situation in the future and meet the needs of the California Fire Service the TF is working a CA specific all risk qualifications guide that will replace the 310-1 for use by local government. The requirements of the CA specific guide will in many case be more restrictive than the NWCG 2008 310-1, for instance an individual cannot initiate a Position Task Book (PTB) until they have completed the required training and some of the recommended courses in the 310-1 will be required.
Qualifications Cards
Agencies are not required to have their own qualification cards but are responsible for providing proof of qualification. You do not need a card but you do need a document from your agency stating you are qualified for the position you are assigned. A qualification card is recommended. Qualification Cards will be issued yearly beup to date and valid. A template for qualification cards is on the FIRESCOPE website. Additionally a template is in the Incident Qualifications Program (IQS).
Incident Qualifications System (IQS)
IQS tracks all management personnel, training, assignments and qualifications. Incidents with an ICS form 225 can be entered into IQS and the program will automatically update a persons records. Some of the advantages of IQS are that it limits corruption from outside the system, limits the number of persons who can update system and improves working with ROSS.
S-290
One of biggest obstacles for local government and other agency participants in CICCS is the S-290 course (Fire Behavior) requirement for engine boss (company officer). S-290 is a 4 day course which can have tuition fees and incur overtime for students. The Task Force is working on an internet version of the S-290 that would be available to bridge this requirement. The CD NWCG S-290 course is only compatible with Windows 95 and so is not widely available. The classroom S-290 will continue to be a requirement for Strike Team Leader.
Impacts of CICCS to volunteer and small departments
Any decisions that the CICCS Task Force makes on training must consider the effect on volunteer and small departments. It is difficult for volunteer and combination agencies to provide training because of cost and available training time. The liability is the same for full-time or paid departments.
Equivalency Matrix
The equivalency matrix has to be updated prior to completing the CA Incident Qualifications Guidebook. The Task Force has established a committee to work on the matrix. The current equivalency matrix is still valid.
Skills Crosswalk (Gap Courses)
The Skills Crosswalk for structural and wildland firefighters has been developed by NWCG and the National Fire Protection Association. The Crosswalk is a standardized method to develop training programs for structural firefighters to fight wildland fire. The Crosswalk converts structural positions to equivalent wildland positions (FF2, FF1, ENGB, and STEN). The Task Force has established a sub-committee to analyze the applicability of the Skills Crosswalk to the CA fire service and to integrate, if possible, with the equivalency matrix.
Position Task Book (PTB)
The management of PTB’s is still a concern. The PTB process requires that all courses required for the position is attended and certificate received prior to opening the PTB. Initiating the PTB begins with the first assignment. The signing off of PTB’s on non-complex incidents continues to be a problem. The requirement for two quality assignments will remain.Quality assignments are those that exercise the full range of responsibilities of the assigned trainee position. Document on an ICS 225 the dynamic nature of the assignment. Performance evaluations are key to the performance based system that we use.
You are allowed to only have four PTB’s open at one time and only two in one functional area. College instructors are not qualified to sign off a task book. Firefighters need to keep the original PTB. Make copies so you don’t lose your information. Document your assignment on a 214 and make a copy. Training specialists request that the information in the PTB’s is legible. After your PTB is reviewed by the appropriate Peer Review Committee it can be entered into ROSS.
The ability of agencies to get trainees to incidents is difficult especially in years with few deployments this coupled with the 3 year limitation to complete a position PTB is of concern to many people. The three year clock starts at the completion of the first assignment and if they do not complete the task book they must initiate a new PTB. The Task Force will address this in the Guide. One recommendation is to have the operational areas and regions develop priority trainee lists so that individuals who are in danger of not completing their PTB will be priorities for assignments. Unfortunately the current PTB’s available are the 2008 version. We just have to live with the dichotomy of having the position guidebook and PTB from different years as the Task Force does not have the time and resources to reconcile at this time.
There is at least one position the PTB has been dropped because NWCG no longer uses that position HCWN in its place is an HNBG (Single Helicopter Manager) which requires more training and experience. There are other positions that do as yet have PTB’s such as Structure Protection Specialist and Liaison Officer.Another change is Safety Officer III is now Line Safety.
Leadership Courses
Leadership courses are expensive and hard to find. In addition the Field Managers course guide is vague on the qualifications for instructors it seems anyone could teach this with a master’s degree. The Task Force supports the L-courses but has not worked on this issue as yet.
Task Force Leader/Strike Team Leader Requirements
Task Force Leader has additional requirements than does a strike team leader and must be signed off in the PTB. This is a requirement in the 310-1 that makes it difficult to become a Division Supervisor. The Task Force is thinking of a way to meet the intent of the 310-1 and still make DIVS attainable by personnel under CICCS.
The Task Force is discussing a system to get around the chief officer strike team leader glass ceiling so that company officers can become DIVS or Safety Officers. These are shortage positions during periods multiple incidents and there is a need to increase the availability of qualified personnel.
Qualifying Assignments
Training exercises are not qualifying assignments for PTB sign-offs nor do they maintain currency. The Task Force is considering defining certain exercises as maintaining currency based on complexity of the event. Cal Fire and FEMA have moved in this direction and the Task Force is examining how they have worked through this. In addition the Task Force has discussed allowing instruction of certain courses to maintain currency.
Qualifications Systems
There are three qualification systems in California; CICCS which uses the NWCG 2006 310-1, the federal agencies use the 2009 NWCG 310-1 and Cal Fire which has its 4039 policy and procedures guide. If you are not an employee of Cal Fire or one of the federal wildland fire agencies CICCS is the system you use.
Physical Fitness
When CICCS was initiated the decision was made that physical fitness is the responsibility of the Fire Chief. The Fire Chief was to rely on their agency policy and procedures. This is a contentious issue within the fire service because some personnel want to use federally adopted pack test others do not. The Task Force has been asked by the FIRESCOPE Board of Directors to develop alternative forms of fitness testing that departments could adopted should they wish to. A committee has been established to develop these alternatives.
Peer Review Committees
Peer Review Committees are established at the Cal EMA operational area (ICS 300), region (ICS 400) and the state (ICS 500/600 also known as PACE V). The membership of the peer review committees represents the diversity of the agencies at the operational area, region or state. The members represent the area or agency and do not need to be qualified in all of the positions (although that is helpful). The CICCS task force recommends that the committees invite subject matter experts when reviewing applications if the expertise does not reside on the committee.
Peer review committees can decide to be more restrictive than the current CICCS procedures call for. Operational Area and Region fire chiefs can set direction for their review committees to ask for additional training, experience or other requirements if the chiefs decide that is the best interest of the operations area or region. They cannot be less restrictive.
Transferring qualifications
Recently, numerous persons, mostly from federal wildland agencies have been employed by local governments to fill overhead positions on incidents and the question has come up how are they to be handled in CICCS. The Task Force is taking the position that they will go through the peer review process for the positions they are ordered for or fill on an IMT. For example, if a person is an OSC2 they would go through their regional peer review committee. A GSUL would submit their application to the operational area peer review committee. In the case of a person holding multiple qualifications they would go through the appropriate committee for each of their qualifications. For instance a person who is an OSC1 and an ICT2 Trainee their OSC1 would go through PACE V and their ICT2 trainee would go through the regional committee.
If Cal Fire Personnel transfer to an agency that participates in CICCS then that person would have to go through the appropriate CICCS peer review for their qualifications. When a person transfers from one CICCS participating agency to another their qualifications are transferred with them without the need for peer review. Notification to the peer review committee by the receiving agency should be done.
Field Managers Course Guide
The recent adoption of the NWCG Field Managers Course Guide (PMS 901-1) has raised the issue of who can issue NWCG certificates. NWCG certificates are being issued by many different instructors and institutions. NWCG course certificates can only be issued to students completing courses sponsored by NWCG member agencies. Educational institutions, contractors, and non-member agencies will not issue an NWCG certificate unless the lead instructor is a member of an authorized representative of an NWCG member agency (the five federal wildland fire agencies and Cal Fire). The CICCS Task Force is asking Operational Area and Regional Peer Review Committees to review the types of certificates being issued. The Task Force will meet with CWCG to discuss this issue and get guidance out statewide.
There is also a concern with those instructors presenting NWCG courses. Some of the instructors being used are retired and can no longer represent the host agency that allowed them to issue NWCG certificates. This is not to indicate that these people are not quality instructors only that they may not meet the requirements of the Field Manager s course guide. This issue will be dealt with at the same time the Task Force discusses issuance of certificates.
Next Steps
The Task Force will be completing the draft California CICCS All-Risk Qualification Guide this fall and submitting to groups and individuals for their review and comment. This document will then go to the State Board of Fire Services for their approval and the FIRESCOPE BOD for their concurrence.
The CICCS Task Force will have another set of workshops prior to the 2010 fire season with the roll out of the California All-Risk Qualification Guide. These workshops will allow the users of the handbook to ask questions and gain understanding of Guide.