Fire_Plan_SFNF.pdf

Operation and Maintenance Plan Fire Plan

Santa Fe National Forest

SCOPE

The provisions set forth below outline the responsibility for fire prevention and suppression activities and establish a suppression plan for fires in work areas within the Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF). The provisions set forth below also specify conditions under which work activities will be curtailed or shut down.

RESPONSIBILITIES

A. Contractor: The Contractor

1. THE CONTRACTOR shall abide by the requirements of this Fire Plan.

2. THE CONTRACTOR shall take all steps necessary to prevent their employees, subcontractors and their employees from setting fires not required in completion of the contract, shall be responsible for preventing the escape of fires set directly or indirectly as a result of contract operations, and shall extinguish all such fires which may escape.

3. THE CONTRACTOR shall permit and assist in periodic testing and inspection of required fire equipment. Contractor shall certify compliance with specific fire precautionary measures in the fire plan, before beginning operations during Fire Precautionary Period and shall update such certification when operations change.

4. THE CONTRACTOR shall designate in the Fire Plan and furnish on Contract Area, during operating hours, a qualified fire supervisor authorized to act on behalf of Contractor in fire prevention and suppression matters.

5. THE CONTRACTOR shall be responsible for the cost of suppressing all fires caused by his operation, and for all damage to any property of the USDA Forest Service or third parties. The USDA Forest Service reserves the right to participate in extinguishing any fires caused by the contractor’s operations and the contractor shall reimburse the USDA Forest Service for the cost of all suppression activities ordered or directed by the USDA Forest Service.

B. Forest Service

The Forest Service may conduct one or more inspections for compliance with the fire plan. The number, timing, and scope of such inspections will be at the discretion of agency employees responsible for contract administration. Such inspections do not relieve THE CONTRACTOR of responsibility for correcting violations of the fire plan or for fire safety in general, as outlined in paragraph A.2 above.

Appendix C: Fire Plan

Santa Fe National Forest

TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT

A. Requirements for Fire Precautionary Period

THE CONTRACTOR shall comply with the following requirements during the fire precautionary period as defined by the unit administering contracts, unless waived in writing.

The Fire Precautionary Period is approximately MAY l to November 1 of any year.

Fire Tools and Equipment: THE CONTRACTOR or their contractors shall also meet minimum requirements New Mexico State Law. Fire tools shall be kept in each vehicle. Fire equipment and tools shall be maintained in suitable and serviceable condition for firefighting purposes.

Trucks, UTV’s / ATV’s and other similar mobile equipment shall be equipped with and carry at all times a size 0 or larger shovel with an overall length of not less than 46 inches with any other approved firefighting hand tool.

Fire Extinguishers: Contractor shall equip each internal combustion vehicle including UTV’s and ATV’s with a fire extinguisher for oil and grease fires (4-A:60-B:C).

All Fire Extinguishers shall be mounted, readily accessible, properly maintained and fully charged.

Fire toolbox

(1) During contract performance, the contractor shall furnish and maintain, at the contractor’s expense, one fire toolbox at the campsite or some central location, as long as it is within ¼ mile of the location where the contractor is currently performing work.

(2) The fire toolbox is to be maintained with tools in good condition in the following quantities for each five people in the contractor’s work force. The equipment is for the sole purpose of firefighting. Four shovels, two axes, one Pulaski and five each 1-gallon canteens. Where needed, brush-hooks and McLeod tools may be substituted for shovels or axes.

(3) The fire toolbox shall be replenished by the contractor after each incidence of fire use

Spark Arresters and Mufflers: THE CONTRACTOR or their contractors shall equip each operating tractor and any other internal combustion engine with a spark arrester, except for motor vehicles equipped with a maintained muffler as or tractors with exhaust-operated turbochargers.

Spark Arresters shall be a model tested and approved under Forest Service Standard 5100-1a as shown in the. National Wildlife Coordinating Group Spark Arrester Guide, Volumes 1 and 2, and shall be maintained in good operating condition. Every motor vehicle subject to registration shall at all times be equipped with an adequate exhaust system meeting the requirements of the New Mexico Vehicle Code.

This equipment and accessories shall also be deliverable to a fire in the area of operations and subject to the requirements for each specific activity level identified in the EMERGENCY FIRE PRECAUTION SCHEDULE (EFPS) table shown on page 5 of this plan.

GENERAL

I. State Law

In addition to the requirements in this Fire Plan, THE CONTRACTOR and their contractors shall comply with all applicable laws of the State of New Mexico.

B. Permits Required

THE CONTRACTOR or their contractor must secure a special written permit from the District Ranger or designated representative before burning or starting any warming fires.

C. Smoking

Smoking shall not be permitted during fire season, except in a barren area or in an area cleared to mineral soil at least three feet in diameter. In areas closed to smoking, the CO may approve special areas to be used for smoking. The Contractor shall sign designated smoking areas. Contractor shall post signs regarding smoking and fire rules in conspicuous places for all employees to see.

Contractor’s supervisory personnel shall require compliance with these rules. Under no circumstances shall smoking be permitted during fire season while employees are operating light or heavy equipment, or walking or working in grass and woodlands.

D. Storage and Parking Areas.

Equipment service areas, parking areas, and gas and oil storage areas shall be cleared of all flammable material for a radius of at least 10 feet unless otherwise specified by local administrative unit. Small mobile or stationary internal combustion engine sites shall be cleared of flammable material for a slope distance of at least 10 feet from such engine. The COR shall approve such sites in writing.

E. Fire Guard

The contractor shall designate at least one representative to train and supervise each work crew in fire prevention, detection, and suppression. To prevent, detect, and suppress fires, the contractor shall provide a trained fire guard for projects involving internal combustion engines.

The fire guard shall perform guard duties during operating hours. The fire guard may perform contract work in conjunction with fire guard duties. Each fire guard shall report all fires and take suppression action on any fire that starts on the project area. Each fire guard shall be equipped with a vehicle and a fire tool cache consisting of a fire cache box, two size 0 shovels, two Pulaski’s, two McLeod tools, and two 4 to 5 gallon backpack pumps filled with water. All equipment and tools shall be maintained in serviceable condition.

F. Reporting Fires As soon as feasible but no later than fifteen (15) minutes after initial discovery, THE CONTRACTOR or their contractors shall notify Forest Service of any fires in operating area or along roads used by Contractor. Contractor’s employees shall report all fires as soon as possible to any of the Forest Service facilities and/or personnel listed in Appendix D: Emergency Notification List, but not necessarily in the order shown:

When reporting a fire, provide the following information:

Your Name Call back telephone number Project Name Location: Legal description (Township, Range, Section); and Descriptive location (Reference point) Fire Information: Including Acres, Rate of Spread and Wind Conditions.

G. Communications THE CONTRACTOR shall furnish a serviceable telephone, radio-telephone or radio system connecting each operating side with the designated Forest Service Dispatch Center. The communications system shall be capable of contacting the designated Forest Service Dispatch Center within ten (10) minutes of discovery of a fire in THE Contractor’s operating area. The communications system shall be operable during THE Contractor’s operation during the fire precautionary period.

H. Fire Patrolperson

THE CONTRACTOR shall furnish a qualified fire patrolperson each operating day when Project Activity Level C or higher is in effect. When on duty, sole responsibility of patrolperson shall be to patrol the operation for prevention and detection of fires, take suppression action where necessary and notify the Forest Service as required. This Fire patrol is required on foot, unless otherwise agreed. By agreement, one patrolperson may provide patrol on this and adjacent projects. No patrolperson shall be required on Specified Road construction jobs except during clearing operations unless otherwise specified.

The Contractor shall, prior to commencing work, furnish the following information relating to key personnel:

Title Name Telephone Number Fire Supervisor Fire Patrolperson

I. Clearing of Fuels

Contractor shall clear away, and keep clear, fuels and logging debris as follows:

Parking areas Clear of all flammable material for a radius of at least 10 feet

Warming / Cooking Fires Cleared to mineral soil at least 10 feet in diameter, within a ring of inflammable material

Smoking areas Cleared to mineral soil at least three feet in diameter.

J. Burring of residual activity fuels

Any burning to be executed on National Forest System Lands must be implemented by an Agency approved Contractor with an approved burn plan signed by local line officer and reviewed by Forest Fire Management Officer.

EMERGENCY PRECAUTIONS

THE CONTRACTOR operations shall conform to the limitations or requirements in the following EMERGENCY FIRE PRECAUTION SCHEDULE (EFPS) table.

Predicted Preparedness Levels for the Industrial Fire Fire Danger Rating Area Precaution Plan

0, 1, 2 A

3 B 4 C 5 D

Area closure proclaimed by the Forest Supervisor or Regional D Forester.

Fire Precaution Plan Description

A.----------------------------------------------------------- Normal fire precautions.

No fire guard required.

B.----------------------------------------------------------- Designated areas for smoking, Warming fires require a written permit.

Contractor shall provide fire guard unless relieved of this responsibility in writing by the

COR.

C.----------------------------------------------------------

Shutdown from 12 noon until 8 p.m. MST of all machine use, blasting, welding, metal cutting, and clearing. No smoking or warming fires permitted at any time. Power saws shall be shut down during this time Operations on mineral soil involving road excavation, watering, grading, surfacing, rock crushing and/or other equipment maintenance may continue.

D.-------------------------------------------------------- Shut down all operations, except operations on mineral soil involving road excavation, watering, grading, gravel surfacing and rock crushing may continue with a special Forest Service permit.

Levels of Restrictions are defined as follows:

Level I. Includes normal fire prevention programs and public awareness of pending fire conditions. Regional Forester’s permanent orders on spark arresters and use of fireworks will be enforced. Fire plans in contracts and permits will govern operations of contractors and permittees.

Level II. Restricts fires and smoking to developed camp and picnic grounds and other areas as authorized by permit. This restriction applies to all users including force account crews, permittees, and contractors.

Level III. Restricts fires, smoking, and chainsaw use except where authorized by a Forest Officer or by permit. This restriction also applies to all users including force account crews, contractors, and permittees.

Level IV. Area or total Forest Closure. Prohibits ingress and egress in effected zones except by written permit by an authorized Forest Officer (Variances) to plan.

The following guidelines will be used to determine when restriction will be placed into effect.

Level I, Staffing Levels 0, 1, 2, - EC 0-36(NFDRS Fuel Model K)

Level II, Staffing Level 3, - EC 37-55(NFDRS Fuel Model K)

Level III, Staffing Level 4 – EC 56-72(NFDRS Fuel Model K)

Level IV, Staffing Level 5 – EC 73 + (NFDRS Fuel Model K)

Fire Danger Rating Area/ Fire Weather Station for Project: Contact Forest Service Office

The Forest Service, in its sole discretion, may change the predicted activity level if the current fire suppression situation, weather and vegetation conditions warrant an adjustment. If practicable, Forest Service will determine the following day’s activity level by 6:00 PM. Contractor shall obtain the predicted Project Activity Level from the appropriate Ranger District Office before starting work each day.

Phone number to obtain Project Activity Levels: (505) 753-7331

VARIANCES

THE CONTRACTOR and the Forest Service may agree to a variance for operations at “D” levels.

A. Determining Variances

1. Variances are in addition to the stated requirements for the Industrial Fire Precaution Plan (IFPP) Level.

2. The Line Officer in consultation with the Forest Fire Management Officer or his/her representative will evaluate the items in the following check list as they relate to the existing and planned activities, add any mitigation measures as needed and the Line Officer will advise the Contracting Officer to execute the variance. The Fire Management Representative, Line Officer and Contracting Officer involved must sign the variance form.

3. The delegated authority is the Authorized Officer.

4. The project area should be evaluated for differences in potential fire activity if a fire starts.

This could necessitate the use of multiple forms. Examples of this would be units on a north slope near riparian areas vs. those on south slopes that would be dryer and expected to have more severe fire conditions or there is a significant difference from the predicted IFPP and the actual conditions.

5. The Purchaser/THE CONTRACTOR or their representative should be consulted when determining types of variances that are being considered. They might be able to come up with other options.

6. Examples of written variances are:

A. Local assessment determines that existing precautions are adequate B. Use of specialized detection equipment such as an infrared detection device for locating heat sources is required C. Provide additional fire suppression resources (i.e. crews, equipment etc.) to achieve shorter response time.

Region 3 Industrial Fire Precaution Plan (IFPP) Level “D” Variance Application/Agreement

Project Name: __________________________________________ Contract Number: _______________________________________ Contractor Name: _______________________________ Request #__, for period: __________________________________ Units/Subdivisions Affected: _______________________________

Location of operation:

Slope

Aspect

Elevation

Fuels on site

Fuels in surrounding area

7 Day Outlook

Short range predictions (Red Flags)

Fuel Moistures

Response time of suppression resources

Potential for ignition

RAWS location

Current Fire Situation:

Draw down information

National Readiness Level

Contractual considerations:

Normal Operating Season

Frequency of recent contract fires in area

Type of operation Contractors past/current performance & equipment readiness

Other site specific mitigation or precaution (i.e. Contractors proposals)

Social & Community Considerations:

Proximity of high value resources

Sensitivity of location

Proposed Actions:

Description of Mitigation Measures:

Remarks:

Fire Management Officer Concurrence

Date

Line Officer Approval Date

I have considered the above request and determined the specified mitigation measures or actions must be implemented to continue operations in Industrial Fire Precaution Plan. Unless extended, the approval remains in effect for ten (10) calendar days unless cancelled sooner or extended by the Forest Service for an additional ten (10) days. At the sole discretion of the Forest Service, this variance can be modified and/or cancelled at no cost to the government.

Contracting Officer Date

Contractor Representative Date