Purchase of Remote Automated Weather Stations (RAWS)

The Colorado Department of Public Safety (CDPS) Division of Fire Prevention and Control/Wildland Fire Management Section issued a sole source procurement for Remote Automated Weather Stations (RAWS) on September 17, 2018, with a deadline of September 20, 2018. This procurement involves the purchase of 9 total RAWS units: 7 fixed stations (Model FIXFW-US) and 2 portable stations (Model QD-RVT2) for deployment on Colorado wildland fires and prescribed fire projects. The fixed stations include comprehensive weather monitoring equipment packages with dataloggers, GPS antennas, solar panels, batteries, and sensors for measuring temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, rainfall, fuel moisture, and solar radiation, along with GOES telemetry capabilities. The portable stations feature quick-deploy configurations with tripod legs and shipping cases designed for rapid field deployment. All equipment must meet the National Wildfire Coordination Group (NWCG) Interagency Wildland Fire Weather Station Standards & Guidelines (PMS426-3) and maintain telemetry compatibility with current systems deployed throughout Colorado. The procurement determination indicates that sole source approval was granted based on Forest Technology Systems (FTS Inc.) being the only manufacturer producing RAWS equipment with telemetry capabilities meeting these specific requirements.

This procurement was determined to be a sole source purchase, limiting vendor participation to Forest Technology Systems, with no formal competitive bidding process required given the one-time procurement structure and unique technical requirements. The existing infrastructure requirement specifies that all equipment must integrate with and maintain compatibility with current RAWS systems already deployed throughout Colorado and be supported by the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) in Boise. The vendor designated for this procurement is Forest Technology Systems, with primary contact Theo Harvey, United States Fire Technical Sales representative, reachable at 250-857-4618 or tharvey@ftsinc.com. The estimated award value for this procurement is $174,000 for the equipment purchase, with no additional service costs identified at the time of the request; however, future annual maintenance costs are projected at approximately $1,000 per station per year for sensor replacement and upkeep, with components and services available through either FTS directly or NIFC.