Charles William Hickerson

Charles William Hickerson, doing business as Blaze Runner, is a self-certified small disadvantaged business sole proprietorship based in Grants Pass, Oregon, that provides vehicle-with-driver services for federal fire suppression and all-hazard incident response as a prime contractor exclusively under Total Small Business set-asides.

Blaze Runner's capability footprint is narrow and specialized: the vendor supplies pickup trucks, stakeside trucks, passenger vans, and sport utility vehicles with trained and certified personnel to support fire suppression operations and interagency logistics in the western United States. All four recent awards span NAICS 561311 (All Other Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation) and PSC category Natural Resources/Conservation—Forest-Range Fire Suppression/Presuppression. The vendor's customer base is concentrated entirely within the Department of Agriculture Forest Service ecosystem. The National Interagency Fire Center accounts for three awards with $750 thousand combined potential value; the Forest Service itself issued one delivery order for $14,804 on July 31, 2026, with an August 9, 2026 completion date. All awards are priced on a firm fixed price basis.

Blaze Runner holds three multiple-award Indefinite Delivery Contracts (IDCs) issued as VIPR I-BPA (Interagency Blanket Purchase Agreement) vehicles for Regions 5 and 6 West Zone operations. Two contracts, awarded by the National Interagency Fire Center on February 6, 2026 and August 17, 2026, each carry $250 thousand ceilings and run through May 2030 and August 2031 respectively. A third IDC from the Forest Service, awarded May 19, 2025, carries a $250 thousand ceiling through May 17, 2030. The vendor has obligated only $15 thousand against $765 thousand in combined potential value across all awards, reflecting early-stage ramp-up.

Activity entered the federal marketplace in May 2025; three awards arrived in 2026. The vendor operates as a 100% prime contractor with no subcontract work. All work to date is routed through small-business set-asides with no full-and-open competition.