Estep Paula

Estep Paula is a sole proprietor doing business as Ponderosa Pines Hand Washing, a self-certified small disadvantaged, woman-owned business based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It specializes in providing mobile hand washing services and equipment to support government operations, particularly wildland firefighting efforts.

The company has received several firm fixed price delivery order contracts from the U.S. Forest Service and its National Interagency Fire Center. These awards were for deploying trailer-mounted hand washing stations and providing hand washing services at fire incident locations across multiple regions, including the Pacific Northwest, to meet sanitation needs for firefighters and personnel. The contracts ranged from around $3,000 to $18,725 in value and did not utilize set-aside designations. Ponderosa Pines Hand Washing has supported the Forest Service's fire and aviation management programs by rapidly supplying critical hand washing capabilities at wildfire sites and emergency operations.

In 2021, Ponderosa Pines Hand Washing was awarded a multiple-award Indefinite Delivery Contract by the Forest Service's National Interagency Fire Center. This $250,000 IDV, which utilizes a total small business set-aside, enables the company to provide potable and gray water trucking services along with trailer-mounted hand washing stations to support wildland fire suppression efforts across Regions 3, 5, and 6 through June 2024. The original solicitation sought quotes through the Virtual Incident Procurement system for these mobile sanitation resources to deploy at local, regional, and nationwide wildland fire incidents as well as all-hazard events requiring such services. Vendors had to demonstrate equipment, supplies, personnel, transportation, and management capabilities. The awarded IDV allows the Forest Service to rapidly obtain Ponderosa Pines Hand Washing's pre-negotiated sanitation services during critical wildfire response operations.