July 20, 2008
New Basin Complex Commander Establishes Her Presence
On her first full day as Basin Complex Fire incident commander Jeanne Pincha-Tulley put her public relations skills to work. I suggested here and still believe her assignment is a move by the Forest Service to repair damage caused by previous command teams on both sides of the fire.This morning she will submit to an interview that can be heard on KUSP later today. In addition to interviews she has placed herself in front of residents for the past two days while shadowing the outgoing east side commander.
Public availability of near real time satellite mapping combined with local blogging allows a community to observe and (right or wrong) interpret fire activity. The ICS (Incident Command System) has not adjusted to meet the public relations requirements demanded and deserved by communities.
Pincha-Tulley possesses the skills to meet the demands of information hungry citizens. She is the only female running a national incident command team, and a mom. She is approachable, experienced and doesn't put on like she's leading a covert special ops. scheme in the mountains above the communities she's trying to save.
As predicted, the citizens of Lower Carmel Valley, Cachagua and Jamesburg were taken off mandatory evacuation when she took over even though a slight danger still existed. Why? Because the mandatory evacuation was understood by all to be more punitive than necessary. It was an insulting abuse of power and everyone knew it except the Monterey County Sheriff.
Pincha-Tulley obviously sat the old boys down and explained to them there is more to gain by freeing these people up than continuing with such a rigid sequestration. If you have followed the saga of the trapped residents of Cachagua and Jamesburg you know the anger and frustration reached a boiling point. Locals were actually calling for hostage negotiators to act as mediators between the Sheriff's Office and residents.
This combined with the incidents on Parrington Ridge, Apple Pie Ridge and of course the abandonment by fire personnel of Tassajara could end up being the defining legacy of an otherwise brilliant fire campaign.
As it stands the Basin Complex has burned 133,000 acres and sits at number nine all time on the list of largest wildfires in California history. The Basin Complex passed the 91,000 acre Old Fire and will certainly pass the 150k acre McNally Fire.
The combined acreage of the Indians Fire (81k acres) and Basin Complex are projected to overtake the 240k acre Zaca Fire for the number three spot.
The two fires will be likely remain separate. Though they merged before each was fully contained they had a separate genesis. One was lightning caused and the other by an errant campfire. The Indians Fire began three full weeks before the Basin Complex.
The Forest Service is mindful of these legacy fires. Ms. Pincha-Tulley is charged with rehabilitating the currently tarnished image assigned to the Basin Complex.
She is well on her way.
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Labels: 2008 Fire Season, Basin Complex, California Firestorm 2008, Indian Fire
