Today the Region 6 Solicitations Closed

Today is the day! The Region 6 Solicitation for Engines closed at 4 PM. This means that every contractor that wants to participate for the next three years has put in their bid.

Every day we get closer to the 2016 wildfire season. Two of the items that are new for this season include: 1) new requirements for sawyer chaps and 2) helmets must be labeled for compliance.

Our next milestone is crew training. We are joining another team for training in Sandpoint on April 3rd. Our new FFT2 will get her S130/S190 that weekend and we will hire our backup staff.

We now await hearing how the bids panned out and our position in the dispatch priority list (DPL). We are shooting for being the best value.

Stay Safe,

Engine 571 Is Ready to Roll

Engine 571 - Type 6 Wildland Fire Engine

We attended the U.S. Forest Service’s Open House on January 27th in Colville. They were expecting about 40-60 people but around 120 showed up. There is a lot of need for wildland fire suppression resources for the upcoming season.  It also looks like there will be a great response of vendors. Resources needed include vehicles with drivers, weed wash stations, dozers, fallers, hand wash stations, water tenders and (near and dear to our hearts) wildland fire engines.

We have submitted our federal bid for Engine 571 which will be for the 2016-2018 timeframe. We even had Engine 571 inspected and it passed with flying colors. We are ready to roll.

Since we have done our Pack Test and RT-130, our red cards are being processed right now. We have a new firefighter that is signed up for her firefighter training. I am ready to apply for my yellow card as well.

Our logo’d crew shirts, hats and jackets have arrived. Yes, we are ready to roll. As you can see, Canyon Fire has jumped through all the steps necessary to have an amazing 2016 season.

Stay Safe,