From First Strike Environmental
February 3, 2004

To: National Interagency Fire Center
Attn: John Venaglia - jvenaglia@fs.fed.us
Boise, Idaho

RE: Mick Michelsen, "Drugs and Alcohol Impacts on Incident Management"

We at First Strike Environmental want to thank both you and Mick Michelsen for being two of the first Government employees to address in print the Drug and Alcohol Impacts on Incident Management (IM) issues. 

The intent of this letter is to

1. Convey our agreement with the points that you and Mr. Michelsen make in the article and in your email, John. First Strike Environmental's Safety Committee read and discussed the article and agreed with your comments that the work place can have no tolerance for drugs and alcohol. Indeed, any increased risk to any firefighter due to drugs and alcohol is unacceptable and policy requires detailed compliance and adherence by the entire industry. I don't think that anyone would disagree with such a position;
2. Provide you with some experienced observations regarding this issue from our perspective as a company with a impeccable safety record who is being prosecuted criminally following a tragic accident;
3. Correct some misstatements in Mr. Michelsen's article about the cause of that tragedy;
4. Suggest some courses of action by agencies and contractors in addressing a hugely complicated problem; and
5. Offer our involvement and assistance in helping the firefighting community improve the current situation and put into place long-term, workable solutions to the drug and alcohol problem in both the contract industry and agency fire cultures.

First, some observations about the current situation:

• Drug and Alcohol issues are industry-wide, affecting both contract and agency firefighters.

• Drug and alcohol abuse is not just a problem of the young firefighter-it occurs across all age groups (as it does in our society at large).

• All issues relating to drugs and alcohol are avoidable and unacceptable for the entire industry, but it will take more than policies and regulations. Even companies with good policies and agencies with stringent restrictions can have tragic accidents-some alcohol and drug related, some not.

• The contract industry is already doing a lot to address the problem.

• As licensed Commercial Motor Vehicle Operators, all contractors are required to fulfill  Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations per Title 49, Part 382 regarding drug and alcohol, testing, training, and compliance issues.

• In addition, Drug and Alcohol testing is currently in place throughout the industry while  agencies are struggling to get their mandatory random tests under DOT programs accomplished.

• In fact, First Strike Environmental is one of the leaders in the industry with 17-years experience with written drug and alcohol policies; pre-employee/random/reasonable suspicion/post accident testing policies. These are standards set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and adhered to by the trucking industry.

• Contract crews through Region 6 have an "Issues Tracking" list for non-compliance issues that occurred during 2003 fire season and prior seasons. The "Issue Tracking" list outlines  the name of the company/date of infraction/contract issue/ODF recommended actions to the company. These ODF's actions penalize the companies who are not in compliance and assist these contractors to meet the stringent guidelines set by the MOU and contract provisions.

In short, gentlemen, we are doing a lot, but what we have is agencies struggling to adjust policies and procedures to the relatively new reality of incorporating and overseeing contract crews, as well as, adjusting to a changing agency workforce culture. ICs are frustrated over a lack of control of their own fires; policies differ from region to region and fire to fire; there are simply more fires, more vehicles and more personnel on the road to those fires.

It also appears that we are throwing everything we can at this problem--including more policies and more regulations with teeth, bigger fines and a lot of finger-pointing on both sides. It is easy to point to the use of contract firefighters as the problem, but we all know that drug and alcohol problems are not unique to the contract firefighting industry. And until we come to the table together to realistically address the very real problem of drugs & alcohol & firefighting, those measures will not stop it. 

However, we also must recognize that not every accident is drug and alcohol related and should not be assumed to be so.

In August, First Strike Environmental suffered a terrible loss of eight fine firefighters in a tragic traffic accident. Due to heightened awareness of the D/A issue, an increase in non-fire accidents in the last few years, and the zeal of a local DA who was too quick to level premature charges of alcohol involvement, a good company's reputation was damaged and the driver's family was devastated by accusations which now have been proven to be false. The District Attorney now admits that the blood alcohol results are worthless and of no reliable use. SAIF Corporation (Oregon's Workman's Compensation) agreed, ruling that alcohol was not a major contributing factor in the accident.

I noticed that Mr. Michelsen twice identified the cause of the First Strike Accident as "alcohol related" in his remarks to the New Orleans conference and in his last paragraph suggested that a 'policy of portal to portal no alcohol or drugs policy would have gone far towards prevention, if not have prevented the First Strike tragedy." No doubt, Mr. Michelsen was relying on the previously reported blood alcohol level of .13. Following a review of relevant medical journals and research studies, we discovered that all of the blood alcohol could well have been "endogenous", meaning it occurred post-mortem. There is no reliable evidence that Mark Ransdell was under the influence of alcohol, or anything else at the time of this accident. 

I realize that Mr. Michelsen was relying on media-generated information when he made those statements and I trust that he will issue a correction to his audience in New Orleans and that you will convey the same to your email addressees so that further damage to First Strike's reputation and further pain to the families is not incurred. We hope that you will utilize the opportunity to issue a correction at the upcoming NWSA annual meeting in Reno, NV. We would be happy to provide you with any supporting documentation you should desire.

So what can be done to address drug & alcohol problems in the wildland firefighting community?

• Standardize policies, procedures and regulations throughout the agency and involve contractors is that process
• Better empower the IC to enforce the policies 
• Educate IMT about D/A enforcement in their own ranks
• Set a standard Drug and Alcohol policy throughout all IC Teams
• Set standards of punishment for violation of Drug and Alcohol policy set 
• Publish the guidelines of Drug and Alcohol violations

How First Strike Environmental is helping:

• After the accident we re-trained all our crews and brought in a certified D/A trainer to increase awareness. We had special classes for supervisors to increase skills in recognizing drug and alcohol use and abuse and intervention techniques
• We scoured all of our safety and health policies (including D/A) to identify weaknesses and strengthen them.
• We scheduled additional driver training classes for all FSE drivers-classroom and on the road.
• We instituted a policy of sending fresh drivers to transport our extended tour of duty firefighters home from fires 
• We have used the experience of our tragedy to reach many audiences with messages of how to deal with such a crisis and to raise awareness of the need for vigilance, education and training

Finally, John, we would welcome the opportunity to share more about what we have learned and what we think would work in creating a smoother, healthier firefighting organization that melds both agency and contract resources. Thanks again for your leadership in this effort.

Sincerely,


Robert Krueger
President
FIRST STRIKE ENVIRONMENTAL