Skagit County, WA - Cascade Mall Shooting - September 2016 Prosser, WA - South Ward Gap Wildfire - August 2016 At approximately 1315hrs on Sunday, July 31, a fire began on near the top of the north facing slope of the ridgeline that rises to the south of the communities of Mabton and Prosser in central Washington. It spread quickly toward the east, traversing the slope, and potentially threatening 50-100 homes. Level 3 (immediate) evacuation notices were issued to the residents of at least 50 homes, as local firefighter personnel performed structure protection. The first NWIMT personnel arrived at the Incident Command Post (Housel Middle School) in Prosser at just afternight on the morning of July 1. Team members worked throughout the night into the following morning to gather incident information from local response representatives in preparation to receive the delegation of authority and assume command of WA State Mobilization assets. The NWIMT formally assumed command at 0600hrs Monday, July 1, provided a an operational briefing to the assembled state mobilized resources, and initiated management of the South Ward Gap Fire response. Approximately 75 wildland firefighters worked throughout the day to establish an initial 10 feet buffer along the perimeter, and the following day (Tuesday, July 2) to expand that buffer to 50 feet. Fortunately the weather cooperated on Monday as winds remained low; and despite a cool, dry and very windy front that moved in on Tuesday in the early afternoon, no new spot fires resulted, as the crews continued to rake the perimeter for existing hot spots. A full demobilization for this fire was completed by Thursday afternoon. Stevens County, WA - Wildfire - August 2015 ![]() Snohomish County, WA - SR 530 Remembrance Event - March 2015 Snohomish County, WA - SR 530 Slide - March 2014
The team continued to coordinate the on-scene search and rescue efforts of hundreds of local and regional professional responders and volunteers throughout the week, as significant additional state and federal resources were brought in to further assist with the response effort. At 6:00am on Saturday, March 28, the team was demobilized as a Washington State Type II IMT transitioned into the management and coordination role for the continued victim recovery efforts. On Wednesday, April 23, the team was re-activated to assist in preparing for the transition and demobilization of the official search and recovery efforts at the slide site. That transition occurred the evening of Monday, April 28, 2014.
Every member of the NWIMT was deeply affected by their participation in this response, and our thoughts and prayers will always be the families and community of those impacted. The following NWIMT members served in the positions indicated during this response. Lauren Balisky - Deputy Planning Section Chief Sean Carson - GIS Specialist Brendan Cowan - Liaison Bill Dehon - Deputy Logistics Section Chief Marcus Deyerin - Public Information Officer / Technical Specialist Kyle Dodd - Situation Unit Leader Gary Duranceau - Planning Section Chief Kerry Field - Radio Operator Tod Gates - Incident Commander / Deputy IC David Halloran - Deputy Logistics Section Chief Allison Hitchcock - Deputy Planning Section Chief Earl Klinefelter - Resources Unit Leader Ken LeMay - Operations Section Chief (T) Nancy LeMay - Resources Unit Leader (T) Mike Lingrey - Safety Officer Steve Mason - Operations Section Chief, Branch Director Ken McDannald - Deputy Incident Commander Brian McMahan - Public Information Officer Paul McIntyre - Logistics Section Chief Carolyn Patterson - Resource Check-In Brad Reading - Incident Commander / Deputy IC Holly Salkeld - Status Check-In Kari Randall-Secrest - GIS Specialist Derrell Sharp - Planning Section Chief (T) Mark Sheppard - Communications Specialist Gregg Sieloff - Deputy Incident Commander Brian Swanberg - Logistics Section Chief (T) Elton Thomas - Technical Specialist Chris Turner - Situation Unit Leader (T) Robert Vander Yacht - Deputy Operations Section Chief Steve Westlake - Operations Section Chief Ned Worcester - Communications Specialist Levon Yengoyan - Situation Unit Leader Skagit County, WA - Skagit River I-5 Bridge Collapse - May 2013
Fourteen team members responded to the initial mobilization on Friday evening, filling the following positions:
Island County, WA - Landslide - March 2013 Electric City / Grand Coulee, WA - Barker Canyon Wildfire Complex - September 2012 A Washington State mobilization on September 9, 2012 to mange dozens of firefighter resources, and staff two key operational elements in the field. The team worked in coordination with a DNR Type 2 team for 48 hours until being demobilized on September 11. A Washington State mobilization on September 10 to mange 7 wildland engine strike teams, 1 structural strike team, 6 tenders, 4 hand crews, 3 dozers, and 4 helicopters. Favorable weather conditions and resource availability helped bring this fire to a close by the morning of September 13. Sisters, OR - Scott Mountain Wildfire - August 2010 ![]() Dayton, WA - Hubbard Wildfire - August 2010 ![]() During a lightning caused outbreak of fires in Eastern Washington, NWIMT responded on a State Mobilization request to manage a fire in light fuels. At the height of the deployment, 175 personnel, using brush engines and bulldozers, were used to control the incident. Ephrata, WA - Grant County Fire Complex - August 2009 We were notified at 0653 on 8/21/09 to mobilize and deploy to Ephrata, WA to take over the "Grant County Fire Complex." Ten team members deployed and were augmented by an Operations Section Chief and a Safety Officer. We took over management of 5 fires from Grant County Fire District 5 at 1600 on the 21st and turned back over to FD5 at 1400 on the 22nd, when all fires were burned out and mopped up. The main mission was accomplished, in helping Grant 5 manage their fires. Skagit County - Silver Creek Incident - September 2008 The NWIMT was requested by Skagit County Sheriff on September 2, 2008 to assist in the organization of the multiple crime scene investigations. The team was integrated into the unified command structure late in the evening and worked with the SMART team to get an initial IAP produced for the morning briefing. Team PIO's worked with the lead PIO to manage the significant national media interest. The team was integrated with the local resources and worked seamlessly throughout the incident and demobilization occurred on the morning of September 4th after the morning operational briefing. While the team was not officially deployed for funeral planning, several team members from the area assisted with funeral planning and support.This regional incident exemplifies the reason the NWIMT exists.
![]() ![]() ![]() Rock Lake Fire - August 2008 Northwest Washington Incident Management Team deployed to Cheney, WA, August 19-24, 2008 to manage a wildland fire. The fire burned over 2,000 acres of grass, brush and timber in some steep and rugged terrain of eastern Washington. Seven Strike Teams and three Hand-crews were on the line. A total of 191 personnel were assigned to the fire. Smith Lake Fire - August 2008 The NWIMT was sent to the Smith Lake fire on 8/1/2008. This fire was North West of Grand Coulee, West of the Columbia and North of Highway 174. The fire exhibited "extreme behavior" in the early hours of the event, with flames to 60' and moving rapidly. NWIMT in conjunction with the North Central Washington (NCW) Type 3 IMT from Wenatchee managed the incident with very active fire conditions to mop up operations completing on 8/4/2008. ![]() Stuhlmiller Fire - July 2008 July 22-23 2008. NWIMT team joined personnel from the MIST team from Spokane to form a type 3 team. NWIMT reported to Grant County Fire District #3. Firefighter and Public safety was the team's primary concern and the focus of effort. A strict adherence to the Standard Fire Orders, Division-by-Division application of the LCES; focus on defensive driving practices and the steadfast insistence on the proper use of personal protective equipment were instrumental factors in the achievement of a good safety record. Jackass Butte Fire - July 2008 July 1-3 2008. NWIMT deployed to assist with fire near Okanagon City. This was a 1750-acre fire caused by lightning. NWIMT provided incident command and related services to Okanogon Fire District 3.
June 29 - July 1, 2008. NWIMT deployed to a fire in Grant County, 7 miles east of Warden. NWIMT took a delegation of authority and managed the incident to completion. This was a 1950-acre fire.
Echo Lake / "Street of Dreams" Fire - March 2008
NWIMT was deployed March 3, 2008 to support the overhaul and investigation of a set of fires in several residential structures in what was termed "the Street of Dreams" outside of Woodinville, WA. Eleven team members were deployed, and supported the unified command structure that had already been established. Unified Incident Command consisted of representatives from ATF, FBI, Snohomish County Fire Marshal's Office, and Snohomish County Fire District #7.
Broughton Wildfire / Co-Ply Mill Fire - September 2007
September 2007 - NWIMT deployed to assist in management of Broughton Wildland Fire, located in the vicinity of White Salmon, WA, and subsequently took command of the Co-Ply Mill fire (shown above) near Stevenson, WA
Black Rock Wildfire Deployment - August 2007 Nine members of NWIMT were deployed 8 pm Friday 8/31/07 to the Black Rock wildfire, approximately 3500 acres, that threatened the small town of Marlin, WA. We filled the following roles: Deputy IC, IC, Plans, Logistics, PIO, Division Supervisor, and Operations roles. The fire was contained by Sunday around noon, and we facilitated demobilization. We also deployed our communications trailer, which was used to distribute radios, create the IAP's, and print large maps. Wantoma Fire - August 2007 On Thursday, August 16, 2007 the team and trailer were mobilized for its first official deployment to the Wantoma (Wautoma) Fire near Richland. We were requested along with Clark County to augment the Type 3 team members from the local area to fight this rapidly expanding and dynamic fire. Eight members of the team left for deployment at approximately 10:30pm and arrived at the ICP between 2:30 and 3am. We worked through the next night before sleeping, and went through the transition to the Type 2 team, with the expectation that the fire would transition to NWIMT on Sunday for mop up operations. The fire burned 70,000 acres and prior to transition to the Type 2 team, most of the fire was contained. It was extremely valuable experience for all of us and our trailer is rapidly becoming a precious commodity. All team members contributed to the successful outcome and should feel really good about our team deployment capabilities in the region.
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