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Just an update on upcoming hiring. Fire Hire Timelines:  October 1st-October 31st Regional outreach for all fire positions in R-6  November 1st-November 15th vacancies open in USA JOBS  January 21st-January 30th Subject Matter Expert (SME) application review  January 30th- February 9th Recommendation / Selection weeks

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Lay off season is here with the last of the perm staff exiting the arena today. Things will be quiet, but the behind the scenes action is ongoing......and relentless.

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The votes are in. 2016 Siskiyou Rappeller of the Year goes to Gold Beach native James Taylor! Well played James.

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We have received the referral list for our vacant GS-6/7 Squad Leader positions and will be working through the process over the next several days. Stay tuned and give us a call if you have questions.

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The announcement for our 2 GS-6/7 Squad Leader positions is finally set to hit the streets of USAJobs on 09/13/2016 and close on 09/22/2016. They are being flown MERIT and are 18/8 positions with a duty station of Grants Pass, OR. The link below will get you to the vacancies, and be advised, Grants Pass is in R6 and not R8......fun fact. Good luck. https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/450299800

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We are still waiting for ASC to provide us a vacancy announcement for our vacant GS-6/7 Squad Leader positions.......hang in there.

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We have received the draft vacancy announcement for the 2 vacant GS-6/7 Squad Leader positions on the crew that will tentatively be advertised September 6-12. These are looking to be highly competitive, so read the announcement entirely and ensure that you attach all the requested documentation to be considered. We will post an update on this as things progress. While you are brushing up on your writing skills, the rappel aircraft and crew are still coiled springs on the Pioneer Fire in large fire mode. Single resource assignments on the line and logistical support are the daily operations along with a large IA response area should we get "just one good lightning". The Type 1 is in Baker City on the Rail Fire assisting with containment efforts and prepping for next season in between ABS entries. Gregg Reidelbach has moved over the the Detroit hand crew on the Willamette for a temporary promotion for the remainder of the season. Jonah Gladney has accepted a promotion to a new job on the same crew, his leadership, sewing ability and entire family will be missed. Congrats Jonah, show hard.

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We are working with ASC to obtain a vacancy announcement for our vacant GS-6/7 Squad Leader position(s) that have been outreached. The goal is to have the hiring completed in the next month to fill the vacancy/vacancies we have on the crew. Keep an eye out for these opportunities on USA Jobs as we will be advertising for 5 days once populated. Good luck and give us a call at the base if you have any questions.

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Cooler temps in the forecast through the weekend have paved the way for S-230/231 class and project work. The Type 1 aircraft has been making the rounds and allowing us to cycle HMGB trainees through to keep things going. Otherwise? We wait.

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The rookies have burned their ropes on their first operational rappel of the 2016 season. 8 acres on our lovely Gold Beach Ranger District called for two loads of Siskiyous' finest and they rose to the occasion. Sunny hot and dry weather is upon us, and we now wait quietly as we attempt to avoid the poison oak wafting through the air.....

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Well, rookie training and rookie rappel training are complete. All of our rookies passed and are geared up, ready to fight fires alongside the rest of the crew. They worked hard, earned their spot and we welcome them to the foal. With that being said, training is not over. Task books and mentoring now come in to play and we are excited to see what they can do and what we can learn from them. See you on the line.

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The rookies have started, and are making their way through their training as we speak.....rain or shine. Crump is off to Redmond to begin her rookie training on Monday and congratulations go out to Michael Bobic, who has accepted a perm position as a Senior Firefighter on the Deschutes hand crew. It's been a good week.

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Well, we have good news and bad news. First off, we would like to congratulate Andrew Hastings and Tanner Ormond on their new positions on the crew as our new GS-5 Senior Firefighters. They both have strong fire backgrounds and are moving rapidly in their aviation and fuels careers as well. On the other side, we have Evan Hsu moving on to "branch out" in the IT field and the private sector. He has been a long standing member of the Forest Service aviation community and has a well recognized name locally, regionally and nationally. He will be greatly missed and we wish both him and his family well in their new endeavors. Brett Ballard is also taking a detail to the Sled Springs Rappel Crew as the Assistant Foreman for the summer and his family will be in tow. We wish him well and hope that he returns with new found knowledge of fire and aviation management, as well as prime hunting locations. Jessica Crump will be cracking silk over the Gila this summer on a detail as well. She will be trying out (and succeeding) for the Redmond Smokejumpers and earning her wings with an SRC rope in her pocket. Best of luck girl! Readers Digest? The crew has had great retention to date and is now in a state of flux with folks looking to move up and out to advance their skills and knowledge. This will bring another round of hiring and detailers to fill in behind along with some assistance from outside resources, but will not slow us down. See you on the line.

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The selections for temporary employment on the crew have been made for the 2016 field season. If you received an offer, get ready to show that you earned your spot. If you did not get an offer, feel free to call the base and get some feedback on how you can be more successful in the future. The permanent selections have been made and we are waiting for ASC to process the final documentation. Thanks to all who applied to our program.

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We have received our referral list for the GS-4/5 SRFF positions we have vacant on the crew and are working to make selections this week. We will also be starting our temp hiring process next week as part of the consolidated R-6 fire hire in Eugene, OR. We have received great response to both hiring venues and encourage all the firefighters out there to keep in shape and keep in touch. Snow pack or not, it's coming.

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The perm vacancies are now posted on USAJobs with a closing date of January 15th at midnight. Good luck.

16-FIRE-213730G-DBS Government Wide

https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/425728100

16-FIRE-213730DP-DBS Demo

https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/425728300

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**Hiring Update v2.0**

Permanent GS-4/5 Senior Firefighters:

We are currently looking to fill two Senior Firefighters on our crew with target start time to be in the Spring of 2016. We anticipate the vacancy announcements will be posted on USAJobs on or around the 6th of January with a referral list being requested after we complete a 10 day outreach being posted on the Outreach Database.
If you have an interest in these highly competitive positions, contact the base ASAP to get your name known and schedule a visit.

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**HIRING UPDATE**

Current Vacancies:

Temporary Seasonal 1039:

The seasonal hiring process for the 2016 fire season has begun with the vacancy announcements for both the GS-4 and GS-5 positions closing on the 7th of December. Now that all the applications are in, we are coordinating within the region in preparation of the regional hiring session to be held in the Eugene, OR area in mid to late February with selections being made in early March. As of now, all dates are approximate so sty flexible.

Since this will be a regional hiring effort, be specific on where you want to work and contact those programs early and often to ensure your best chance.

Permanent GS-4/5 Senior Firefighter:

We are currently outreaching for two Senior Firefighters on our crew with an intent to fill in the Spring of 2016. The outreach announcement will remain posted on the Outreach Database for 14 days after a specific 7 day outreach is completed for the forest. We anticipate the vacancy will be posted on USAJobs on the 21st of December with a referral list being requested on January 5th and hiring of both positions to begin directly after.
If you have an interest in these highly competitive positions, contact the base ASAP to get your name known and schedule a visit.

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Congratulations are in order for our very own Justin Holloway who has decided to move on to bigger and better things. He has accepted a position in Boise, Idaho as a purchasing agent which will put his college learnings to good use. We wish him all the best in his new venture, he will be missed around the base.

Thanks for hanging with us kid.

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Sunny, hot and dry conditions have given way to cool temps and intermittent rain across SW Oregon. Our rappel aircraft has been released, but our Type 1 is still on contract in California, who has yet to see the relief in the weather.

Hiring preparations, training, instruction and administrative work is now the focus as we go in to the "off season".

The votes are also in for our Rappeller of the Year, with Evan Hsu taking the title. Evan has done solid work for the program this season and it did not go unnoticed by his peers. Snaps for E!

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The fires have come, have gone and have lingered depending on their location. The crew has been active, primarily in SW Oregon, for the last several weeks. The Collier Butte Fire and the National Creek Complex have been getting the majority of their attention with some rappel fires in between. Several crewmembers are out on single resource assignments to help the national effort and to advance their training.

There has been some pretty exciting fire behavior on incidents within our region and now it appears that it is California's turn in the spot light. We stand behind all the firefighters actively engaged on these incidents and look forward to raising a glass with you here soon.

For now, think ahead, work hard and look out for each other.......Omnis Cedo Domus.

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We have been assisting with the firefighting efforts, mainly in SW Oregon, for some time now. We have SRC personnel on the Collier Butte, Stouts, boosters in Central Oregon and a small contingent of IA rappellers at home. Both aircraft have been busy with all sorts of missions helping the forest hold on to what we have.

It is a drastically different situation in some other areas however, with large fires pushing multiple GACC's to PL5 and creating surge forces due to critical resource shortages.

We join others in mourning the loss of 3 of our own and are thinking of those that are fighting the big ones.

And we still have potentially 2 more months of fire season still ahead of us.......

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Day 6 of no rappellers available with heavy IA on the forest and supporting existing fires logistically.

Congratulations go out to Brett Ballard for becoming our newest qualified Spotter. His first task after working so hard to attain his new qual? Give Tim Saturday off.

Special thanks to Mike Davis for taking the time to give Brett a look.

Casey Woodward is now in the hot seat with Mad Dog working towards his Spotter certification as well and lightning is in the forecast for tomorrow. Good luck Casey.

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We have rappelled out the last 3 days and today is not expected to be any different. 70 fires on the forest, Type 3 team in-briefing today and unstaffed fires on all districts. Additional booster orders are in and we are heading to the Gold Beach Ranger District this morning.

First Load!

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Current Status:

4 rappellers on the Granite Fire on the Klamath NF, 4 on the Brown Mountain West Fire, 4 on the Strickland, 1 in Alaska with the Rogue River Hotshots, 1 on the Colville as ABRO(t), 1 in Spokane as ENGB(t), 1 on the Willamette as ASGS(t), boosters from John Day are en route and a Check Spotter is on order so Ballard can strut his stuff.

Our Type 2 aircraft is supporting fires on the Siskiyou Mountains Ranger District and our Type 1 aircraft is on the Cable Crossing Fire.

Lightning is currently on the forest.