Heavy Equipment Technician

Introduction

The purpose of this position is to operate a variety of engineering equipment in support of an all-hazard incident.

Duties

Operates gasoline or diesel powered engineering and construction equipment with wheeled or crawler type traction such as graders, tractors with bulldozer or angle dozer blades, frontend loaders, backhoes, and large industrial-type tractors with multiple attachments.
Supports all-hazard incidents by utilizing heavy equipment to clear trails and roadways, dig drainage ditches, build earthen dikes and levees, and remove trees, and deadfall that present hazards to team members or visitors.
Loads, transports, and delivers a variety of materials and equipment to locations within the incident and surrounding area.
Cooperates with and assists incident commanders, emergency response teams, police officers, medical services and fire suppression resources requiring heavy equipment support.
Operates a variety of government vehicles to perform other non-emergency driving assignments.
Utilizes required Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and adheres to all safety procedures.
Accounts for, utilizes, maintains, and makes minor repairs of all issued equipment.
Performs additional tasks or duties as assigned during a mission.

Position Knowledge and/or Requirements

Operates one or more types of heavy equipment to push, pull, pile, or load materials such as sand, gravel, and earth using a front-end loader to maneuver to a specific spot to transfer material into a dump truck, or build temporary earthen structures.
Uses a bulldozer to clear brush, tree stumps and rocks from roadways, trails, or staging areas. Attachments are adjusted for proper level, angle, or depth depending on the kind of work performed. Work is generally done on flat or rolling terrain, and construction sites with simple terrain problems.
Uses different sets of controls, for the operation of equipment and attachments, and is skilled in handling these controls to perform the work. Controls are often operated simultaneously requiring good hand, foot, and eye coordination.
Ability to move the equipment around in confined spaces.
Basic knowledge of the nature of soil and features of the terrain are required in order to determine the proper approach according to the condition of the surface and subsurface.

Supervisory Controls

Work is performed under the direction of an Incident Commander or other supervisor, and follows oral or written instructions concerning the location of the job and the work to be done. Work is performed largely without direct supervision. Equipment is operated in a safe manner in accordance with safety rules and regulations in order to avoid injury, and damage to the equipment or nearby structures.

Physical Demands

Heavy physical effort is used in constantly reaching, turning, and bending and moving hands, arms, feet, and legs to operate different sets of controls to operate the equipment and attachments. Considerable strain is caused by the constant vibration of the equipment and the jerking and jolting from operating over rough surfaces.

Work Environment

Work is performed in all kinds of weather, day or night, often in an open driver’s seat or platform, on hills, slopes, grades, and rolling surfaces. Operators are exposed to injury due to the possibility of equipment overturning. They are exposed to noise, vibration, dust, dirt, and fumes from the motor and exhaust.

Last Modified / Reviewed: 2023-12-15

NWCG Latest Announcements

NWCG Equipment Technology Committee Releases New Equipment Bulletins

Date: September 27, 2024
Contact: Equipment Technology Committee

The Equipment Technology Committee (ETC) has released three new Equipment Bulletins:

ETC-EB-24-003 Diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) in fuel containers.
ETC-EB-24-004 Two-compartment fuel and oil container (Dolmar) unavailable in the United States (US) and reminders for upkeeping current inventories.
ETC-EB-24-005 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Inspection, Care, and Maintenance.

These bulletins remind field going personnel of important issues related to equipment for wildland firefighting efforts.

References:

NWCG Alerts

ETC-EB-24-003 Diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) in fuel containers

ETC-EB-24-004 Two-compartment fuel and oil container (Dolmar) unavailable in the United States (US) and reminders for upkeeping current inventories

ETC-EB-24-005 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Inspection, Care, and Maintenance

The Experiential Learning Subcommittee is looking for your feedback on Staff Rides

Date: September 20, 2024
Contact: Ashleigh D'Antonio and George Risko, Leadership Committee

The Experiential Learning Subcommittee needs to hear from the field about where the greatest need lies regarding staff rides and their accessibility.

Do you have an event you would like to turn into a learning experience?
Do you have a staff ride built, but are struggling to implement the delivery?
Do you need help building capacity?
What other ideas do you have to support experiential leadership training?

Fill out this short survey below to help us help you.

References:

Staff Rides: Feedback

Staff Rides

Updated NWCG Single Resource Casual Hire Information, PMS 934

Date: September 19, 2024
Contact: Incident Business Committee

The Incident Business Committee has updated the NWCG Single Resource Casual Hire Information, PMS 934. This update expands the provisions for hiring emergency personnel.

References:

NWCG Single Resource Casual Hire Information, PMS 934

IBC Memorandum 24-03

NWCG 2024 Spring/Summer Highlights

Date: September 13, 2024

Welcome to our latest highlights from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, where we explore the latest updates, insights, and efforts that develop interoperable wildland fire operations among federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial partners.

The Performance Support Package, which for ABRO includes the Incident Position Standards and Next Generation Position Task Book were developed through the Incident Performance and Training Modernization (IPTM) effort. The Performance Support Package will support trainees, those qualified in the position, and evaluators.

NASA JOINS NWCG!

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is officially an associate member of NWCG. As such, NASA is beginning to collaborate with wildland fire management agencies with the goal of increasing collaboration across agencies and leveraging NASA data, technology, and innovation for nation-wide efforts in wildland fire management. NASA has a rich history of research, development, and technology transfer in the areas of Earth science, space technologies, and aeronautics that support the NWCG mission.

WWW.NWCG.GOV HAS A NEW LOOK AND DESIGN

The NWCG web team dedicated the past two years to making a significant upgrade to the www.nwcg.gov site. This upgrade involved a comprehensive redesign of over 7,700 web pages.

The modernization of NWCG’s website involved migrating to Drupal 10, a cutting—edge content management system, and leveraging Amazon Web Service GovCloud for secure and efficient hosting. These upgrades help ensure that the NWCG website remains current in content management practices, offering enhanced customization, improved performance, and an overall superior user experience.

NWCG Leadership Committee

The Wildland Fire Leadership Development Program announced the Professional Reading Program’s 2024 list!

The years books include:

Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean
The Wisdom of the Bullfrog by William H. McRaven
The Art of Clear Thinking by Hasard Lee
Emotional Agility by Susan David
Writing to Persuade by Trish Hall

Learn more at the NWCG Leadership Committee

INCIDENT PERFORMANCE AND TRAINING MODERNIZATION

In 2023, NWCG kicked off the Incident Performance and Training Modernization (IPTM) effort. A training system overhaul focused on developing a performance-based training system designed to shift training to on-the-job when appropriate.

Over the next five years, NWCG intends to analyze all positions within the NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Position Qualifications, PMS 310-1. To date we are currently working on 30 incident positions, and planning for 20+ in calendar year 2025.

Subject Matter Experts from a variety of geographical areas and agencies recently completed the position analysis for 16 positions. From this analysis, Incident Positions Standards and a Next Generation Position Task Book will be developed for each position.

Incident Performance and Training Modernization

NEXT GENERATION POSITION TASK BOOK

In April 2024, NWCG launched the new Next Generation Position Task Book (Next Gen PTB) which is a key component of the IPTM effort. This revised evaluation tool is designed to work in conjunction with the newly developed Incident Position Standards.

Major Next Gen PTB changes:

Structured to improve constructive conversations between evaluators and trainees.
Reference new Incident Position Standards.
Include only tasks required to be evaluated for successful performance.
Trainees will be rated on their performance vs. initialing whether a task was completed.
Must include written feedback when trainee does not meet the standard.
Will be position specific (no combined PTBs).

Screen shot of the Next Gen Position Task Book

Banner image of the Wildland Fire Learning Portal website

NWCG’s training course catalog is now available on the Wildland Fire Learning Portal (WFLP).

To access the training course catalog, visit WFLP and either set up an account or login as a guest.

Heavy Equipment Technician

Introduction

Duties

Position Knowledge and/or Requirements

Supervisory Controls

Physical Demands

Work Environment

NWCG Latest Announcements

References:

References:

References:

NASA JOINS NWCG!

WWW.NWCG.GOV HAS A NEW LOOK AND DESIGN

NWCG Leadership Committee

INCIDENT PERFORMANCE AND TRAINING MODERNIZATION

NEXT GENERATION POSITION TASK BOOK

NWCG National Wildfire Coordinating Group

NWCG

National Wildfire Coordinating Group