A white-gray mushroom of smoke billowed above the 7,200-foot-high Wilson Mountain, shrouding Sedona, Ariz., under an ominous shadow. Nearly a mile across and a thousand feet high, it resembled a cumulonimbus storm cloud. But this was no weather occurrence; its source fire was generating a continuous cycle of winds, whipping debris into an explosive mix.

That mix was threatening to plume and rise to higher altitudes where it could freeze, collapse and rain down fire on Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon. Should that occur, the resulting conflagration would surge up 16 miles of scenic canyon, destroying hundreds of homes before reaching the plateau below Flagstaff, then gorge itself on forest until even that city would be under siege.

This was the greatest fear facing Sedona Fire Chief Matt Shobert and Type-2 Incident Commander Joe Reinarz while they watched the plume through a window of Sedona High School, which served as the command center. But wildfires are just one of the many challenges facing the department.

The Sedona Fire District serves two counties and contends with a checkerboard of wildland-urban interface areas and a topography that ranges over a half-dozen climate zones. Protecting what USA Weekend magazine called the most beautiful place in America “requires an unusual amount of teamwork at all levels: departmental, local, state and national, in particular during extreme seasonal incidents,” says Shobert.

Changing seasons

One concern is the heavy tourist traffic in the area — nearly four million visitors annually — particularly during summer months. The area's close proximity to metropolitan Phoenix ushers in an even greater number of visitors over holiday weekends. Summer brings heat-related emergencies, swimming injuries in popular Oak Creek and inevitable hiking accidents. Floods are an issue during peak tourist times also, as the monsoon season runs from July through August.

From December through February, because the floor of Oak Creek Canyon tops out at a 6,000-foot elevation, snows there can reach heights of two to three feet, surprising motorists who only minutes before were in a high desert region. Few tourists have their cars equipped with chains, so accidents aren't unusual.

Melting snow that drains into the area from February to April has been known to raise water levels in Oak Creek by as much as 30 feet. Hundreds of people live in Oak Creek Canyon, and some become stranded, have pets that need rescue, suffer power and telephone outages, or need medications delivered. The occasional swiftwater rescue also is necessary. This often stresses resources.

During spring and summer, snake removal has become an increasingly common need, particularly in the fast-growing area of the Village of Oak Creek. With its grasslands imported there years ago for cattle grazing, the abundance of rodents provides a feast for rattlesnakes. The newly built homes have encroached on the rattlers' hunting grounds and provide lots of convenient nooks and crannies in which to curl up.

Still, the greatest challenge comes from May to July and from October to November. These are the dry seasons that fuel the perennial wildfires “that necessitate universal cooperation,” says Shobert.

Recipe for success

Shobert refers to his approach of achieving that kind of teamwork as the four Cs: communication, collaboration, compromise and cooperation. (See “The 4-C Approach,” page 73.) These are overlapping principles that must be carefully coordinated.

Building teamwork in the district is like the construction of any sound organization; it begins with a strong foundation: the employees. “Cooperation is not something we would like, it is what we expect,” says Operations/Div. Chief Jim Elmer. The department hires new firefighters based more on personality than on the initial skill set. “A class can be a very competitive situation, and the guys we want are those who not only excel individually but [who] are eager to help their classmates, those flexible enough to make things work so they can finish as a group,” Elmer says.

Once hired, the department seeks input from the firefighters. “Sometimes they come up with better ideas than we do by being on the front lines,” Elmer says. “That gives us a larger brain pool.”

“If you do not bring all your personnel to a common goal then you set yourself up for failure,” Shobert adds. “If one of the guys comes to us with a complaint or idea and his solution does not go against the philosophy of the department or the needs of the community, we say let's try it.”

That philosophy of teamwork is introduced into the community during regular meetings with homeowners' associations from each neighborhood, which address such issues as creating defensible zones around houses and help the fire district understand the community's needs.

At the city level, the fire district meets with government officials at least once a month to prepare for emergency situations. The fire district also has in place a reciprocal program with the Sedona Police Department in which two paramedics are trained as tactical paramedics in case of gunshot wounds or other injuries related to a police incident. Police officers, in turn, are qualified in the use of defibrillators, and each squad car is equipped with one.

On a regional basis, the Sedona Fire District is a member of the Verde Valley Fire Chiefs group, which meets each month to explore avenues to improve training and share resources. Supervisors from both Yavapai and Coconino counties also attend the meetings.

The fire district and the U.S. Forest Service also are members of a similar group based in Flagstaff called the Ponderosa Fire Advisory Council. That organization includes northland fire districts and police departments and the Bureau of Land Management. As Sedona tackles both urban and flash-fuel vegetation fire environments, as well as forested regions, this dual membership is essential. It also builds bridges among a greater number of agencies that eventually will cross during emergencies.

These collaborations have led to joint drills, and Sedona now dispatches to several other districts. Building on that cooperation, the Forest Service dispatches for all wildland fires in Arizona on both private and public lands. “This allows for continuity and efficiency so there is no conflict of jurisdiction, and the different agencies can conserve resources to provide the safest possible environment,” says Bruce Greco of the Coconino Forest Supervisor's office. “They get to know each other's abilities, which is essential in an emergency situation. However, this cooperation is not universal by any means; some departments want to keep their guys for themselves.”

Shobert, however, isn't stingy about sharing his personnel. “I relish sending my guys to other places where there is a problem,” he says. “It helps out the area [that] is threatened and I get back a better employee, someone who gets actual on-the-job training. You can't simulate that in practice sessions.”

Rose Davis, a public affairs specialist for the Forest Service, seconds this attitude. “Sharing of employees is important to get real-life experience.” She goes on to explain why such events such as the responses to Hurricane Katrina were not as successful as the recent incident in Sedona.

“ICS has had two decades of year-round use, whereas NIMS has not had much actual experience,” she says. “Team dynamics must be practiced and lived.”

Trial by fire

The interagency preparation seemed sound, but the real test of teamwork was still to come.

The Brins Fire began on June 18, 2006, and raged across Wilson Mountain and down into the east side of Oak Creek Canyon for several miles until it hit the fire line at Sterling Pass. Fortunately, it never crossed SR 89A to the west side of the canyon, which would have been disastrous.

The threat of the plume-dominated fire had subsided by June 28, but the blaze was not brought under control until the afternoon of July 7. In the end, more than 4,000 acres of spectacular forest were scorched, but no serious injuries had occurred and not a single structure was lost.

Mother Nature played a major part in the successful suppression of the Brins Fire. Winds stayed relatively calm during the day and reversed direction back down the canyon at night, forcing the fire to feed on its charred work of the previous day. But during the incident a common thread was heard in the words of everyone involved: Teamwork.

Red Rock District Chief Ranger Larry Lesko credited the interagency training as one of the key factors for the operation's success. “Impromptu drills were being held in the spring of 2006. Our folks and the Sedona Fire District got to know each other; some developed relationships outside of the service. That's one reason why during the Brins Fire we worked seamlessly together. We recognized each other's strengths and weaknesses and how our skills complemented each other. When you are in an area where there is an interface or urban and wildland you have to depend on each other.

“Agencies like FEMA saw what happened with the hurricanes last year when it was not a coordinated effort. It was not a pretty sight. I would contrast this to the Sedona cohesive collaboration of local state and feds. That is what I attribute to the success of the firefighting effort in and around Sedona. You have to put aside your particular agency and put on the uniform of the whole effort.”

Reinarz, the Type-2 incident commander on the Brins Fire, credits the work that teams did on the La Barranca Fire in June 2006 with paving the way for success on the Brins later the same month. “When the Brins Fire came along, we knew the people we were dealing with, and that common thread was not a thread but a rope,” he says. “Look, as a Type-2 commander you can't have the attitude you are the heroes there to save the locals. If you will do they will hate you. When we worked on the La Barranca Fire, Matt Shobert and the others says here's what we have to play with, what have you got to play with, let's play together.”

The Brins Fire had quickly gleaned national attention and was soon designated as a “national priority.” On June 21, a highly publicized meeting was held in Sedona and attended by all involved agencies, as well as Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, who summed it up: “We're all in this together, let's stay together. We have the best firefighting crews in the country.”

Others at the meeting publicly expressed their opinions of the effort, “We relied heavily on the Sedona Fire Department for structure protection,” says Dan Buckley, operations chief under Type-1 IC Paul Broyles. “When we go into an area we're never sure how we will be received as invaders or helpers.” Broyles made their perception clear: “Cooperation has been fantastic.”

Shobert remains steadfast, “I know that many times it has been an adversarial relationship when a team rolls into town, a battle over turf,” he says. “But I never felt that way. These folks have the ability to bring resources with a single phone call, we must recognize their value.”

The citizens of Sedona echoed that sentiment. They had come together as a community like never before. During those three tense weeks, streets and businesses were adorned by scores of signs expressing gratitude for the men in many uniforms who had helped the Sedona area dodge a fiery bullet.

That outpouring struck Mike Elmer, a firefighter from the Bedford District in Chicago and the nephew of Sedona Div. Chief Jim Elmer. Mike was visiting Sedona at the time of the fire, and when he saw the sea of signs, his jaw dropped. “I've never seen anything like it!” he says.

Teamwork doesn't guarantee success in a crisis, but it certainly tips the odds in that direction.

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James Witt, Ph.D., has had articles published in The Arizona Republic, Sedona Magazine and The Sonoran News. He also is the author of three books and is currently working on a fourth. Witt has his doctorate in education and is trained as an educational therapist. He has lectured in the education and psychology departments at University of California-Los Angeles, which then contracted him to write and produce educational films.

The 4-C Approach

Sedona Chief Matt Shobert defines his four Cs for coordinated response:

Communication: “Educate yourself to the other party's concerns and motivations. Share all information, unless confidential or medical. No secrets! To build trust you must be vulnerable. If you don't tell others the facts as you see it, they will assume. Do this across the board, in all instances.”

Collaboration: “Take the initiative with citizens, employees, City and County government officials, and state and national agencies. Be creative; find avenues to develop relationships.”

Compromise: “This is the key issue necessary to operational planning. Distinguish between what really matters and then do whatever is needed to seal the deal. It boils down to checking egos at the door. If things aren't going your way, step back, look at the big picture and decide if a particular issue is really that important. Building trust with employees and others on minor issues is a way to ensure seamless cooperation during an emergency.”

Cooperation: “Once you have reached agreement it is necessary to do whatever you can to accomplish the common goal.”