French Fire Officials Visit California

Photograph of a man in Forest Service uniform talking with a gentleman in dark uniform standing in front of a bright red and white helicopter.

As part of their visit to California, French fire officials visited the San Bernardino Air Tanker Base in San Bernardino, CA.

The Pacific Southwest Region recently welcomed French fire officials Philippe DelQuie and Pierre Bisone on a visit sponsored by Fire and Aviation Management. Bisone, a Major, and DelQuie a Captain, hail from the Bouches-du-Rhone (Aix-En-Provence) Fire Department, a provincial fire agency in the South of France. Their duties include wildland fire management in a Mediterranean climate similar to that found on national forestlands in southern California.

The 12-day tour was coordinated by Dale Dague, Branch Chief for Disaster/Emergency Operations and International Fire (WO), and included stops at several national forests, national parks and local fire agencies. Among the aspects of Forest Service operations the pair observed were aviation, emergency communications, multi-agency coordination and managing complex fire programs in WUI areas adjacent to large communities.

At the start of their visit in early November, Bisone and DelQuie visited the Southern Geographic Area Coordination Center (GACC) in Riverside, CA. According to their hosts it was a huge advantage in that both DelQuie and Bisone spoke English. Later, local media joined the pair as they met with San Bernardino National Forest fire officials at the San Bernardino Air Tanker Base.

The visit was part of a very successful 7-year educational collaboration between France and the U.S. through Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management- International Fire. A similar contingent from France visited the U.S. in 2010, where they observed prescribed fire operations in Florida among other stops. In 2012, a Forest Service fire instructor and a French Canadian instructor will travel to France and teach the incident management courses ICS-300 and ICS-400.

Special thanks to Art Torrez and Vince Cohee at the Southern GACC, the Public Affairs staff on the San Bernardino National Forest and hosts at each of the locations toured by the French contingent.