DFPC Firefighter 3 - Helicopter Lieutenant

Helicopter Lieutenant

The mission of the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC) is to serve and safeguard the people and protect the property, resources, environment, and quality of life in Colorado. DFPC's vision is to be the Nation's premier state fire organization by acting with foresight, providing bold leadership, enhancing our partnerships, and exemplifying the highest level of professionalism in fire prevention and protection, while building a safe and supportive work environment for our employees. The Division achieves this mission and vision through its four sections : Center of Excellence, Fire and Life Safety, Professional Qualifications and Training, and Wildland Fire Management. Each of the four sections serve Colorado's fire community in a different capacity- from training firefighters to technological advancements in public safety, responding to and managing wildfires to building code enforcement, DFPC is dedicated to serving and safeguarding the people of Colorado while protecting property, resources, environment, and quality of life.

The Helicopter Lieutenant is a work lead of a firefighting resource typically a helicopter module, but may also be assigned to an engine, squad, module, or hand crew to provide a range of firefighting and related services. The primary purpose of this position is to serve as a work lead oversight, leadership and direction to helicopter module personnel in alignment with the DFPC values of honor, integrity, service, and loyalty; and serve as an NWCG Helicopter Manager - Single Resource in incident response. Helicopter modules regularly support diverse missions, including wildfire initial attack response, mitigation projects (i.e. prescribed fire, hazardous fuel reduction, and resource management), and prevention and education. As assigned, equipped, and qualified, this position may assist with all-hazard incident operations such as search and rescue and other incident response.

The Helicopter Lieutenant leads assigned personnel and day-to-day helicopter operations & preparedness. This includes, but is not limited to : providing direction, oversight, support and training to assigned employees; evaluating employee schedules and work load, communicating with supervisor to make adjustments as needed; assisting the Captain in developing professional development plans for assigned employees while implementing the goals and mission from the District leadership to support all WFMS programs and incident response; scheduling, coordinating tasks and logistical needs, evaluating, and providing safety guidance and oversight to assigned employees. The Helicopter Lieutenant also leads helicopter flight operations prior and during fire suppression and incident response work, including functions as contracting officer rep, monitor and ensure contract compliance by vendor and personnel, responsible for overall readiness of the helicopter crew, pilots, mechanics & related personnel, participates in pre-mission planning and briefings, understands information sources for mission planning, coordinates a pre-flight briefing; directs personnel in helicopter operations missions; prepares aircraft and crew for daily operations; assures familiarity with aircraft; assists flight crew with any needs or requests; and ensures all mission requests have been requested through proper chain of command.

While providing for his / her individual safety, the employee works as a work lead and crewmember in planning and implementation of mitigation, fuels treatment and resource management projects, including but not limited to : cuts, clears, piles, and disposes of treated vegetation; uses tools and equipment such as chainsaws, firing equipment, portable pumps, chippers, air curtain burners and more; constructs firelines and prescribed fire burning as assigned; performs ignitions and holding operations; conducts mop up and patrol operations; uses various communication methods including radios; may pre-program radios for assignments; uses and maintains on and off-road vehicles; hauls and packs fire related equipment and supplies; performs and mentors others in safety inspections, maintains and repairs tools and equipment; cleans, reconditions, and stores properly. The Helicopter Lieutenant coordinates aviation plan(s) related to hazardous fuels reduction, prescribed fire, natural resource management projects, and training missions. Identifies and provides training needs of crew to support prescribed fire and fuel management programs. Collects, documents and gathers data and records information on fuels sampling, fuel types, weather conditions, fire behaviors, and status of work accomplished. Designs, develops, and writes plans for various resource management projects, including but not limited to : hazardous fuels reduction projects, prescribed fire projects, natural resource management projects, and training agreements. Implements defined processes and chain of command for collecting, producing, and distributing information. Participates in regular physical training and conditioning during work hours to maintain fitness levels as directed by supervisor.

Establishes and maintains the physical fitness level necessary to effectively perform hard physical labor for extended periods under adverse climate, fuel, and terrain conditions; mentors and trains new firefighters and validates readiness of assigned personnel. Inspects & maintains crews response equipment, vehicles, tools, PPE and more; implements processes to inventory tools, PPE, equipment; accounts for any safety issues; coordinates repair / replacement needs. Ensures vehicle & equipment readiness; includes daily maintenance checks. Coordinates with Captain on crew qualifications needed within the resource, develops a crew training plan for the unit that best fits the response profile of the location. Implements annual operational preparedness training for assigned personnel following the WFMS Resource Operations and Standards Guide or equivalent. Communicates effectively with multichannel radios, prepares and programs radios for assignments and repair and / or replacement. Manages on-going training and professional development of the crewmembers in the State of Colorado; CDPS, DFPC & WFMS standard operating policies, procedures & guidelines. This includes time-keeping systems, time & leave policies, incident documentation requirements, travel & purchasing policies and more. Oversees the logistics and instruction of various courses, training and events, such as wildfire suppression classes, incident management, structural firefighting, medical and first aid, job fairs and community outreach to DFPC employees and external agency personnel. Assists other DFPC programs (reports, data entry, filing, training and testing, inspections, research, fire billing, logistics etc.) as needed and available to support the mission of CDPS and DFPC. Other duties as assigned.