Response from Bill Lafferty

On July 1, I posted an e-mail that I had received from RightMarch.com concerning Jaime Pickering, the Oregon firefighter who claims that he was demoted because he refused to be forced to learn Spanish. In that post, I asked everyone to whom it is important that the United States maintain its national identity to e-mail or call Oregon Forestry Department's Fire Program Director Bill Lafferty to protest this action against Mr. Pickering.

I did e-mail Mr. Lafferty and, to my surprise, received a response. In fairness to Mr. Lafferty and the Oregon Forestry Department, I am posting Mr. Lafferty's response. I'll leave it to you to decide whom you believe.

Here is the e-mail I received from Mr. Lafferty:

Hello,

I am writing in response to your recent email regarding the Oregon Department of Forestry’s language requirements for the leaders of private contract fire crews. Recent television coverage has caused confusion and concern, prompting numerous calls and emails to our office. Here is some information that I hope will explain the situation and address concerns that you may have.

An inaccurate report in the news media was circulated widely during the week of June 19, causing widespread concern. Jaimie Pickering appeared in several regional and national TV interviews in which he misrepresented our language policy. In addition, he misrepresented his own credentials. Let me briefly go through the falsehoods and clarify our actual policies.

Mr. Pickering’s claim: Jaimie Pickering represented himself as a fire crew boss of a private contract fire crew. He claimed that because he does not speak Spanish, he was demoted.

Dept. of Forestry response: Mr. Pickering has never been a fire crew boss. He lacks the training and experience to hold this position. We are not aware of anybody that has ever been fired or demoted from any contract crew because they could not speak Spanish. English is the language of firefighting in the U.S.

Mr. Pickering’s claim: He implied in statements to news media that he was an employee of the Oregon Department of Forestry.

Dept. of Forestry response: Mr. Pickering has never been an employee of the department.

Mr. Pickering’s claim: He claimed that he was dismissed as a firefighter trainer because of his “whistle blowing” against the Department of Forestry regarding our language requirements.

Dept. of Forestry response: Mr. Pickering began making this public claim in late June 2006. In mid-April of this year, he asked the Department of Forestry to review his fire training credentials, because he said he wanted to work as a fire crew boss. At his request, we reviewed Pickering’s records and discovered several deficiencies to meet the national certification standard for a crew boss. Our review revealed that he did not possess the requisite training and experience to be a fire crew boss. He was informed in April of the courses needed and the on-the-job experience necessary to become a crew boss.

During the review of his credentials we found that he had been providing training for hire to other contract firefighters beyond the level his accepted credentials (Basis Firefighter) would allow. There were also a number of deficiencies with the training he provided and irregularities in the documentation that he was providing. These deficiencies revealed a significant pattern of actions by Mr Pickering’s training business that did not comply with the standards of the profession. As a result of the months-long investigation, the Pacific Northwest Wildfire Coordinating Group terminated Mr. Pickering’s agreement to train contract firefighters on June 27.

Language requirements for private contract fire crews: English is the language of firefighting in the U.S. It is the standard throughout the country and we adhere to it. Each year, the Oregon Department of Forestry administers a contract to procure fire crews from private companies to fight wildfires. In recent years, a number of private contractors bidding on the contract have been U.S. citizens of Hispanic decent and many of them train their leaders from within their company. If a private fire crew company chooses to hire non-English-speaking firefighters, we then require that they provide crew leaders that, in addition to reading and speaking English, also speak the language of those non-English crewmembers. This requirement is for the safety of the firefighters and effectiveness of the firefighting effort. These leaders must be able to understand the briefings and orders they receive as well as be able to communicate in English effectively on two-way radios. Migrant farm workers with bilingual crew leaders have been a part of the nations firefighting workforce since the early 1960s. It is nothing new.

Oregon Department of Forestry is working with the Clackamas Community College to develop an improved language verification process for fire crew leaders. We want to ensure that these leaders possess the English reading and speaking skills they need to perform safely and effectively on the fireline. To date, of the 80 potential crew leaders tested in the pilot program, 17 were found to have a need for improved English skills before we could accept them as a crew leader. When the verification process becomes mandatory in 2007, crew leaders who cannot meet the English proficiency standard will have an opportunity to take English language classes at the Community College at their own expense.

A note about immigration status: Contractors bear the primary responsibility for ensuring that their employees have legal work status. We believe that most contract crew members have such status. However, knowing there are illegal immigrants in many labor pools throughout this country, we are working increasingly with federal immigration authorities and other partners to monitor the immigration status of contract crew members. We have contract language that will hold private contactors accountable if found to use illegal immigrants.

I hope the above information addresses your concerns about Oregon’s private contract fire crews.

Sincerely,



Bill Lafferty, director
Protection from Fire Program