Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Fire Management Steps Up to the Challenge

Today, we highlight the runner-up for the 2015 From the Field for the Field Contest. Congratulations to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Fire Management Program on a job well-done.

The following all-staff activities were led by members at various levels of the organization.

• Each member of the team received a copy of the 2015 Professional Reading Program Challenge book Unbroken. Discussions about the book were held throughout the year.
• The AFMO lead activities in the beginning of the challenge and leadership over to engine crew members.
• Two-day overnight field day for S-130/190 with unique training video.
• Revise the fire program's mission statement.
• Potluck to promote camaraderie.
• Led L-280 for fire personnel and collateral duty firefighters.
• Reviewed the Cold Brook incident.
• Prescribed fire program highlight video.
• "Find the Seasonal" communications and team-building activity.

In Their Own Words

When the program took The Challenge in the spring, it was the hopes of the management staff to be able to supply the full gamut of the leadership courses at or near INDU. We were able to complete L-180 and L-280; L-380 is planned for 2016 and the local District IMT3 is planning on hosting L-381 in 2016. While a couple of the courses are still outstanding in 2015, this goal will be achieved for our personnel in the coming year. One of the final trainings was of the Cold Brook Rx review. It was planned to be completed right before INDU’s fall prescribed fire season, so no one would be complacent going into the season, and to close out the Ignite the Spark Challenge for the fire program. Once again, it wasn’t just a simple review of events. The facilitator used a projector to display actual pictures from the event, a sand table to recreate the day, a lined out timeline of events to review and he set it up in a role play event to put everyone in the room, right there at the edge of the spot fire, placing them in a leadership role – and asking them what would they do.

Throughout this year and during The Challenge numerous topics for future trainings came about from the fire service’s future leaders. We will continue to push forward with these ideas as we enter 2016. We have secured ourselves as a training site for L-380 for May of 2016 that we will be able to get 4 of our staff that need the class. We will be hosting a Dude Fire Review (with 2 of the personnel that were on scene during that tragedy). Our GS-4 firefighter has created an orienteering training that was spurred because of the initial Ignite activity of the ‘Find the Seasonal.’ It is slated for March of 2016. We will complete discussions on INDU’s Vision Statement when furloughed staff comes back to work. We have pages of teamwork, leadership and teambuilding activities that have come about from this Ignite the Spark Challenge, and we are looking forward to using them.

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If you would like more information and activity samples, contact Pam McDonald at BLM_FA_Leadership_Feedback@blm.gov.