narrative needed to consist of at least two pages in which you will discuss the following information: how emergency incidents impact the emotional and physical fitness of emergency management personnel, and the definition of a program evaluation and its purpose in NIMS  The coastal area surrounding Little Columbia Southern Island is under water restrictions due to an extreme drought condition with a deficiency of as much as 10 inches below the average rainfall for the island. Even native plants that can tolerate drought are showing signs of significant damage. Columbia County Wildland fire managers have issued burn bans for the entire coastal area and placed suppression resources on high alert. Fire units are dispatched to any calls reporting smoke. After eight months of being on high alert, the county had to restrict response to every call involving reported smoke because of budget constraints. Currently, all the calls have been false reports of islanders and those on the mainland burning household waste in burn barrels. Columbia County Emergency Services (CCES) developed a scenario-based standard operations guideline for responses of only one apparatus for reported flames showing until its arrival, and then units could be dispatched based on the scene size-up. The tradeoffs of responding only to flames showing have reduced expenditures and proved to be effective. Little Columbia Southern Island Fire Department (LCSIFD) had responded to multiple calls involving smoke from burn barrels despite the request not to burn household waste. However, the northern part of  the island refuses to abide by the request. After responding two to three times a day to the northern area, the fire department adopted the same guidelines as the county for only responding to visible flames. Moreover, due to the large amount of natural vegetation many times smoke was not noticed and the fire department was not even alerted. Drought conditions continued to worsen and resources available to respond to incidents became even more restricted due to multiple small fires occurring in the county. Columbia County petitioned the Federal Government for aid; however, due to the number of other disasters occurring across the Nation, requests were denied, unless there was a true disaster. After weeks of responding to small fires caused by human carelessness, CCES sent a memorandum to LCSIFD reminding them of the agreement that the county would provide a full response to the incident if needed and only after they attempted to mitigate the incident first. One reason listed in the memorandum was due to the daily number of fires not receiving a full response in the county because of limited resources. Small fires began to increase on the island, taxing the career firefighter and fire chief, as well as the four volunteer firefighters. The volunteers decided to respond only when notified by career personnel instead of the county dispatcher for working fires and emergencies. The volu ...

1. narrative needed to consist of at least two pages in which you
will discuss the following information: how emergency
incidents impact the emotional and physical fitness of
emergency management personnel, and the definition of a
program evaluation and its purpose in NIMS
The coastal area surrounding Little Columbia Southern Island
is under water restrictions due to an extreme drought condition
with a deficiency of as much as 10 inches below the average
rainfall for the island. Even native plants that can tolerate
drought are showing signs of significant damage. Columbia
County Wildland fire managers have issued burn bans for the
entire coastal area and placed suppression resources on high
alert. Fire units are dispatched to any calls reporting smoke.
After eight months of being on high alert, the county had to
restrict response to every call involving reported smoke because
of budget constraints. Currently, all the calls have been false
reports of islanders and those on the mainland burning
household waste in burn barrels. Columbia County Emergency
Services (CCES) developed a scenario-based standard
operations guideline for responses of only one apparatus for
reported flames showing until its arrival, and then units could
be dispatched based on the scene size-up. The tradeoffs of
responding only to flames showing have reduced expenditures
and proved to be effective. Little Columbia Southern Island Fire
Department (LCSIFD) had responded to multiple calls involving
smoke from burn barrels despite the request not to burn
household waste. However, the northern part of the island
refuses to abide by the request. After responding two to three
times a day to the northern area, the fire department adopted the
same guidelines as the county for only responding to visible
flames. Moreover, due to the large amount of natural vegetation
many times smoke was not noticed and the fire department was

2. not even alerted. Drought conditions continued to worsen and
resources available to respond to incidents became even more
restricted due to multiple small fires occurring in the county.
Columbia County petitioned the Federal Government for aid;
however, due to the number of other disasters occurring across
the Nation, requests were denied, unless there was a true
disaster. After weeks of responding to small fires caused by
human carelessness, CCES sent a memorandum to LCSIFD
reminding them of the agreement that the county would provide
a full response to the incident if needed and only after they
attempted to mitigate the incident first. One reason listed in the
memorandum was due to the daily number of fires not receiving
a full response in the county because of limited resources. Small
fires began to increase on the island, taxing the career
firefighter and fire chief, as well as the four volunteer
firefighters. The volunteers decided to respond only when
notified by career personnel instead of the county dispatcher for
working fires and emergencies. The volunteers’ only means of
contact were through cell phones on an already taxed system of
family members calling to check on loved ones. Weather
conditions began to change and the normal weather patterns of
the morning sea breezes moving inland and the land breeze
moving toward the coast in the evening were making it
impossible to predict fire behavior based on weather and time of
day. Wind gusts up to 30 mph became a norm for the area,
causing white caps in the bay, which was unheard of for
decades. The LCSIFD responded to a small grass fire on the
most southern part of the island where the only means of fire
suppression was a float-a-pump that had to be hand carried to a
canal in order to mitigate the fire. The fire was approximately
covering a ¼ acre in moderate fuel. While fighting the fire on
the southern part of the island, reports came in of a large fire
that had developed in the northern part and was moving south.
Multiple residences, including the volunteer firefighters, started
to call the fire department cell phone to report multiple
structure fires. The LCSIFD called CCES for mutual aid and

3. were denied due to CCES working a 45-acre fire involving
multiple structures in the eastern part of the county and they
requested mutual aid to assist them. The LCSIFD fire chief left
the southern fire to investigate the northern fire. A total of 12
structures were already lost and two more were involved. As
nightfall was approaching, the winds had died down and the fire
was near a natural fire break
Little Columbia Southern Island is a bridgeless barrier island
located off the Southwest Coast of the United States. The
nearest municipality is a one hour drive from the Columbia
Coastal Marina, which then takes 45 minutes to reach the island
by ferry or boat. The water between the mainland and the island
is designated as a protected wildlife zone by the U. S. Fish and
Game Commission. All boat traffic is limited to 15 mph per
hour. The island is approximately seven miles in length and
varies between 1/8 and 3/8 miles wide. The length and width of
the island changes as currents erode and deposit sand along the
shoreline. The only vehicles/equipment on the island are
electric golf carts used by the residents, one 1930 jeep used to
grade the main road, a Coastal Power & Light truck, one sea
plane, and fire department apparatus. There are no commercial
stores or facilities on the island, which includes food or other
amenities. The governing body of the island is an Advisory
Board with one person elected from each district of the island
representing 2,724 residents. The island is divided equally into
five different districts. The advisory board communicates
concerns, problems or issues to the Columbia County
Commissioner who represents the island. All Advisory Board
and community meetings are held in the Coastal Chapel on the
island. Rarely do the island residents attend any of the County
Commission meetings due to the time and distance to the
meetings held on the mainland. The Advisory Board provides a
summary list of the issues and considerations for their County
Commissioner to present at various hearings and meetings. The
island is divided into three distinct mindsets. The northern end

4. of the island will not utilize any governmental agency and
refuses to have potable water connected to their homes. The
middle of the island is made up of rental properties along the
coast and bay. The southern part of the island is made up of
residents who have a vision for change by developing the
infrastructure to include water and sewer from the mainland.
The majority of the island is single-family homes with two
condominium developments; combined, both condominiums
have 300 units. The condominiums on the bay are protected by a
sprinkler system that is supplied from a fire pump connected to
the island’s only pond. The island has no public use or facilities
for public access. The road system consists of unimproved paths
and dirt roads which are maintained by the residents. Many of
the unimproved paths and dirt roads only allow vehicular access
that is limited to the width of a golf cart. The main roadway
system that runs the length of the island will accommodate fire
apparatus and the island’s utility truck. Residents that live on
the bay side have privately owned docks that extend out past the
shallow flats for access to their home. Many of those homes are
only accessible from the dock and water. There is only one dock
that will accommodate the ferry and fire boat from Columbia
County Emergency Services. The ferry is mainly used for
transporting people and household garbage from the island to
the Columbia Coastal Marina. The infrastructure is very limited
with Coastal Power & Light providing electricity and the
Coastal Telephone Company providing phone services. Cellular
phone coverage is limited due to a lack of cellular towers within
close range. Potable water is provided by a privately-owned
water company (owned by one of the island residents). The
privately-owned water company has a deep well that provides
water to 10% of the island residents through a 3-inch water
main with 1 ½ inch branches. The four fire hydrants located in
the southern part of the island are fed from the fire pump. All
the homes in the northern section of the island have individual
cisterns that rely on rain as their source of water. Some homes
have shallow wells and a reverse osmosis desalinization plant

5. that provides water to 38% of the residents and condominiums.
Single-family homes are on septic tanks and drain field systems,
except the condominiums which has a wastewater treatment
system. All parcels of the island are privately owned by the
residents and there are 745 platted lots ranging in various sizes
from one tenth of an acre to five acres. The majority of the
homes and structures have native vegetation within five feet
and no fuel reduction buffers. Several of the residents have
pushed for community awareness regarding Firewise principles
and a defensible space, keeping wildfire away from homes and
structures, but it has been met with resistance. They want the
native vegetation to remain in place to have the old coastal
look. Part of the concern from those aware of the fire danger are
weather patterns and available firefighting resources that would
influence the ability to control the fire quickly. Emergency
Services Emergency medical services are provided by the Little
Columbia Southern Island Fire Department. The fire department
has two fulltime career personnel which includes the fire chief
and a firefighter/paramedic. Four volunteers from the
community provide assistance to the fire department on
emergency incidents. The fire department is funded through a
non-ad valorem assessment levied on each property and
contributions from island residents and visitors during special
events held on the island. Law enforcement is provided by the
Columbia County Sheriff’s Department. The Little Columbia
Southern Island Fire Department was formed after a fatal fire
that killed four island residents. The delayed response from
Columbia County Emergency Services to the fire occurred after
the 9-1-1 call was dropped. The fire was so intense that fire
investigators from the State could not determine the cause.
Following that fire incident, the island’s Advisory Board met
and demanded fire protection. After several meetings with their
County Commissioner a solution was proposed to provide
limited fire protection and emergency services from the county.
The Little Columbia Southern Island Fire Department was able
to maintain on-duty status of at least one or more persons 24

6. hours per day, 7 days a week. In addition, the fire department
had to initiate measures to control the emergency while the
county provided a full response to the incident, if needed. The
Little Columbia Southern Island Fire Department had to also
submit a proposed budget for approval during the budgetary
process beginning each October 1st. The island’s Advisory
Board also serves as the Fire Board with oversight for the fire
department. The total budget for the fire department is
$220,057.78. Twenty thousand dollars is raised by the
volunteers and Advisory Board from the sale of tee-shirts and
hats during special events on the island. The fire department is
temporarily using one of the rental homes on the island as their
station. The station has a small generator which provides power
to the radio, refrigerator, and some emergency lights during
power outages. Most emergency calls are received by a cellular
phone which is carried by the on-duty person at the fire station.
Many residents do not trust the Columbia County 9-1-1 Public
Address System (PAS) since the communications center dropped
the emergency call that resulted in the fatal fire. The fire
department utilizes two all-wheel drive pickup trucks converted
to fire apparatus and two all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) to access
the beach and remote areas of the isla