The Oak Fire Nerve Center-

Command Post Set-Up at the Merced Fairgrounds

Several hundred Cal-Fire personnel are watch, listen, and take notes at the daily Incident Report meeting for the Oak Fire . Photo: Steve Newvine

Listen to Steve Newvine on the KYOS radio show about the Oak fire nerve center - click below

While the public gets around the clock images and details about the Mariposa County California wild fire (the Oak Fire) near Yosemite National Park, information that helps firefighters battle the blaze is being passed along from a command post set up some fifty miles away from the fire.

The Merced County Fairgrounds has been transformed into a so-called Incident Command Post (ICP).

The ICP is the operational nerve center for the more than three-thousand fire fighters and support workers charged with putting out the Oak Fire.

“Ordinarily, a fire in the Mariposa County region would have an incident command post set up at the Mariposa Fairgrounds,” says Cal-Fire Public Information Officer Natasha Fouts. “But the Oak Fire required more resources so we needed the larger space.”

One of several Cal-Fire managers pointing out critical spots on the map of the Oak Fire during one of the daily incident briefings from the command post at the Merced County Fairgrounds. Photo: Steve Newvine

The command post is important to be sure everyone is getting the most accurate information at the same time.

During the fire-fighting campaign, the daily incident briefing starts at seven in the morning.

“All fire crews report to the ICP for the morning briefing,” Natasha says. “Crews come for breakfast, to get ice, pick up line lunches and attend the briefing.”

The briefing is set up like a staff meeting at a corporation; with an agenda that includes incident commanders reporting on progress, a weather forecast for the day, updates from outside agencies such as California Highway Patrol, operational updates, and even a report from the finance department.

After the approximate thirty-five minute briefing, some individual teams have smaller update sessions with their personnel.

An Incident Command Post like the one set up at the Merced County Fairgrounds includes several portable offices where managers can monitor information from the field and throughout the Cal-Fire system. Photo: Steve Newvine

With about twenty team leaders giving reports, the briefing comes across as well organized and efficient.

That’s due in part to a concept known as Incident Command System (ICS). The System is an all-risk incident management concept that provides a structure to match the complexities of an incident like a wildfire.

The success of a major wildfire fighting effort can sometimes be threatened by jurisdictional boundaries.

The ICS takes that threat into account with a standardized, on-the-scene management structure.

“The System would allow someone like me or one of my colleagues to step into any emergency situation anywhere and basically pick up the work immediately,” Natasha says.

Fire departments from all over the state working in coordination with Cal Fire, are on the scene at the incident command post at the Merced County Fairgrounds. Photo montage by Steve Newvine.

The daily incident update briefing prepares the teams with information they will need during their shift up into the region where the Oak Fire is destroying forests, threatening homes, and putting thousands of residents in danger.

As of the end of July, more than nineteen-thousand acres have burned, making this the biggest wild fire in California so far in 2022. Sitting in on one of the daily briefings drove home the complicated nature of a wildfire.

Leaders from the various aspects of the effort are brought up before the group for short updates.

Firefighters get updates on the weather (“lower humidity in the coming days will make our jobs tougher”), safety (“remember, you represent all of us when you’re traveling to the scene”), and even a pep talk from one of the partners in fighting the blaze. “Everyone in this room has chased this fire real well,” one of the speakers at the morning briefing tells the group. "We need everyone now to keep up the effort.”

An incident report packet is made available to anyone coming into the meeting. The report contains over forty pages of information the teams can scan, make notes on, and take with them as they leave.

Preparing breakfast for hundreds of fire fighters is all part of a workday for the people supporting the incident command center at the Merced County Fairgrounds. Photo: Steve Newvine

Following the morning briefing and the sidebar meetings, some crews head on over to another part of the fairgrounds where a dining area is serving breakfast.

The workers will have breakfast before heading up to the fire site. This might be their only meal break during the shift depending on conditions in the field.

There is a lot happening when a wildfire breaks out in California.

Fighting the spread is the top priority. While that is going on, other agencies are preparing such things as emergency shelter for displaced residents, access for medical attention, and managing traffic.

The team working inside the Incident Command Post information center handles new information coming in and going out to the crews on the scene. Photo: Steve Newvine

Throughout the day, updates on all that is happening surrounding the fire is coordinated through the information center set up in the parking lot at the entrance to the fairgrounds.

Inside, public information workers gather what’s coming in, and turns it around so that everyone is getting the news in real time. Cal Fire will keep this command post up for as long as it takes. In the early days of this particular fire, an expected end date was set for the end of July.

However, as the week of July 24th progressed, that date was removed from update reports.

That’s likely an indication as to the unpredictable nature of this particular California wild fire.

As one of the speakers from the United States Forest Service told the group at an earlier daily briefing, “It’s absolutely remarkable, thank you very much. But the next few days are going to be clutch.”

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His latest book is called “A Bundle of Memories” and is available at Lulu.com , Amazon, Barnes and Noble.com, and at IndependentBooks.com where every sale benefits independent booksellers across the nation.

Steve recently completed a series of three talks about career readiness to older youth participants in the Summer Youth Academy sponsored by Harvest Park Learning Center.

You can reach him at SteveNewvine@SBCGlobal.net or at Facebook/Can-Do Californians

Traffic Circles and Straight Lines-

Campus Parkway Extension Reaches Yosemite Avenue and Includes Bike Path Bridge

Roundabouts are prominent along the Campus Parkway connecting Highway 99 to UC Merced. Photo: Steve Newvine

With local government leaders present and construction workers appropriately thanked for their labor, the latest extension of the Campus Parkway project was officially opened on July 8.

The roadway has the appearance of a beautiful, almost pristine, asphalt pathway that connects California Highway 99 to just south of the UC Merced Campus.

The primary characteristic of this latest extension of the Parkway is the near straight line it draws to Yosemite Avenue.

The road is a true connection of the 99 Freeway to the crown jewel of the Merced region.

“Government should and can do the big things,” Merced County Supervisor Josh Pedrozo said at the ceremony.

He represents the district where the new highway is located.

The one-hundred million dollar price tag is covered with state dollars from the Senate Bill 1 Transportation Package.

That transportation bill was cited by local leaders at the dedication ceremony as an excellent example of legislators working across the aisle on behalf of their constituents.

Local leaders were on hand for the grand opening of the most recent leg of the Campus Parkway road project connecting UC Merced to Highway 99. Photos: Steve Newvine

This highway expansion includes the addition of roundabouts at some of the intersections.

The roundabouts are junctions where traffic moves in one direction around a central island to reach one of the roads that meet the intersection.

They are also known as traffic circles. “When roundabouts started showing up in road projects, I hated them,” said County Board of Supervisors Chairman Lloyd Pareira. “But now I like them. They keep the traffic moving.”

The newly opened section completes the south-eastern portion of the so-called “Merced Loop System.”

The view from the new bike/pedestrian bridge over the Olive Avenue roundabout section of Campus Parkway.  Photo:  Steve Newvine

That loop system will one day run south of the City of Merced and connect with the City of Atwater.

Merced County voters passed Measure V, a countywide half-cent sales tax for transportation in 2016. This made Merced County a so-called self-help county.

Many leaders point to self-help counties as being in a better position to request state and federal highway monies because these jurisdictions have local “skin-in-the-game” through revenue streams such as dedicated local sales taxes.

The sales tax generates about $15 million annually for transportation.

This graphic from the Merced County Association of Governments shows the completed parts of the Merced Loop project. The Campus Parkway section is in the upper right.

Campus Parkway will help take traffic to and from the university. It will also help better connect traffic to Yosemite National Park.

Another special feature of the Campus Parkway is the bicycle/pedestrian pathway that runs along the western side of the highway.

The path includes an overpass at Olive Avenue so that cyclists, runners, and walkers may avoid crossing the street at grade level. The path helps soften concerns about road expansion projects taking away some of the quality of life issues neighbors around the area might have been inclined to raise.

A drone eye view of the new highway taken on the day of the dedication. Following the ribbon cutting, two Cal Fire engines led the way for the stream of vehicles belonging to attendees at the ceremony. Photo: Merced County Facebook page.

Local leaders said there was a lot of good to come about as the result of this one-hundred million dollar investment in the community.

With the bike path, the highway combines functionality with recreation.

It’s a long way from the first public hearings on the proposal to build the Campus Parkway highway 99 exit.

Those hearings started back in 1999. Our region has experienced a lot of change in those past twenty-three years.

There’s no doubt more change will be taking place in the coming decades.

* Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His latest book is A Bundle of Memories, and is available at Barnes & Noble.com and at Lulu.com.

He recently completed a series of three lectures as part of the Principle Based Learning Training in the Harvest Park Educational Center summer youth work study program held at UC Merced.

Steve is a passionate golfer who is proud to have earned his second lifetime hole-in-one on Independence Day 2022.

Fireworks Sales Sparkle for Area Non-Profits-

Proceeds help Organization’s Bottom Lines

The fireworks stand benefiting Playhouse Merced is in the Raley’s parking lot on Yosemite Avenue in Merced. Photo: Steve Newvine

The Independence Day holiday brings out the best in our celebratory spririt when it comes to showing our love of country.

Flags will be waving, some communities will have parades, hot dogs will be grilling, and most of us will take in the sense of pride for the good things about the United States.

And don’t forget the fireworks.

This year, Merced County will join with others throughout the state in making the so-called “safe and sane” fireworks available to citizens.

The Merced Marching 100 benefits from fireworks sales from a prime location in the Merced Mall parking lot on Olive Avenue. Photo: Steve Newvine

The stands are sprinkled throughout the County and especially in the City of Merced.

Working with the fireworks wholesalers, non-profit organizations apply for permits, staff the booths, and raise a big portion of their annual budgets.

That's how it's done in California. “We have had a fireworks booth for 10 years or more,” a spokesperson for Playhouse Merced says. The Playhouse staffs the booth in the parking lot at Raley’s on Yosemite Avenue.

Some of the selection of safe and sane fireworks available at one of the many stands throughout Merced. Photo: Steve Newvine Getting a permit to sell fireworks is really not that hard for a non-profit organization.

The firework wholesalers coordinate the paperwork to secure the permits. The non-profit organization agrees to abide by the local rules governing the sale of the product.

Fire safety is part of the arrangement with the fireworks being stored in those metal storage containers that are nearby every stand. In exchange for agreeing to abide by the rules, the non-profit and their volunteers staff the booth right on through the July 4th holiday.

The profits are sizable, and the wholesaler takes back any unsold inventory.. “It does provide a large part of our operating income for our Youth Educational programs and our Community Theatre Live Productions,” the spokesperson for Playhouse Merced says.

These big boxes offer a variety of neighborhood ready fireworks. Some sell anywhere from $250 to $400. Photo: Steve Newvine

Most of the cities in Merced County handle the permitting and inspection of the fireworks booths through the local fire department. Merced County Fire performs this role in areas where either the city does not handle this role.

“This year, we did thirteen permits,” says Crystal del Toro from Merced County Fire.

It’s a big commitment for a non-profit organization to commit their volunteers and staff to working a shift at a fireworks stand. From my experience running a non-profit some fifteen years ago, it seemed as though the volunteers were eager to do a good job.

The staff did their best to pull a shift here and there while continuing to do their real jobs for the organization.

I recall doing an analysis of the profit versus expenses following the fireworks stand effort my non-profit organization operated back in 2006.

I recall the analysis concluded that while the profit helped the bottom line, it would not have happened without the tremendous amount of time committed by the volunteers.

The Merced Mall marquee promotes the fireworks stand operated by the Merced Marching 100. Photo: Steve Newvine

Some communities in northern California no longer permit sales of safe-and-sane fireworks due to the wildfire threats in recent years.

The City of Redding does not allow fireworks sales. City Manager Barry Tippen says the City has maintained this policy for the past several years.

Some of the local firework sellers will have a close-out sale on July 5, but by the end of the week, most of the stands will have been taken down and shipped back to the wholesaler’s storage sites. Another fireworks season will close.

That is unless some folks have put some of their fireworks away for a special occasion sometime over the next twelve months.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

He is currently working on a new book to be released later this year. Ten of his books are available at Lulu.com, Barnes & Noble.com, and Amazon.com.

This summer, he joins several presenters at the Principles Based Lifestyle Training summer youth program being held at UC Merced.