Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF DECEMBER 12, 2008 FBO #2573
SOURCES SOUGHT

F -- Forest Fire Suppression Services Washington/Idaho area for Walla Walla Army Corps District

Notice Date

12/10/2008
 

Notice Type

Sources Sought
 

NAICS

115310 — Support Activities for Forestry
 

Contracting Office

Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army Engineer District, Walla Walla, US Army Engineer District, Walla Walla, 201 N. Third Avenue, Walla Walla, WA 99362-1876
 

ZIP Code

99362-1876
 

Solicitation Number

W912EF-09-R-SS06
 

Response Due

12/23/2008
 

Archive Date

2/21/2009
 

Point of Contact

Clarence Miller, 509-527-7215<br />
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Description

Sources Sought Synopsis - This is not a Notice of Solicitation. The Walla Walla District Corps of Engineers is issuing this notice to determine if there are an adequate number of interested business concerns capable of providing Professional Service s to perform the following requirement. The NAICS code is 115310 and the small business size standard is $16.5 million. Businesses responding to this sources sought announcement may register their capability via email to clarence.a.miller@usace.army.mil. This announcement is based on the best information available and may be subject to future modification This announcement does not commit the Government to award of a contract. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is not responsible for any costs incurred b y responding to this notice. Please be advised that all information submitted will be considered procurement sensitive. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District is planning to award a base or a base and one year option to cover the following requirement. WILDFIRE PROTECTION CONTRACT - 2009 Corps of Engineers, Northwest Division, Walla Walla District, Dworshak Project 1Description of Services 1.1Purpose and Objectives: The purposes and objectives of this contract are to; maintain a wildland fire protection system for lands managed by the Corps of Engineers (COE) at Dworshak Project, to use reasonable and professional means to provide wildfire pre-suppression, prevention, detection, and suppression consistent with the professional accreditations and standards set by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) for personnel, tools, and equipment, and to accomplish various prescribed fire projects to reduce fire fuels. 1.2General Contract Description: This is a Fixed Price contract intended for a term of one year with an additional one (1) year available as a government option for a maximum total of two (2) years. Each successive contract year shall be defined as beginning February 1 and ending January 31 of the following year. Work identified for each contract year must be completed no later than January 31 of the current contract year unless otherwise agreed upon in writing by the Corps of Engineers (COE) Point of Contact (POC) listed is paragraph 5.6 below. The Contractor shall furnish all supervision, personnel, personal protective equipment, transportation, fuel, and all other elements required to perform the work except those listed in section 4. Government Furnished Property and Services. 1.2.1Lands covered under this contract include all lands managed by COE at Dworshak project. The area requiring fire protection under this contract is approximately 29,318 acres. The Contractor will provide wildland fire protection services, as defined in Paragraph 1.1 Purpose and Objective(s) above and as described within section 3 Detailed Description of Required Services below, to those Dworshak lands identified on the project maps. Maps are available from the Dworshak Natural Resources Management (NRM) Team upon request. 1.2.2All reasonable and professional means shall be employed to limit all wildland fires to no more than two (2) acres in size using the National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) fire fuels models. 2General Scope of Work: Annual work to be included with the base agreement shall include all of the following items. 2.1Pre-suppression work that shall include; reducing fuels and fire hazards at mini-camps around the reservoir, the construction, installation and maintenance of motorized access restriction devices, conducting specialized fire training for certain COE employees and reducing forest fuels through prescribed burning. These items are discussed in detail below in section 3.1. 2.2Prevention work shall include; posting and updating the fire danger rating signs at boat launches, and communicating with the COE POC at all fire danger levels. These items are discussed in detail below in section 3.2. 2.3Detection work that shall include; conducting both boat and aerial patrols. These items are discussed in detail below in section 3.3. 2.4To execute wildfire suppression activities the Contractor shall have at their disposal during the fire season adequate personnel and equipment needed for initial attack and limited extended attack capabilities. Suppression capabilities shall include the availability of a helicopter with at least an 80 gallon water bucket. These items are discussed in detail below in section 3.4. 3.1Pre-Suppression Activities 3.1.1Lands Assessment: Under the provisions of the Idaho Forestry Act #38-111 the state is authorized to charge all landowners a Forest Protection Assessment for the lands under their management. This consideration is for the purpose of emergency wildfire protection throughout the year. Federal landowners have the option whether or not to participate in this program. The COE has elected to partake in this program and pay the state of Idaho the full assessment amount. Under the authority of this contract, the contractor shall be responsible for this reimbursable payment each year to the state of Idaho for the full assessed amount. For 2009 this amount will be $38,406.58 to cover all 29,318 acres of lands managed around Dworshak project. 3.1.2Reduction of fire Fuels and other Fire Hazards at Mini-camps: Personnel and equipment shall be provided to satisfactorily clean and remove organic materials from and around fire grills, tent pads, fire lines, and tables in all active mini-camp sites. There are currently 113 separate active mini-camps surrounding the reservoir. Of these mini-camps, only seven (7) are accessible by full sized motorized vehicle. All others must be accessed by boat. This maintenance shall be completed no later than June 30, 2009 unless otherwise agreed upon in writing by both parties. Designated snags and hazard trees shall be cut down within the mini-camp sites to improve public safety and reduce fire hazards. Snags and trees are to be cut, delimbed, and bucked into firewood sized pieces. The pieces shall be stacked in close proximity to the mini-camp and the limbs will be scattered outside of the fire line. The hazard trees will be designated by COE staff and shall not exceed 20 trees each year. The Contractor shall also be required to brush out the fire lines around 25 mini camps as designated by the COE each year of the contract. This shall include cutting down all over hanging brush and trees less than 6 inches DBH for a horizontal distance of five (5) feet on both sides of the center of the fire line and to a vertical distance of ten (10) feet above the ground level. Trees greater than 8 inches DBH within the Brush out zone shall be pruned to a height of eight (8) feet the entire circumference of the tree. Slash that is created shall be scattered to a safe distance outside the fire lines. Slash shall not be scattered over or on any access trail leading to or from the camp site. 3.1.3Access Restrictions: It shall also be required to provide labor and materials to build, install and/or maintain barricades and gates, designed to reduce unauthorized motor vehicle access on Corps managed land and thus reducing the wildland fire risk. The COE will provide a detailed statement of work for access restriction work required for each year of the contract; see Appendix A. 3.1.4Training: Annual Wildland Fire Safety Awareness training for designated COE Natural Resource and Maintenance employees shall be conducted prior to 31 May each year. This shall include annual Fireline Refresher Training as well as administration of the arduous fitness test for selected COE employees not to exceed six (6) employees each year. 3.1.5Prescribed Burning: Prescribed burning will include the burning of slash piles, reservoir debris, and broadcast burning as directed by the COE. The Contractor shall provide all labor and materials needed to conduct all prescribed burning as described below. 3.1.5.1For the burning of both slash piles and reservoir debris the COE will provide the number of slash/debris piles and their locations in the prescribed burn package located in Appendix B. The Contractor will work with the COE and the Montana / Idaho State Airshed Group to determine the burn date. The Contractor shall ignite the piles and reduce the slash/debris to 10% of their original size as determined by ocular estimate. Worked planned for the 2009 includes burning roadway slash piles planned to be produced during logging operations associated with the Elk Creek Meadows Stewardship Project. 3.1.5.2For all broadcast prescribed burning on COE managed land the contractor will follow the prescribed burning process identified in Appendix B. For all broadcast burning on Corps managed land the Contractor shall provide all labor and materials for burn plan development, fireline construction and/or reconstruction, fire ignition, fire control for a period of 24 hours following ignition and any post-fire work (e.g. cross ditching and grass seeding) as specified in the individual burn plan developed for that burn. All documentation associated with the planned broadcast burning for the current year (burn objectives and maps) are attached in Appendix B. Fire control will include: monitoring the fire, maintaining firebreaks and extinguishing any fires outside of the burn unit boundary for a 24 hour period. To provide additional fire protection, each prescribed burn shall be actively monitored for 3 days after ignition. If fire behavior or weather conditions warrant, additional monitoring time can be requested by the contractor or the COE and authorized in writing as a government option. Broadcast prescribed burning work planned for 2009 includes three small units in the Little Bay area, one burn block in the Elk Creek Meadows area and one optional burn block in the Elk Creek Meadows area. 1) Broadcast burn three units totaling 187 acres within the original south and middle burns units of the Little Bay Stewardship Project. 2) Broadcast burn block 3 (86 acres) within the Elk Creek Meadows Stewardship Project. 3) OPTIONAL: Broadcast burn block 5 (235 acres) within the Elk Creek Meadows Stewardship Project. The execution of all broadcast burns will follow the process identified in the Burn Package. A detailed description of the work to be performed in 2009 associated with all of these burn units are presented in the burn process, the burn objectives and in the associated burn maps Appendix B. It is recognized that the Contractor fully intends to execute a prescribed burn (burn) when the burn is approved and after materials and personnel are mobilized to a burn location. 3.2Prevention Activities 3.2.1The contractor shall update the fire danger rating signs at the six (6) boat launch areas as wildfire risk conditions change. After the Burning Index reaches the Manning level 3+ in the High burning index, fuel model G, at the Pierce Weather Station, for three consecutive days, no open fires will be allowed in campgrounds between the hours of 1000 and 1800. The Contractor will update COE Burning Index signs at boat launch ramps, changing levels as necessary to reflect the appropriate fire danger rating. The Contractor will post fire prevention signs at kiosks and at boat ramps giving the fire prevention message. The COE Forester and the Contractor representative on the reservoir will be in contact during periods of high or above burning indices to discuss potential problems and necessary closures. Posted restrictions will be maintained by the Contractor. Depending on the availability of COE personnel and at the request of the Contractor, COE personnel may elect to aid the Contractor with restriction postings and changing of the burning index signs. 3.3Detection Activities 3.3.1Boat Patrols: Patrols are to be conducted everyday from July 1 through September 15 (77 days) unless weather conditions reduce the fire risk level to Moderate or when operator safety is compromised. Patrols will be conducted, for eight (8) continuous hours each day between the hours of 0900 and 2100. Boat patrols will encompass the entire reservoir allowing observer(s) to detect smoke and/or the presence of fire throughout all portions of Corps managed land. Additional patrol days, to a maximum of fifteen (15), may be authorized as a government option each year for situations of increased fire danger that warrant additional presence on the reservoir. Use of these additional patrols outside the statistical fire season must have prior COE written approval. Boat(s) used during patrols shall meet all applicable United States Coast Guard (USCG) requirements for the equipment, maximum load ratings and the boat structure itself. The Boat(s) must be in good repair and in operable condition each day during the fire season. Boats used during patrols will have all of the appropriate and reasonable wildfire fighting equipment necessary for reporting and initiating first attack efforts on the fire 3.3.2Aerial Patrols: Aerial patrols will be performed for the period July 1 through September 15. This support is above that performed by the Boat Patrol. The patrol will consist of 45 aerial patrol days, which shall be Friday through Monday of each week, and during very high or extreme wildland fire conditions. Patrols will cover all Corps managed land surrounding Dworshak Reservoir and will be conducted as a two (2) hour continuous flight between the hours of 1400 and 2000. Patrols must have appropriate and reasonable communication capabilities with wildland fire fighting entities in the surrounding area. Patrols may be cancelled or terminated whenever aircraft or pilot safety is compromised as assessed by the pilot. Additional patrol days, to a maximum of fifteen (15), may be authorized 3.4Suppression Activities 3.4.1All reasonable and professional means shall be employed to limit all wildland fires to no more than two (2) acres in size using the appropriate NFDRS fire fuels model for the area which the fire is burning. Maintained trained fire suppression personnel shall be in an available and ready status during the fire season equipped with well maintained fully operational fire suppression equipment capable to initiate first attack as well as provide limited extended attack capability. This will be determined by the contractor using wildfire fighting industry reasonable and standard professionally acceptable practices of evaluating the present fire conditions. Personnel used for this contract must be capable to be on site at a reported incident within two (2) hours of the initial report. 3.4.2Helicopter Operations: The Contractor shall be required to have a helicopter in an available and ready status during fire season. The helicopter shall meet or exceed all appropriate NWCG standards for such equipment. The helicopter shall have available a water bucket capable of holding and transporting a minimum of 80 gallons of water for use in wildland fire suppression on Corps managed land, if needed, during the period of July 1 through September 15. The helicopter must be capable of carrying at least three passengers and a minimum of 160 lbs of equipment internally. The helicopter must be capable of being on site at the reported incident within two (2) hours of receiving the report. Through this contract the COE is authorizing 34 hours of helicopter use and availability for fire suppression activities within the stated time period. Additional hours, to a maximum of ten (10), may be authorized as a government option. 3.4.3Fire Cache Support and Maintenance: Dworshak project has developed and maintained a Fire Cache of pumps, hoses, and other wildland fire suppression related equipment for the past 30+ years. The COE will allow the Contractor to have exclusive use and provide maintenance to all fire cache equipment as per the inventory list in Appendix D and with the following conditions: 3.4.3.1The Contractor will: "Maintain all fire cache equipment in ready to use condition. "Provide maintenance for two COE managed pumps (Mark 3 and BB-4). "Conduct an annual winter inventory (current inventory located in Appendix D with a COE representative. "Remove unserviceable cache items and coordinate inventory adjustments with COE representatives. "Provide locks and keys for the fire cache. 3.4.3.2The COE will: "Provide a secure location for the fire cache at the Dworshak maintenance compound. "Provide a COE representative to assist in the inventory process. "This cache is not meant to be the primary source of fire suppression equipment and would only be used if the contractor exhausted the availability of all similar equipment. "The Contractor has reviewed and accepts responsibility for all items on the cache inventory list. "All fire cache items will be used for fire suppression or prescribed burning activities only and should be in direct support of protecting or accomplishing work for Dworshak Project lands. "If / when an inventory item or items, regardless of value, becomes unserviceable or is non-repairable, COE will not replace it. "Unserviceable items are to be returned to the COE for property disposal. "Fire cache items that are lost or damaged by neglect or misuse will, by written request of the COE, be replaced by the contractor. "The contractor shall be allowed to place and maintain remote fire caches where the contractor deems appropriate with prior written COE approval. 4Government Furnished Property and Services: The government shall furnish personnel from the Natural Resource Management Team from time to time to provide technical assistance, incipient wildfire response, boat transportation up the reservoir in emergency cases, and a POC for questions and reporting on work accomplishments. A space will be made available to dock the Contractors boat(s) behind the Dam at the COE boat docks. Maps and GIS assistance will be made available as necessary and as resources, personnel and funds are available. The COE will make available the COE Fire Cache as described in section 3.4.3 above. The COE shall provide a COR for the purpose of Quality Assurance administration of the different projects such as gate and barricade work and prescribed burning. Contracting point of contact: Clarence Miller at email as stated above.
 

Web Link

FedBizOpps Complete View
(https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=650a336c626ad0d8f1a1e3cbeddcfb88&tab=core&_cview=1)
 

Place of Performance

Address: US Army Engineer District, Walla Walla 201 N. Third Avenue, Walla Walla WA<br />

Zip Code: 99362-1876<br />
 

Record

SN01716709-W 20081212/081210220435-650a336c626ad0d8f1a1e3cbeddcfb88 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

---

| FSG Index  |  This Issue's Index  |  Today's FBO Daily Index Page |