Center Photos

Kenan Jaycox Center Manager (BLM - New Mexico)

The Southwest Coordination Center (SWCC), referred to affectionately as 'swick' within the wildland fire community, is an interagency center responsible for coordinating and facilitating the movement of wildland firefighting resources between the Ten Dispatch Zones in the SWA and, as needed, nationally with the National Coordination Center (NICC) in Boise, ID.  SWCC is divided into three functional areas (1) Logistics Coordination, (2) Predictive Services and Intelligence, and (3) Fire Information. Our current address is:

Southwest Coordination Center
333 Broadway SE
Albuquerque, NM 87102
(505) 842-3473

Although located at the U.S. Forest Service Southwestern Regional Office in Albuquerque, New Mexico, SWCC operates under the direction of the Southwest Area Coordinating Group (SWCG), not specifically one agency.  As an interagency office, permanent employees of the SWCC come from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management - Arizona State Office, Bureau of Land Management - New Mexico State Office, National Park Service - Intermountain Region, U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service - Southwestern Region, and U.S. Forest Service - Southwestern Region. SWCC does not own any wildland firefighting resources.

The Logistics Coordination (i.e. Mobilization/Demobilization) component is the largest of the program areas within SWCC. Mobilization and demobilization of wildland firefighting resources are funneled through four primary areas: aircraft, crews, equipment and supplies, and overhead.  Coordinators are responsible for:

• Managing the overall dispatch operation at SWCC
• Direct supervision to the Supervisory Dispatcher
• Liaison with the National Coordination Center (NICC)
• Act as a focal point for resource order related questions

C O O R D I N A T O R S
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Frank Bedonie Bureau of Indian Affairs	Rick Black USDA Forest Service, Southwestern Region	Yolanda Van Horn USDA Forest Service, Southwestern Region	Nancy Moore Bureau of Land Management, Arizona
- Oversees Crew Desk	- Oversees Overhead and Equipment Desks - Maintain IQCS for USFS Regional Office	- Oversees Aircraft Desk
D I S P A T C H E R S
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	Bianca Juganaru USDA Forest Service, Southwestern Region	Dolores Garcia Bureau of Land Management, Arizona

2. PREDICTIVE SERVICES

The Predictive Services Unit is the decision support function of the SWCC. The unit consists of staff members from the Fire Weather Program, Fire Intelligence Section, and the Fire Behavior Center.

Fire Weather Program

Chuck Maxwell Meteorologist / Predictive Services Group Leader U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Southwestern Region (505) 842-3419

Rich Naden Meteorologist/ RAWS Coordinator National Park Service, Intermountain Region (505) 842-3415

Fire weather plays an integral role in fire suppression and prescribed fire. The SWCC Fire Weather Program consists of professional Meteorologistsis who are primarily responsible for:

• Overseeing all aspects of fire weather for the Southwestern Area
• Conducting weather briefings
• Monitoring weather and verifying products
• Liaison with the National Weather Service
• Overseeing all aspects of the Remote Automated Weather System (RAWS) for the Southwest Area

Some of the products produced by the Fire Weather Section include:

• Daily Fire Weather mapping and forecasts
• 7-Day Fire Weather / Fire Danger product
• Monthly Outlook
• Seasonal Outlook

Intelligence Section

Jay Ellington Intelligence Specialist / Website Manager National Park Service, Intermountain Region (505) 842-3874

The Intelligence Section is also responsible for:

• Collecting and disseminating daily wildland fire and prescribed fire activity information
• Collaboratively working with other Predictive Services Group members on 7-Day, Monthly, and Seasonal Outlooks
• Managing the Sit Report and ICS-209 programs
• Producing ROSS Reports and SIT300 products
• Monitoring the status of national firefighting resources
• Overseeing and managing the Southwest Coordination Center website

Some of the products produced specifically by the Intelligence Section include:

• Morning Intelligence Briefing
• News and Notes
• Large Fire Maps
• SIT300 (IMT Section)
• ROSS Reports
• YTD and Historical Fire Occurrence Data
• Area-wide and individual station ERC Charts
• Live Fuel Moisture Program

Fire Behavior Center

The Fire Behavior Center is operated on an as needed basis, primarily when the SWA is in Preparedness Level 3 and 4. Qualified FBAN's are ordered in to SWCC to produce products on a Area-wide basis. The FBAN works with other members of the Predictive Services Group to produce various products. Overall, the Fire Behavior Center is in constant contact with local units trying to determine local fuel conditions and their receptability to fire.

Some of the products produced by the Fire Behavior Center include:

• Fire Behavior Outlook
• Fire Behavior Map

3. FIRE INFORMATION OFFICE

Mary Zabinski Fire Information Coordinator USDA Forest Service Southwestern Region

The Fire Information Office is seasonally staffed from March to August.  A Type 1 or 2 Fire Information Officer (FIO) is ordered in to SWCC on a detail basis as the fire season progresses, and works with the SWCC, Zone Coordination Centers, and SWA Incident Management Teams to gather and disseminate information.  The primary duties of the Fire

• Provide wildland fire information to the news media and the general public via news releases, the Internet, and the telephone
• Respond to requests from internal sources
• Mainain and update the Fire Information page on the SWA Wildland Fire Operation's Website
• Responds to e-mail that is received via the Website.