The Operations Northern California (ONCC) established in the early 1960s to serve as a supply cache and coordination center for the Northern California forests in Region 5. The center was also used as a training facility, with the formal regional training unit established in 1973.

Today the ONCC is a fully functional cooperative organization that includes agency representation from the US Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

ONCC has developed an Information Package which can be found on our Visitor Info Page for individuals who are arriving at the coordination center on temporary duty assignments. This information will give individuals an overview of our basic operational procedures, staffing contacts, and compound layout.

PREDICTIVE SERVICES:

The Intelligence Section at Northern Operations gathers and analyzes intelligence data from large fires and disasters. The section collects resource information for incident allocation prioritizing. North Operations Intelligence also distributes daily situation reports and incident information.

The NOPS Predictive Services, the most recent addition to the center, provides fire weather support to fire management agencies in northern California. The district comprises seven national forests, seven CDF ranger units, four National Park Service sites, the Hoopa Indian Reservation, and portions of two BLM districts. The weather unit also acts as the local meteorological consultant for ONCC and provides daily fire season weather briefings, regional fire weather and aviation training, and other forecasts and services. Email us.

The North Operations Emergency Command Center is a cooperative organization that handles resource distribution for All-Risk Management Incidents. Personnel handle all requests for aircraft, crews, overhead, and equipment; they process dispatch records, contact unit dispatchers for resources to fill orders, and handle all incoming telephone and fax communications. An expanded dispatch center processes extended attack or long-term incidents.

The Fire Cache is part of the Interagency National Fire Equipment System and distributes equipment and supplies for All-Risk Management Incidents to agencies throughout northern California and the nation.

The Region 5 Smokejumper Unit was established in 1957 and moved to the ONCC facility in 1964.

The Redding Hotshot program was established in 1967 to provide crew leader training to hotshot personnel. Crewmembers were detailed from the forests to the hotshot crew for one season to learn crew leadership skills. After a disastrous airplane crash and resultant fire at the operations building in 1981, the facilities were expanded to include an interagency administration and training building and new interagency operations building.

The North Zone Training Unit provides a full curriculum of courses of the Incident Command System for students from all cooperating agencies. Dozens of classes are offered each fall and winter at the facility. Instructors and students come from all cooperating agencies.