“Whether it was a lapse of judgement or just being in this pressure cooker called the Kern River Ranger District…” District Ranger Al Watson
Not long ago I was asked by an investigator to describe a few of my concerns surrounding the USDA Forest Service, Sequoia National Forest, Kern River Ranger District in Kernville CA. The only thing I ever received in return for speaking up was reprisal as you will see in my response below. I attempted to bring attention to these matters internally but after blatant inaction at several levels of management and petty reprisal (documented by a small sample of images below) I was given no choice but to report them publicly.
As a Firefighter, Incident Commander, Supervisory Battalion Chief, Prevention Officer, Safety Officer, District Safety, Committee Chair ,Forest Safety Committee Rep and Regional Prevention Committee Member it was my duty to report safety issues when they came about. This ranges from the smallest infraction of haz-mat storage issues, to violence in the workplace to general employee safety issues to public safety on FS land and on emergency incidents. Safety is my number one priority and I have been trained to speak up when something is not right.
Throughout the last few years, I have had many discussions with Sequoia National Forest Kern River District Ranger Al Watson regarding safety issues in the workplace. His response to them is often sheer annoyance and irritation making it a very unwelcome environment in which to share hazards. I have reported to Al Watson several OSHA infractions, public safety concerns, occurrences of violence in the work place observed by myself and direct reports, violence in the workplace experienced by me personally, and more.
Some of the most recent issues that come to mind are the following:
- One of my direct reports had two incidents which she reported and as her supervisor I spoke out to ensure we, the US Forest Service, was doing everything we could to ensure her safety and addressing the concern. One incident had to do with an employee bringing several firearms to the office and the next was when someone rifled through her desk throwing the contents about the room and stabbing holes into her family pictures. Both District Ranger Al Watson and Sequoia National Forest Supervisor Kevin Elliott were annoyed whenever I would speak out in my employees best interest. They did everything possible to downplay the situation. It gave many employees a sense of hopelessness in regard to their personal safety.
- I reported to Ranger Al Watson an incident of domestic violence that I was a victim of while on the clock, on duty in the field. I even played for him the recording of me being struck repeatedly and crying out that was captured on a voicemail because I had dialed for help but was not answered. I was ashamed and not sure what to do about it, fearing the backlash of drama it would cause. I knew I needed to let my District Ranger know since I was on duty and the perpetrator was a past employee of the district. The information was possibly going to come out in a court hearing and I didn’t want it to catch the agency by surprise. I also knew that any kind of violence in the workplace was unacceptable and to be reported. Al Watson did nothing in response to my talking to him that I am aware of. He never discussed it with me again. I later had to have a meeting with Watson to let him know the employee in question still had a working security code to the door of the office years after his termination. I became even more concerned when it was reported to me, the same man from the recording was being allowed in the office and upstairs to my work space unattended, and allowed to loiter at my desk when I was not there.
- I reported to the Forest Safety Officer in Ranger Al Watsons absence while on a routine call that a hotshot crew had a pistol pulled on them by a vagrant while out conducting project work. Watson was not upset about the incident yet he was livid by the fact I mentioned it to anyone. Keep in mind I did not discuss this issue in a gossiping manner. I discussed it with the actual Forest Safety Officer looking for advice during a scheduled call about safety. District Ranger Al Watson pulled me into a meeting shortly after he found out with intent to shame me about the entire scenario. Watson told me I need to think twice before reporting when those things occur. His anger seemed to be more focused on the fact his supervisor was made aware of the violence in the workplace incident. None of this made sense to me, we are trained to prevent, report and respond to anything of this nature.
- Around the same time of the above-mentioned scenario Al Watson became very perturbed and shared his thoughts in an email because I spoke out and shared concern regarding my employees being directed to handle human feces. I communicated with respect and a duty to care for my employee’s wellbeing. I have further documentation if needed.
- One of my direct reports had her vehicle tires slashed while she was out on patrol contacting forest visitors. It is regular practice for Fire Prevention Technicians AKA Patrols, to be in remote areas and are expected to contact the public at their camp sites and trail heads to ensure fire safety and that all regulations are being followed. My employee’s vehicle was disabled by campers while she was talking to part of the group. They all became hostile and gave her no escape. Long story short, she called for assistance from law enforcement. There was a very slow and poorly executed response. We were very fortunate it didn’t contribute to something much worse. This employee never went into the field to talk to the public again. She requested to be transferred out of her position and into one that was not focused on public contact. A few days later when this employee was working from her office on incident reporting paperwork, tire replacement and awaiting a solution to her emotional and safety concerns surrounding solo field operations, FMO Bart Kicklighter sent me several harsh emails about her. He criticized her location and shamed her for working from her office, not out with the public and me as her supervisor for allowing it. He questioned my supervisory choices and had no respect for her frame of mind or emotional wellbeing. Everything by management and law enforcement following this incident was extremely disappointing. My Ranger, Al Watson, FMO Bart Kicklighter and the assigned Law Enforcement Officer made constant jokes about the situation ensuring to shame this employee behind her back and cause no one to take her or myself seriously. I requested a formal AAR After Action Review, which went well with those who chose to attend. Watson and the Law Enforcement Officer refused to attend and openly disrespected the entire situation and my efforts to find a solution with intent to improve the future security of our employees. This hazardous behavior gave my employee no hope in her future safety as a Fire Prevention Patrol. The assisting LE from another agency who was on scene that day and happy to help us improve, attended the AAR and was very concerned at how the incident was handled by USFS management. However, this was another of many incidents he shared deep concern for.
- Kern River Ranger District, Ranger Al Watson, Fire Management Officer Bart Kicklighter, Sequoia National Forest Supervisor Kevin Elliott, and all Law Enforcement on the forest wanted nothing to do with reviewing how we could improve. It was truly one of the saddest things I have witnessed in my career.
- I have reported several times and know there are “Safetnets” on my supervisor Bart Kicklighter. There were many occurrences where I became troubled by Kicklighters management practices and had valid concern that he would eventually cause someone to be seriously hurt or killed on our district. This was based on proven management failures identified in fatality reports from incidents across the country. Watson seemed to be somewhat in agreement with me and often expressed his frustration but never address it to my knowledge, instead he admittedly helped Kicklighter get promoted. Watson was witnessed saying, “now he’s someone else’s problem”.
- At Regional Fire Prevention Committee meetings safety is the number one topic. The Prevention committee asked me, because I was not afraid to talk in front of the Board of Directors, if I would collect information of near misses from the entire California Patrol group and see what our trends are. I sent out an inquiry email Region wide and received replies filled with heart breaking experiences including people being physically assaulted by angry forest visitors for no clear reason. We all feared it wasn’t a matter of if, in this day and age, but when our patrols would experience something dark. To the general public we look like law enforcement officers but all we have the authority for is writing tickets and do our best to stay away from hazardous situations. However it is not that simple, sometimes the public comes looking for you. Law Enforcement officers have been target by angry visitors across the country and the Prevention Committee has always been worried about this happening to firefighters who look like LE. As you can see in Watsons emails, he put me down for all of my efforts surrounding improving the safety and security of our employees.
- It was asked at several meetings; how can we better protect our people while out in the field in remote areas. Every employee I have ever supervised has asked me about pepper spray, but unfortunately, we are not allowed to carry it. The group thought it would be a good idea to discuss the question with law enforcement to see if there was a basic training course we could take that would allow us to carry it. The other thought that a Stanislaus National Forest Patrol thought of was self-defense classes. Something basic that would help our patrols know what to do if caught off guard by an angry or intoxicated forest visitor. Through a little research I found that this was something covered under our wellness program. Sadly, all these inquiries and more came to a halt when I was removed from the prevention committee unwillingly. It seems that Al Watson, Bart Kicklighter and Kevin Elliott did not like that I addressed non-standard safety issues with creative solutions.
- Watson has belittled and shamed me behind my back in more ways than I will ever know. This has ruined my relationship with many co-workers that I did not realize until recently. The worst part of all is that it is a great setback for our employees, from local to national, when someone at District Ranger Watsons level can cover up and make light of serious safety issues. This seems to have even been something he convinced management and employee relations of in a way that has been extremely detrimental to my career and now personal life.
Those few incidents are merely a snap shot of safety concerns I have brought to the attention of my District Ranger Al Watson, Fire Management Officer Bart Kicklighter and Sequoia National Forest Supervisor, now Los Padres National Forest in Santa Barbara Kevin Elliott. Now that I have read the email exchange initiated by Watson showing his hazardous attitude surrounding my valid safety concerns, I can see why I was never taken seriously. The worst part about all of this is, my employees are the ones who suffer the most and we all grew more hopeless as time passed.
The effort by my supervisors to paint me in a bad light to managers above, employee relations and beyond was a consistent slow burn focused on my self confidence. There were times I would read emails such as the ones posted here by my Ranger and FMO and even start to believe I was the horrible employee they described me to be. It wasn’t until a very wise union rep took the time to educate me on toxic, bullying and mobbing workplace tactics and consequences I was living proof of. When you are in it, you cant see it, especially when the bullying supervisor is a professional.
These are the moments we look back at after a fatality and think… the agency could have done better.
