NIMO Phoenix Biographies

Jeff Whitney - Incident Commander
Jeff is a native of the Southwestern United States. He graduated from Wickenburg High School in 1971. He received a Bachelor of Science in Botany from Northern Arizona University in 1977 and a Master of Science in Natural Resources from Arizona State University in 1996.

Over his 35 year career with the federal government he has worked in fire management, range, wildlife, watershed and ecosystem management for the U.S. Forest Service from 1972-1994 and again from 2005 to present. He also worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the Rio Grande Coordinator working on Rio Grande water supply/management issues, endangered species recovery and habitat issues from 1994-2000. From 2000-2005 he served as Regional Fire Management Chief for the SW Region FWS. He has broad educational and practical experience on a local, forest and regional office level as a resource manager and line officer, providing considerable experience in interagency cooperation and collaboration.

Upon graduation from high school, Jeff began his wildland fire career in June 1972 as a hotshot crewman, squad leader and assistant superintendent on hotshot crews in the SW Region. Upon graduation from college, Jeff became Assistant District Engine Foreman, supervising five Model 20 engines and as TTO for the District’s Model 71 Engine. In 1980, after eight seasons as a technician, he converted to his first professional appointment as a GS-454 Range Conservationist at Payson RD, the Gila NF and the Prescott NF.

He was able to continue as militia overhead positions as a Sector Boss and Division Boss(T) in the Large Fire Organization (LFO) system. In 1984, the Incident Command System (ICS) was adopted by the U.S. Forest Service. From there he was qualified as a Division/Group Supervisor/Branch Director on Carson’s SW Area Type 1 Team 1984-1989, Type 2 Incident Commander on the Central Arizona Type 2 Team (1990 to 1996), Type 1 Ops Section Chief, Deputy IC and IC for one of the two SW Area Type 1 Teams 1998 to 2008.

Vicki Clay - Logistics Section Chief

At the time Vicki accepted her assignment as Logistics Section Chief on the Phoenix NIMO team, she was a Realty Specialist on the Prescott National Forest. She managed public utility projects and at the time of her transfer was the project leader on a large natural gas pipeline under construction. Vicki served as Logistics Section Chief on Bateman’s, Oltrogge’s and Van Bruggen’s Southwest Area Type 1 Incident Management Teams. In addition to wildland fire, Type 1 assignments included Columbia Shuttle Recovery and several hurricanes. She had the honor of being called to serve with the Fire Department of New York in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Prior to moving to the Prescott National Forest she was in timber sale preparation and administration on the Bonners Ferry District of the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. Vicki was a Forest Service Representative and alternate Contracting Officer on District timber sales. Her time there included details as District Timber Management Officer, Zone Lands and Special Uses Officer and District Ranger. She had the opportunity to work as initial attack, prevention patrol and many years of prescribed fire activities. Vicki was Logistics Section Chief on Specht’s North Idaho Type 2 Team.

Other positions were in Missoula, Mont. and in McCall, Idaho in lands and special uses while continuing to participate in fire.

Vicki started her career on the Slate Creek Ranger District of the Nez Perce National Forest where she worked seasonally in dispatch and prevention. This is also where she received her permanent appointment.

Through her career Vicki has had the pleasure to teach classes in the wildland fire community. Vicki is a charter member of the Arizona Wildfire Academy. She has two children, Kaitlin, 23 and Brennan, 19.

Curtis Heaton - Operations Section Chief
Curtis Heaton began his career in 1985 on the Arapahoe-Roosevelt National Forest as a Forest Technician. After completing an A.S. degree in Forest Technology at Southeastern Illinois College, Curtis worked on the George Washington National Forest in Virginia and in the private sector in Indiana. In 1988 he moved to the Prescott National Forest in Arizona and joined the Prescott Interagency Hotshot Crew.

Life as a hotshot was the perfect fit for Curtis and he enjoyed the hard work and hotshot lifestyle for a number of years. In 1994, Curtis accepted a temporary assignment to assist in bringing the National Park Service’s first Prescribed Fire Module on-line at Bandolier National Monument in New Mexico. After short stints on the Mormon Lake and Pleasant Valley Interagency Hotshot Crews, he returned to the Prescott Hotshots and became the Crew Superintendent in 1998.

When the National Fire Plan was adopted in 2001, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recruited Curtis as a Wildland/Urban Interface Specialist for the Southwest Region. Applying wildland/urban interface principles to endangered species habitat was both rewarding and challenging. Curtis took this opportunity to return to college and completed fire management and wildlife related courses at the University of Arizona and extension courses through Utah State University.

In 2005, Curtis was offered the Forest Fire Management Officer position on the Prescott National Forest where he worked extensively on applying fire and fuels related projects within the wildland/urban interface and developing an interagency approach to fire management with the neighboring fire departments and fire districts.

Curtis has been involved in leadership development training for a number of years and received the Paul Gleason Award for his work in wildland fire tactical decision games, staff rides and after action reviews. He also received recognition from the Secretary of Interior for serving as an Incident Commander during the Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts and was named the 2007 Fire Management Officer of the year for Region 3 of the U.S. Forest Service.

Curtis lives in Prescott, Arizona with his wife Jennifer and enjoys competing in triathlons, traveling and history. Curtis has served on Type I IMTS since 2002 and became a member of the Phoenix-based NIMO Team in May 2008.

Mike Baca - Planning Section Chief
Mike is a native of Arizona. He graduated from Round Valley High School, Springerville/Eagar, Arizona in 1973. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with an emphasis in Outdoor Recreation Management along with a minor in Forestry from Northern Arizona University in 1980. He has continued his quest for lifelong learning formally and informally with a current focus on Systems Thinking and Building a Learning Organization.

Mike is a second generation Forest Service employee with over 31 years of service. He has been actively involved in fire throughout his career and is proud that his father was an FMO, oldest son an Engine Captain and youngest son currently a seasonal employee working in fire.

Mike began his career as a GS-2 seasonal. He also had seasonal experience working in high use recreation areas. He was converted as a forester in 1980 and has held positions including District Recreation and Lands Staff, District FMO, Deputy Recreation Staff on an urban forest, District Ranger, Deputy Forest Supervisor and Regional Fire and Aviation Management Assistant Director in Fire Operations with primary responsibility for the Regional Fire Prevention Program. He has served as the Chairperson for the Southwest Chapter of the Society of American Foresters.

Beginning with always being around fire as an aspect of his father’s career in fire, Mike’s first seasonal position was relief Helitack and Engine Crewman along with Fire Prevention Patrolman. Mike has been a member of an IMT since 1988 and has served as a qualified Unit Leader in all of the Plans functions. He has also been a Planning Section Chief at the Type 1 and 2 complexity levels along with being the Planning Section Chief for the first Fire Use Management Team formed in the Southwest.

Mike is married to his high school sweetheart Dr. Kris Baca who is currently an elementary school principal. They have three children and two grand children.

Susan Lee - Finance Section Chief
Susan has a degree in biology from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and a Forest Watershed Management degree from the University of Arizona in Tucson.

She started with the Forest Service in 1974 as a seasonal engine crewmember on the Chevelon RD of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest (A-S) and continued in this and other positions (suppression/marking crew foreman, fire prevention technician) for the next seven summers.

In 1981 Susan became a permanent Forest Service employee as a pre-sale technician. She moved to the Alpine RD of the A-S as a pre-sale forester in 1982. She became proficient as a team leader for NEPA analysis, timber sale administrator, timber sale layout, skyline logging layout, attended Forest Engineering Institute for Skyline Logging and worked on other fire and fuels projects.

In 1991 she moved into the A-S Supervisors Office as the Assistant Forest Timber Staff for timber sale appraisals, sale administration and sale layout. She became the Forest Timber Staff and Timber Sale Contracting Officer and Regional Forester’s Representative for timber sale contracts in 1994 and continued in this position until 2000.

Susan moved into the R-3 Regional Office in 2000 as a Fuels Specialist and National Fire Plan (NFP) Coordinator. During this tenure, she assisted 11 forests, other interagency partners and states with the implementation of the NFP through fuels treatments, and coordination and monitoring of grants. Susan became a national representative with the National Fire Plan Operating Reporting System (NFPORS) database.

She returned to the Apache-Sitgreaves NF in 2006 as the Assistant Forest Fire Management Officer (AFMO) for fuels. Duties included monitoring treatment accomplishments on the forest and coordinating with other agencies, smoke management program administration and budget and project coordination for the White Mountain Stewardship project. The White Mountain Stewardship project mechanically treats 5,000-7,000 acre of WUI each year on the Apache-Sitgreaves.

In 2007, Susan became the Acting Forest Fire Management Officer for the Apache-Sitgreaves, implementing wildland fire use, prescribed fire, overseeing the White Mountain Stewardship project and five districts’ fire programs, including one hotshot crew, one helitack crew and a tanker base on more than 2 million acres of national forest.

Susan started in Finance in 1984 as a member of a Type 2 team with assignments in Cost and Time. She became the Type 2 Finance Section Chief in 1987 and in 1988 she became the Cost Unit Leader on one of the Southwest Type 1 teams. In 2004 she became the Finance Section Chief on Whitney’s Type 1 team. Assignments have included fire and hurricane incidents. On May 25, 2008, Susan became a member of the Phoenix NIMO team.

Susan was married to Brian Lee for 24 years when he passed away in 2005. She currently lives in a small town in northern Arizona with her two chocolate labs. In her spare time she enjoys hiking, fishing, camping, reading, watching Diamondback baseball games and cross-stitching.

Bruce Palmer - Information Officer
Bruce is a native of central Missouri. He received a Bachelor of Science in Forest Management in 1977 and a Master of Science in Forest Management in 1995, both from the University of Missouri.

Prior to being employed with the Forest Service in 2008, Bruce worked for the Missouri Department of Conservation for 31 years. During that time he was a service forester for 12 years, information and education coordinator for 15 years and fire training coordinator for 4 years. His duties with the state of Missouri included public and private forestland management, fire suppression, publication and video production, media relations, training and statewide program administration. He also served on the adjunct faculty of the University of Missouri and Missouri State University.

Bruce is past chair of the Eastern Area Training Working Team and member of the IQS Development Committee. He is active in the Society of American Foresters and was elected a Fellow in 2003. He has served on the national communications committee of the SAF and is currently the newsletter editor for Missouri SAF. In 1999 he was awarded the Celebration Award from the National Arbor Day Foundation for his work with Missouri’s statewide Arbor Day program.

Bruce has instructed a number of NWCG and ICS courses. He has been involved with the planning and operation of the Midwest Wildfire Training Academy for the past five years. He was also instrumental in the training and development of the Missouri State Type 3 IMT.

Bruce lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Pat, a high school business education teacher. They have two daughters, Jessica, 23, and Haley, 19.

Ron Bertsch - Safety Officer
Ron began his government career with the Soil Conservation Service in 1974 after graduating from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Forest Management.

He transferred to the U.S. Forest Service in 1978 on the Edgefield RD, Sumter National Forest in South Carolina. He has held various positions including District Ranger and Deputy Forest Supervisor. He has worked in three regions on six national forests. In 1996 he joined Champion International Corporation as an internal management consultant. He returned to the Forest Service in 2001 as Fire and Timber Staff Officer on the National Forest in North Carolina. His last assignment was Operations Team Leader (Fire & Aviation, Forest Management, State & Private Forestry Programs) for the National Forest & Grasslands in Texas.

Ron has an extensive back ground in wildfire and prescribed burning both as a firefighter and Line Officer. He fought his first wildfire as a summer seasonal employee on the Ocala Ranger District in 1968. He has worked on fires and prescribed burns throughout the U.S. and has work on numerous FEMA incidents. His current incident management qualifications are Safety Officer Type 1, Operations Section Chief Type 2 and Emergency Support Function #4. He has been married for 30 years to Bunny. They have a son and daughter. His hobbies are saltwater fishing from a kayak and woodworking.