Owner of a wildland fire consulting and training business, Fire Whirl Services, Inc., Bill started the business after retiring from the US Bureau of Land Management. Currently Bill provides instruction for wildland fire in organizational development of the Incident Command System, wildland fire in the urban interface, and wildland fire behavior.

Bill’s volunteer activities include working with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Management as the coordinator and training manager of the Jefferson County Incident Management Team. He also works with the Colorado Division of Fire Safety on a State sponsored committee to help organize and train personnel to respond to disasters in Colorado.

Bill spent 35 years with the federal government. His last position was Chief of Fire Management for the BLM in Colorado. Bill spent 10 years in that position which included being a member of the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination group who direct and prioritize all wildland fire activities in a 5 state region (CO, WY, SD, KS, NB). Bill’s position also coordinated activities with the National Office of Fire and Aviation in Boise, Idaho. Bill received the Secretary of Interior’s Award for Meritorious Service for his efforts to bring better coordination between multiple agencies who work in wildland fire.

Prior to his position with the BLM, he worked 21 years with the US Forest Service in various positions including Regional Fire Ecologist, Fire Management Officer, and Range and Wildlife Management Specialist. He worked 4 years with the US Soil Conservation Service (now Natural Resources Conservation Service) as a farm and ranch planner.

In the incident command system, Bill is qualified as a Type 2 Plans Chief, Type 3 Incident Commander, Fire Behavior Analyst, Fire Use Manager, and a MAC coordinator.

Graduated 1974, with a BS in Wildlife Management from New Mexico State University.