Spirit Lake’s Incident Command Team is a model for tribal emergency response

Joseph Jetty, chief of the Spirit Lake Fire Department, said the tribe saw the need for structured responses to incidents on the reservation following the disappearance of two Spirit Lake citizens, Jemini Posey and Isaac Hunt, in early 2024. Vicki Alberts, Spirit Lake’s public information officer, told Buffalo’s Fire, “Our chairwoman has made it her mission to make sure that never happens again within our reservation.”

Five other tribal citizens went missing after the team formed. The team located all five alive.

The team started with just five tribal employees who began connecting with different programs and experts to better the tribe’s response to missing people and other emergencies. That team quickly “snowballed” into what it is today, said Jetty, who is certified in search and rescue. Now, the Incident Command Team consists of more than 40 experts across tribal, state and federal jurisdictions, he said.

Alberts said the team first wanted to understand community concerns. A survey distributed to tribal citizens found that people wanted to receive emergency alerts, so in coordination with Lake Region 911 and Dispatch, the team now sends out alerts with information about emergencies like missing persons, fires and car accidents.

Four of the five missing people reported since last spring were teen runaways, but it’s important they aren’t classified as such, Jetty said: “They are not old enough to make their own decisions. Every child is a missing person.”

Teen runaways often fall through gaps in alert systems, as they do not qualify for an Amber Alert or a Feather Alert. So the team created an MMIP subgroup within their alert system to allow for rapid responses in such cases.

“It truly is a crisis, and we are providing a response to that,” Jetty said. “Granted we are one small cross section of Indian Country, but I hope we can take this model to other tribes and teach people how to do this.”

The emergency alerts are sent to individuals within the designated area by email and cell phone. Alberts said there were instances in the past where a person from the reservation was reported missing and agencies like the U.S. Attorney’s Office in North Dakota and the FBI weren’t aware of the case until days or even weeks later.

“Nobody is coming to save us but us,” Alberts said. “Tribes really need to embrace that as part of who they are.”

In emergency situations, tribes don’t have time to wait for state or federal resources to come, Jetty said. That’s why they created their own team of resources.

“I’m proud of what we do here and what we got going here,” said Darren Walking Eagle, the tribe’s vice chairman. “Hopefully it will be a first for Indian Country for people to see how we come together with this Incident Command Team on our reservation.”

According to an incident response timeline created by the tribe, on May 13, Spirit Lake Water Treatment Plant conducted a water sample and found elevated manganese levels in the water. Elevated levels of the mineral manganese in water may be associated with neurological issues in infants and children. On May 27, the Spirit Lake Tribal Council held an emergency meeting.

The next day, the Incident Command Team met to assign key roles, develop a plan and issue a public notice. The work of the team led to the distribution of clean drinking water, with help from Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, and the installation of a treatment filtration system, which flushed millions of gallons of contaminated water for treatment, according to the timeline.

By July 9, the team lifted the water consumption ban. Since the formation of the team, Jetty said he’s seen improvements in multijurisdictional communication, the number and timeliness of alerts sent out and an increase in updates to alerts.

The water crisis is one example of how the team uses its resources to ensure the public stays informed as a response plan is carried out.

Alberts said tribes are often expected to wait after reaching out for federal resources. While the team calls for faster assistance and improved communication with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Jetty said he wants other tribes to know they don’t have to wait; they can form their own structured response.