Sonia Torres

Sonia Torres serves as the primary procurement lead for the USDA Forest Service’s Incident Procurement unit, where she ensures rapid acquisition of mission-critical resources to support wildland fire response and all-hazard incident management. She manages time-sensitive contracts for logistical, operational, and infrastructure services essential to field operations, including mobile command units, temporary housing, water systems, and heavy equipment. Her role is pivotal in enabling incident management teams to deploy swiftly across national forests and grasslands, aligning procurement actions with emergency response timelines and federal acquisition regulations. Torres specializes in urgent, mission-essential acquisitions that require streamlined processes under FAR Part 18 and emergency contracting authorities. While specific contractor names are not publicly available, Torres maintains a dynamic network of vendors capable of mobilizing under tight deadlines, including specialized equipment lessors, logistics providers, and service contractors with proven incident response experience. Her working relationships emphasize agility, reliability, and pre-qualified vendor readiness, often leveraging GSA schedules, blanket purchase agreements, and emergency procurement authorities to bypass traditional acquisition cycles. She prioritizes vendors with demonstrated capacity to operate in remote, high-risk environments and maintain compliance with federal safety and environmental standards. Torres consistently prioritizes small business participation, with 58.8% of her acquisitions set aside for small businesses under FAR 19.5. Her contracting patterns reflect a strong commitment to socioeconomic programs, frequently awarding to small disadvantaged businesses, HUBZone firms, and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. This focus ensures diverse economic opportunity while maintaining the quality and responsiveness required for incident support. Her procurement focus centers on NAICS 336112 (Motor Vehicle Body Manufacturing, primarily for mobile command and support vehicles) and 561720 (Janitorial Services), with additional emphasis on solid waste collection, pest control, and consumer goods rental. These categories reflect the operational needs of temporary incident bases, including sanitation, living quarters, and equipment maintenance. Torres brings deep expertise in procuring specialized, non-standard services critical to sustaining personnel and infrastructure during extended field operations.