Fairfax, VA – Congress and the federal government can significantly reduce the damaging impacts of wildfire by improving the preparedness of rural fire fighters working on the front lines to defend at-risk communities and resources, according to a report delivered to Congress on November 17.
The report, titled The Changing Role and Needs of Local, Rural, and Volunteer Fire Departments in the Wildland-Urban Interface: An Assessment and Report to Congress, highlights the importance of community-based first responders in quickly and effectively containing wildland fire starts before they become damaging, catastrophic wildfires like those that recently burned in California.
“City, county and local fire districts sent their fire fighters to southern California without hesitation,” said Chief Ernest Mitchell, president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. “Over 700 fire engines and 2,000 local government forces joined with the California Department of Forestry to fight the many fire fronts that occurred following October 23rd.”
“百分之八十九的消防部门在小communities are faced with wildland fire protection within their jurisdiction,” said James Shannon, president of the National Fire Protection Association. A 2002 Needs Assessment of the Nation’s Fire Service, conducted by NFPA and the U.S. Fire Administration, reveals that nearly half of these departments lack formal training in wildland fire fighting techniques.
The rapid expansion of human development into previously wildland areas has significantly increased the demands and risks faced by these largely volunteer forces. “Local fire departments provide the backbone of wildland fire protection,” said Tom Kuntz, fire chief for Red Lodge, Montana and a member of the report’s drafting team. “They have the knowledge of local landscapes and fire conditions, which is essential to an effective initial fire response.”
“wildlan灭火d-urban interface requires a unique combination of skills and a tremendous amount of interagency coordination to be effective,” added Colorado State Forester Jim Hubbard. “We have a responsibility to prepare our first responders to meet that awesome challenge safely.”
In their letter to Congress, the organizations that drafted the report called on lawmakers to address key recommendations that focus on initial fire response, fire fighter training, comprehensive community fire planning, better integration of local forces into large-scale suppression efforts and interagency communications.
“A public investment in fire fighting preparedness and increased interagency coordination at the local level will ultimately strengthen all wildland fire fighting and emergency response efforts,” said Karen Miller, president of the National Association of Counties and Commissioner for Boone County, Missouri. “Getting this kind of maximum benefit from our tax dollars is particularly important to local government.”
Organizations participating in the report include the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), the National Association of Counties (NACo), the National Association of State Foresters (NASF) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Federal government participants were the USDA Forest Service (USFS), the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Fire Administration.
The sponsoring organizations undertook this report in partial fulfillment of the Ten Year Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the Environment, which was developed by local, state, federal, private and non-profit stakeholders and approved in 2001 by the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior, the Western Governors’ Association and other state, county and tribal leaders.
Copies of the full report are available atwww.iafc.org.
