Forest Service Mission Statement: “Caring for the Land, Serving People”
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This article is going to be short and to the point. It will show WHAT IS HAPPENING.. AND SHOULD CONTINUE in our federally protected wildlands (national forests, BLM public lands, national parks, etc.) as opposed to the policy and direction coming from agency bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.
The 2011 edition of the Interagency Standards for Fire & Aviation Operations was recently released. Here are some of the policies (standards) that it describes taking the wildland firefighting profession back 30+ years:
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Structure, Vehicle, Dumpster, Trash, and Landfill Fires
Firefighters will not take direct suppression action on structure, vehicle, dumpster, trash, or landfill fires. Structure, vehicle, and landfill fire suppression is not a functional responsibility of wildland fire resources. These fires have the potential to emit high levels of toxic gases. This policy will be reflected in suppression response plans.
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Firefighters who encounter structure, vehicle, or landfill fires during normal wildland fire suppression duties, or who are dispatched to such fires due to significant threat to adjacent agency protected lands/resources, will not engage in direct suppression action. Structure protection (not suppression) activities will be limited to exterior efforts, and only when such actions can be accomplished safely and in accordance with established wildland fire operations standards.
Forest Service firefighters suppressing a bus fire and protecting structural and wildland exposures.
Public Emergency Medical Response
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Public emergency medical response is not a functional responsibility of wildland fire resources, and should not be part of a preplanned response that requires these duties. When wildland firefighters encounter emergency medical response situations, their efforts should be limited to immediate care (e.g. first aid, first responder) actions that they are trained and qualified to perform.
Forest Service firefighters on scene of a multi vehicle/multi fatality vehicle accident with fire. Photo Credit: Roger Murray
Forest Service Units Assist On A Vehicle Accident 500 Feet Over The Side
Question: Should properly trained and equipped federal wildland firefighters be allowed to continue doing what is RIGHT in serving the public, or should a bureaucratic legacy of biologists, botanists, foresters, and hydrologists (etc) continue to set “policy” for wildland firefighting … and continue to increase the risks to OUR communities and the public that we serve?
HELLO…. This IS the 21st Century. We don’t have to continue a model developed in 1905 when folks still thought that the “horse and buggy” was high speed transportation.
National Fire Director Tom Harbour with members of the Forest Service Honor Guard
Please feel free to comment.
Can’t wait to see what the 2012 Interagency Standards for Fire and Aviation Management (Red Book) says? Will they be All Hazard Doctrine based? We’ll see.
See also:
Dusting Off The Shelves and Applying Doctrine: U.S. Forest Service – Foundational Doctrine for All-Hazard Response
Fire Management Today (Volume 71, Number 1) – A New Look at Risk Management
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Makes sense for the most part. (funding, who pays, etc:)
When it’s a matter of life and death; and time is of the essence?
A citizen is required to do what they can; why shouldn’t a fire crew that has qualified people, help until EMS catches up?
These policies have been around for a few years.
Honestly, they’re no different from departments in my area (Connecticut). For the most part “hot zone” members are going to have Firefighter I and current clearance for using SCBA (current physical and annual refresher training).
Wildland crews aren’t trained by the agency to NFPA 1001 Firefighter I levels (nor do their supervisors have the additional training expected for officers). Nor are they equipped with SCBA.
I have no problem with what the standard says. Structural and Vehicle firefighting take training and equipment that most wildland engines and personnel don’t routinely carry. 200 gallons of water and Nomex greens aren’t appropriate for structural firefighting. Safety should be first and foremost. The final decision should be up to the Engine Boss or IC.
I would be disappointed if some bureaucrat at some small outpost interpreted that statement as to “not get involved”. I think there are myriad things wildfirefighters can do on these scenes.
EMS should be kept at the level of training. Standards should be adopted (EMR, EMT, Paramedic, whatever) and made routine. Whether federal wildland units are dispatched to EMS depends on their region. Should a federal crew stop if they see an accident or are told of one ? Absolutely. The decision shouldn’t be made in Washington.
In the article above, all of the firefighters wearing turnouts and SCBA are wildland firefighters with the U.S. Forest Service. They receive training on vehicle fire suppression; yearly spirometry testing; and yearly fit-testing.
It would probably put folks spinning if they knew there were 25 fire engines in the local “backcountry” with EMTs and Medical First Responders fully equipped to “assist” BLS medical care and that each USFS engine had an AED onboard…. but “policy” didn’t allow them to respond or take “direct action” on your emergency.
I’d like to hear from federal wildland firefighters (mainly in the western U.S.) who are properly trained and equipped to suppress vehicle fires and perform EMS; other firefighters (local, state, and federal); beltway bureaucrats and political appointees; as well as hear from the taxpaying public as to what they actually expect when visiting or traveling through OUR national forests.
Woodland firefighters properly trained and equipped should be allowed to respond to fire, ems or hazmat emergencies. I would like to have these “force multipliers” available when traditional fire or ems is too distant. A fire doubles in size each minute, heart damage from a heart attack increases by the minute, the golden hour starts when injury occurs not when first emt arrives. All firefighters are driven by the desire to help, motivated by the knowledge their actions will change the outcome for the better and are excellent problem solvers. To have these forces available in an area where needed and to NOT use them is criminal.
Federal wildland firefighters in Region 5 are expected, not by policy or guideline perse, but by the taxpayer to act. The firefighters in Region 5 are not determined by the color of their apparatus, but by the fact they operate a fire engine and that implies they are emergency responders. In Southern California there are no definitive or clear lines in the publics eye – we are all “firefighters.” To have a blanket policy and mandate nationwide for an agency that operates in the most urbanized forests and interfaces is irresponsible and dangerous. Firefighters do not and will not say “we can’t do that because its against policy” when a structure fire is burning and a small child is trapped. They are expected to and will because….they are firefighters. Policies and guidelines need to be implemented that reflect the “Regions” and not the “nation.” What works in Connecticut and Alaska – doesn’t work in Florida or California. The Forest Service, and rightfully so, has utilized IMT’s nationwide that have not had or do not specialize in structural collapse, flooding, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, spacecraft recovery and the like. They responded because they could meet the Nations need, even though it is not within their direct action policy.
>In the article above, all of the firefighters wearing turnouts and SCBA
> are wildland firefighters with the U.S. Forest Service.
Looking at this photo:
PHOTO
It appears the firefighters in SCBA & Bunkers are municipal firefighters from Redlands, California. Highway 38 runs from Redlands into the San Bernadino National Forest, so the forest crews very well could’ve just stumbled across this fire.
Reply to Dal90: The incident you mention was 1 mile below Mill Creek Ranger Station. The two firefighters pictured in SCBA are from San Bernardino National Forest Engine Co. 34 (zoom into the helmet markers). They are the same two firefighters pictured in the bus fire photo in the article above. The firefighters did not “stumble upon” the incident but were rather dispatched as being the closest unit to the fire. County Engine 9 (2nd due) was not available and was committed to a medical aid call. As you can tell by the attire of the Redlands FD responders, the USFS unit had the fire knocked down before their arrival.
Had the USFS firefighters NOT taken suppression action, the bus fire undoubtedly would have become fully involved and threatened adjacent structures and the wildland.
Message received by e-mail and posted with permission:
I retired as the Division Chief at the (snip) in 2010 working for the National Park Service (NPS). The NPS has clear policy on Structural fires which I believe you are aware of. Just prior to my retirement a motorhome caught fire on Highway (snip) during the non-fire season period of time with minimal threat to the vegetation. The (snip) Type 3 engine was first on scene. The Captain correctly followed NPS policy and took no direct action. They set up traffic control and waited for the first local engine to arrive. In the meantime they were visible on the highway and were asked by passing motorists why they were not fighting the vehicle fire. In addition, when the other agency engines and personnel started arriving on scene they also questioned why no suppression action was taken. This incident had some ripple effects within the local firefighting community as you might imagine. During local agency meetings well beforehand I advised the “Chiefs” groups that NPS policy didn’t allow for suppression action on structure and vehicle fires unless fire fighting equipment and personnel met NPS policies which our wildland engine did not. That direction was also included in our local operating plan. What I didn’t do is ensure that the word got out to the other agencies initial attack responders or to the public. It’s highly probable that your intial attack responders will eventually be put in the same scenario.Dal90,
I am municipal fire Battalion Chief (former wildland firefighter) and Federal IMT member that requests, responds with and relies upon the BDF to support, augment and multiply my effective fire suppression force. Those firefighters pictured in the above referenced post are most certainly your federal wildland firefighters from the San Bernardino National Forest. Just because you happen to Google Map Hwy38 and project the jurisdictional boundaries and assume that those pictured are from the City of Redlands or San Bernardino County Fire Department, Mentone Station – you quite simply are wrong.
In Southern California, and let me be crystal, the public sees no distinction in the color of fire apparatus; all they see are firefighters. With our elaborate mutual aid system, local agreements, closest resource concept response (aka: dropped borders) and force reductions due to economics we rely now more than ever upon our federal, state and local cooperators.
Though wildland fire suppression is the primary (loosely used) mission, our reliance upon the federal fire agencies to be first responders on medical-aids, structural fires, traffic collisions, haz mat and the like due to them being the closest resource is an understatement.
I suppose the idea is not foreign to you that FDNY responds and suppresses wildfires – though their image of being premier high-rise firefighters would dictate otherwise.
The comments from RamblingChief and Municipal BC are correct. I was on the BDF engine on this response. We work and train very well and very often with our cooperators to improve our response capabilities along all aspects of emergency services. The local county engine (with jurisdiction in this area) was committed to a medical aid at the time. The BDF engine was requested to assist. As timing has it we were first on scene with an engine and a water tender. Our crew was equipped with proper training and PPE for a vehicle fire. All occupants were out of the bus when we arrived. The engine compartment was fully engulfed with flames showing 10-20 feet up both sides of the bus. The flames were extinguished within a few minutes of arrival. All the occupants and all their belongings were saved with the exception of 1 back pack. Without our response, the delay by local departments would have cost the total loss of the vehicle and all the personal contents of the passengers, not to mention the possible exposure to the adjacent trees and possibly the homes nearby. Not one person asked “why did the Forest Service come?” They don’t care. A fire truck showed up and did it’s job. That’s all that matters.
FS504 – Suburban Emergency Response
Hours: 32
Course Description:
The course is designed to provide the candidate with a baseline training level to assist their performance on the home unit. By touching on a variety of all-risk emergency incidents, the candidate will be able to recognize hazardous situations that may arise in the Wildland interface and act responsibly under current regulations and policies, utilizing current fire suppression tactics and protective equipment.
– Given an all risk emergency response, identify concerns in regards to size up and policy.
– Apply the ICS in a non-wildland fire emergency response.
– Given an all risk emergency response scenario and equipment, determine and apply appropriate tactics.
– Identify and list concerns encountered on all risk incidents.
– Given equipment carried on most wildland fire engines, determine alternate methods of access to vehicles and structures.
Prerequisites:
Adv. Firefighter/Squad Boss (FFT1)
Part of the curriculum requires students to participate in live fire exercises using S.C.B.A. in order to pass the course. Students will be required to meet OSHA requirements concerning facial hair and S.C.B.A. (CFR 1910.134(g)(l)(i). No facial hair growth of 24 hrs. or more that would come in contact with the seal of positive pressure S.C.B.A.
Offer Level:
Geographic Area
So… I’m sitting here listening to a Mass Casualty Incident on the San Bernardino… a bus hit a San Bernardino County BC’s vehicle, then went over the side, taking out a power pole at Highway 189 & Lake Gregory Drive near Twin Peaks. 27 patients, 10-15 teenagers needing extrication from the bus, lots of power lines down. CHP, SBSO copters winching out patients & transporting (OK, SBSO helo winching, CHP just transporting). Lots of mutual aid, including flatlander paramedic engines from down the hill. But I guess there’s no play for BDF firefighters here… makes more sense to wait for engines to drive up the hill in snow than to have a green fire engine show up.
As a former county fire manager, I was *always* happy to see the USFS show up on an incident of mine – vehicle, structure, medical, wildland, didn’t much matter to me, always glad for the professional and experienced help.
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