Fire today ManagementVolume 73 • No. 1 • 2013 THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Fire Management Today is published by the Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC. The Secretary of Agriculture has determined that the publication of this periodical is necessary in the transaction of the public business required by law of this Department. Fire Management Today is for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, at: Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: 202-512-1800 Fax: 202-512-2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-0001 Fire Management Today is available on the World Wide Web at <http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/fmt/index.html>. Tom Vilsack, Secretary Melissa Frey U.S. Department of Agriculture General Manager Thomas L. Tidwell, Chief Mary A. Carr, EMC Publishing Arts Forest Service Editor Tom Harbour, Director Fire and Aviation Management The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audio­ tape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimi­ nation, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). 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Fire Management Today 2 Fire Management today Volume 73 • No. 1 • 2013 On the Cover: CONTENTS Anchor Point: Risk Management–A Better Future . 4 Tom Harbour Applied Risk Management: Southwest Idaho Area Command Team (ACT) . 6 Jeff Whitney The Emerging Wildfire Air Quality Response Effort . 13 Peter Lahm and Mark Fitch Aerial view of firefighters en-route to base camp in Forest Service vehicles on the Gladiator Fire, Developing Standardized Strategic Response Categories Prescott National Forest, Arizona, May 24, 2012. for Fire Management Units . 18 Photo by Kari Greer Matthew P. Thompson, Crystal S. Stonesifer, Robert C. Seli, and Marlene Hovorka Intentional Retention: Roadmapping Your Fire Career . 25 . Ken Frederick Prevention and Education Teams—A Valuable Resource . 29 Jim Funk Firefighter Property Program Deemed a Success in Texas . 33 April Saginor The USDA Forest Service’s Fire and Aviation Management Staff has adopted a logo reflecting three central principles of wildland Fire Shirts for Safety, Not Fashion: Proper Use of PPE fire management: To Prevent Thermal Heat Burn Injuries . 36 • Innovation: We will respect and value thinking minds, voices, and thoughts of Fred J. Schoeffler those that challenge the status quo while focusing on the greater good. 2013 Smokey Bear Award Winners . 41 • Execution: We will do what we say we will do. Achieving program objectives, Gwen Beavans improving diversity, and accomplishing targets are essential to our credibility. • Discipline: What we do, we will do well. Fiscal, managerial, and operational discipline are at the core of our ability to SHORT FEATURES fulfill our mission. Success Stories Wanted . 17 Contributors Wanted . 40 Photo Contest Announcement . 47 Firefighter and public safety is our first priority. Volume 73 • No. 1 • 2013 3 by Tom Harbour Anchor Director, Fire and Aviation Management Point Forest Service RISK MANAGEMENT—a BETTER FuTuRe or anyone who has spent any Suppression, Aviation and Fuels This is not to say that the Doctrine amount of time working in the Foundational Doctrine (known as changed all things at once. The Fworld of wildland fire manage­ “Doctrine”)<http://www.fs.fed.us/ Doctrine is still evolving, and there ment, it is not news that wildland fire/doctrine/index.html>. is still room for improvement. fire management is a risky busi­ But the Doctrine has caused us to ness—that risk is inherent in our Out of the Doctrine came the agen­ examine systems that aren’t work­ work. cy’s philosophical shift to manage­ ing well, seek solutions to make ment for risk and hazard mitiga­ them work better, and design and In July 1994, 14 elite firefighters tion, promotion of culture change, implement new processes and pro­ died on the South Canyon Fire, and empowerment of decisionmak­ cedures that bring real change to and the interagency wildland fire ing. The Doctrine raised the bar fire management safety—both on community suffered its worst for front-line wildland firefighters, the ground and in the air. fatality loss on a single incident enabling them to make more effec­ in decades. At the end of the 1994 tive tactical decisions and strategic The Doctrine was not dictated from fire season, 34 wildland firefighters judgments and to increase their the top down. Its roots are deeply had perished—prompting numer­ focus on heightening situational embedded in knowledgeable and ous reviews of multiple agency awareness. experienced field practitioners who fire management programs and took their passion for safety to the ultimately the development of the During the Doctrine process, we field and who ultimately rebuilt first cohesive Federal wildland fire adopted the principles of high-reli­ trust with participation from management policy. This succinct ability organization, safety systems the ground level. The Doctrine policy has a strict emphasis on management, and development of prompted tremendous individual firefighter safety as its foundational a learning culture. The Doctrine leadership efforts and unique think­ pillar. helped restore trust, promoted ing from outside the box, engaging diversity, and even now sets the experienced people who made deci­ Of the numerous studies and tone for the wildland fire manage­ sions and acted to make changes. reports resulting from that tragic ment organization of the future. Out of the Doctrine came a new season, Tri-data’s Wildland Fire focus on risk management, human Safety Awareness Study <http:// The Doctrine made the break from performance, and employee and www.nifc.gov/safety/safety_phases_ traditional wildfire suppression and workforce development. study.html> and the Interagency large wildfire management pro­ Management Review Team Report duction goals by placing unques­ In the two decades since 1994, on the South Canyon Fire (IMRT) tionable emphasis on firefighter there has been a noticeable cul­ now serve as the benchmark stud­ safety—through implementation tural shift within the interagency ies that sparked the most pertinent of changes that no longer infer wildland fire community. No and imperative changes needed in “business as usual” and through longer is safety practiced by slo­ wildland firefighting philosophy. refusal to continue to make the gans, banners, and posters. Risk They also helped manifest a new same mistakes that history reveals management has become a core wildland fire management doc­ as recurrent and inherently insur­ pillar—a new cultural thinking. trine for the Forest Service, the mountable. Risk management is inclusive. Risk Fire Management Today 4 management is diverse. Risk man- new benchmark in evolution of possesses inherent hazards that agement is the steel core of our wildland fire culture, policy, and can—even with reasonable miti­ safety blanket and the voice of our safety. Transparency, education, and gation—result in harm to fire­ wildland firefighters. Risk manage- decisive action are inseparable from fighters engaged in fire suppres­ ment is the one tangible program the core values of duty, respect, and sion operations. In recognition that provides assurances that safety integrity. Even without a mandate, of this fact, we are committed to is unified both organizationally and risk management has evolved into the aggressive management of individually; it is our collective pro- something recognizable, tangible, risk.” fessional commitment. and sensible, with measurable • The definition of success—“to results. safely achieve reasonable objec­ The Doctrine empowers; risk tives with the least amount of management encourages. New Our future is framed around two firefighter exposure necessary, principles, revised core values, and basic fundamental ideas of the while enhancing stakeholder a focus on what can be changed Doctrine: support for our management.” are all critical elements of the risk management philosophy. • “No resource or facility is worth Given those markers, we strive for the loss of human life; however, a new operational reality. Instead More than 100 years of fire expe- the wildland fire suppression of using overwhelming mass every­ riences have brought us to this environment is complex and where, every time, all the time, we apply wildfire response assets sufficient to accomplish agency On June 30, 2013, the interagency wildland fire community suffered