Fire today ManagementVolume 71 • No. 4 • 2011 FIREFIGHTER DEVELOPMENT 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 Monique Nelson, EMC Publishing Arts Forest Service Managing Editor Tom Harbour, Director Mark Riffe, METI Inc., EMC Publishing Arts Fire and Aviation Management Editor 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). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. November 2011 Trade Names (FMT) The use of trade, firm, or corporation names in this publication is for the information and convenience of the reader. Such use does not constitute an official endorsement of any product or service by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Individual authors are responsible for the technical accuracy of the material presented in Fire Management Today. Fire Management Today 2 Fire Management today Volume 71 • No. 4 • 2011 On the Cover: CONTENTS Anchor Point: Aligning Fire Dynamics and Land Management— What Does It Mean and Why Is It Important? ............ 4 Tom Harbour Leading in the Wildland Fire Service: The First 10 Years ....... 6 Jim Cook and Larry Sutton The Fire Crews at Schenck Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center ............................. 10 Carly Allen The Southwest Conservation Corps, Veterans Fire Corps Helps Vets Transition Into the Civilian Veteran’s Fire Corps program leverages the military leadership Workforce .................................... 14 experience of veterans returning Amy Foss from Iraq and Afghanistan to meet pressing conservation needs on Visualizing Post-Fire Landscapes: Notes From the Field ....... 18 public lands. Peter Goin and Megan Berner The Exposure Index: Developing Firefighter Safety Performance Measures ........................... 24 Dave Calkin, John Phipps, Tom Holmes, Jon Rieck, and Matt Thompson Fatigue Management During Emergency Operations ......... 28 Peter H. Lawrence Long-Term Interagency Fire Safe Council Commitment to Fire-Adapted Communities: Lessons From the Bull Fire ..... 34 The USDA Forest Service’s Fire and Aviation J. Keith Gilless, Rachel C. Smith, and Derrick Davis Management Staff has adopted a logo reflecting three central principles of wildland fire management: • Innovation: We will respect and value SHORT FEATURES thinking minds, voices, and thoughts of those that challenge the status quo while Evolution in Position Qualifications ....................... 5 focusing on the greater good. • Execution: We will do what we say we Contributors Wanted ............................... 33 will do. Achieving program objectives, improving diversity, and accomplishing Wyoming State Forestry Division Supports targets are essential to our credibility. Wildland Firefighters ............................. 38 • Discipline: What we do, we will do well. Cathy Lujan Fiscal, managerial, and operational discipline are at the core of our ability to fulfill our mission. Success Stories Wanted ............................ 39 Beyond Fire Behavior and Fuels: Learning from the Past To Help Guide Us in the Future ...................... 40 Martin E. Alexander Guidelines for Contributors ........................... 42 Firefighter and public safety Photo Contest Announcement ........................ 43 is our first priority. Volume 71 • No. 4 • 2011 3 by Tom Harbour Anchor Director, Fire and Aviation Management Point Forest Service, Washington, DC ALIGNING FIRE DYNAMICS AND LAND MANAGEMENT— WHAT DOES IT MEAN AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? early a year ago, I outlined the key themes to the future Fire managers and resource managers have never Nsuccess of Fire and Aviation been positioned as well as we are today to develop a Management—building the National Cohesive Wildland Fire common understanding of the role of fire in shaping Management Strategy, continu- the patterns of vegetation on the landscape. ing implementation of doctrine and risk management, develop- ing a professional organization, dynamics and land management, ing the patterns of vegetation on the maintaining our role as world lead- and why this alignment is so vital landscape. ers in wildland fire management, to our stewardship of the National continuing with our leadership Forest System. Why Is It Important? in the Quadrennial Fire Reviews, Both land managers and fire and better aligning fire dynamics What Does It All with land management. In the past managers must deliberately plan three issues of Fire Management Mean? for realistic outcomes that are Today (FMT), I’ve covered three If we align our resource manage- based upon the potential of the of the six—the National Cohesive ment objectives with the natural landscape to achieve our resource Wildland Fire Management fire dynamics of the land, we will objectives. If we align our land Strategy and how it will ultimately create a foundation that allows us to management strategies with the help us to come together, regard- respond effectively and efficiently to dynamics of the fire regime, we less of agencies or jurisdictions, to wildfire. Our current efforts to revise stand a better chance of success in solve America’s wildfire problems our land management plans and the managing landscapes to meet the across all lands (FMT winter 2011); development of the cohesive strategy needs and priorities of the Nation. the importance of fire doctrine and provide us with the opportunity to Understanding our landscapes and risk management to safe and effec- do just that. Three decades of eco- the role of fire in shaping them is tive wildfire management, and the logical research provides us with vital; if we choose to ignore them, importance of applying those two the analytical tools and knowledge we will continue to experience the factors in everything we do, every that was unavailable at the inception catastrophic fires we’ve seen over time we do it (FMT spring 2011); of our land management planning the past decades. and, in the last edition, about what efforts in the 1980s. Fire managers it means to professionalize wildland and resource managers have never As fire professionals, it is our duty fire management (FMT summer been positioned as well as we are not only to engage in emergency 2011). This issue, I’d like to dis- today to develop a common under- management activities with the fire cuss the alignment of natural fire standing of the role of fire in shap- services but also to engage land management planners and com- munity leaders in a science-based Our profession requires us to be not only ecological dialogue. Our profession requires us not only to be excep- exceptional emergency responders, but excellent tional emergency responders, but natural resource managers as well. excellent natural resource manag- ers as well. Fire Management Today 4 Evolution in Position Qualifications Progressive workforce develop- use the 0462 Forestry Technician ment is a cornerstone of Forest series for certain positions within Service, Fire and Aviation certain grade levels. For positions Management (FAM). In March that require leadership in both 2011, representatives from the natural resource management and National Federation of Federal emergency management, the agen- Employees–Forest Service cy will use the 0301 Administrative/ and 2003/2005 Cache Manager. Council (NFFE-FSC), Forest Managerial occupational series. Significant work must be com- Service Human Resource Use of the 0401 Natural Resource pleted before recommendations Management, and FAM drafted a Specialist series for other positions are made to OPM, and target new occupational series plan. This will continue. This series is appro- dates for the recommendation plan charts the course forward to priate for positions that require have not yet been established. meet current Office of Personnel specific formal education and tech- Management (OPM) regulations nical knowledge of land manage- Professionalism remains a core and ensure that fire management ment science and principles. value of FAM. Just as entry-level skills, experience, and education positions (such as engine, heli- remain integral parts of