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The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) urges fire
departments to take a leadership role in ensuring their communities are
educated and prepared for the threat of wildland fire. The current
situation in southern California and continuing drought conditions in
many parts of the U.S. serve as reminders for the fire and emergency
services to stop and evaluate wildland fire planning in their community.
“We are closely monitoring the progress of events in southern
California, and we stand ready to support the affected communities and
their responders in any way we can,” said Chief Steven P. Westermann,
IAFC president. “While the focus is on California now, the issue of fire
in the wildland urban interface (WUI) is one that impacts an increasing
number of communities from coast to coast. We urge the fire and
emergency service community to make sure they are prepared to address
this growing issue.”
The IAFC urges its members to review the tools and resources
available from the IAFC website (www.iafc.org/wildland) and to take
action in three areas:
- Review and update as needed your Community Wildfire Protection
Plan (CWPP) and tactical and operational procedures pertinent to
responding to a wildland fire situation in your community and
surrounding communities. Take both an internal and interagency
approach to the review; make sure changing environmental factors are
not overlooked, various public safety and local officials understand
each other’s roles and firefighters understand critical safety
issues. A review should also include recovery planning.
- Take a leadership role in educating local officials and citizens
to understand the threat of wildland fire and what can be done by
all members of the community to prepare for such an event. It is
critical not only to educate the public in how to mitigate fire
risks, but also to manage the public’s expectations during a
response. By working with your community, you can develop sustaining
partners in the prevention of and response to WUI fires. Tools such
as those provided by the Firewise program (www.firewise.org) and the
CWPP process give a basis for developing such a partnership.
- Take a leadership role in educating and training your
department. Despite the rapid growth of wildland urban interface
fires across the U.S., many departments have not yet developed
standard training for a wildland fire situation. If you have not
done so already, explore ways to educate your personnel on the
differences in fighting fires in the WUI. Many western and some
southeastern states offer good models. IAFC is working
collaboratively with federal and state wildland-fire agencies to
develop a training crosswalk that will evaluate the capabilities and
gaps between structural and wildland firefighter training.
“Local officials may turn to you for information because of the news
coverage from Southern California,” said Westermann. “Take the time now
to move beyond the immediate questions and broaden the discussion about
what your community can be doing to better prepare to mitigate and
respond to the WUI fire risk.”
Contact: Ann Davison, Acting IAFC Communications Director
571-221-5268 • • www.iafc.org
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