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National Interagency Fire Center
One Mission
One Place
National Interagency Fire Center
History
1965: Joint BLM-FS Coordination Center established near Julia Davis Park
1968: Construction of Boise Interagency Fire Center at airport with Weather Service
1970s: BIFC becomes interagency
1993: Name changed officially to NIFC
National Interagency Fire Center
Today: Many Partners
Bureau of Land Management
National Park Service
Bureau of Indian Affairs
U.S. Fire Administration
USDA Forest Service
National Weather Service
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
National Association of State Foresters
National Interagency Fire Center
• National Interagency Coordination Center
• National Incident Radio Support Cache
• Remote Automatic Weather Stations unit
• Predictive Services
• National Fire and Aviation Training and Support Group
• Fire Equipment Development Unit (BLM)
• Great Basin Cache (largest of 11 federal caches)
• Boise BLM smokejumpers
• National Fuels Management and Community Assistance
Many Components
National Interagency Fire Center
• Nation’s support center for wildland firefighting
• Coordinates response to wildland fire and support to other disasters here and around the world.
One Mission
National Interagency Fire Center
Many Challenges• Coordinating wildland fire and all risk response
and communications nationally among all agencies is critical.
National Interagency Fire Center
Outside The Fence
• International agreements; resource sharing
(Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand)
• Ongoing relationship with Russia
• Host international delegations
National Interagency Fire Center
Beyond Fire• Incident Command System
– Effective, efficient method of organizing the management of an emergency response
• All-Risk Response
National Interagency Fire Center
Columbia ShuttleRecovery Efforts
Incident ManagementTeams and Crews worked with NASA for several months
National Interagency Fire Center
Tsunami Relief Efforts
NIFC mobilized personnel to assist with relief efforts in a variety of capacities
National Interagency Fire Center
Hurricane response and relief efforts
NIFC mobilizes personnel and crews to assist with logistics anddistribution of supplies
National Interagency Fire Center
2005 Hurricane SeasonKatrina, Rita, Wilma
- 12,850 fire personnel- 17 Base Camps- Distribution Centers- Evacuation Centers
Providing logistics and support for the relief effort
National Interagency Fire Center
Fire crews cleared 400 miles of roads in 2-week period
Received and distributed • 10 million gallons of water• 80 million pounds of ice• 11 million ready-to-eat meals• Served 36,000 meals a day
Countless examples of tireless, organized Interagency operations
National Interagency Fire Center
ICS training for earthquake disaster response in India.
Specialists from NIFCHave presented numerous training sessions in India over the past 2 years.
National Interagency Fire Center
Other Mobilizations:
9/11 Terrorist Attack –
• NIFC mobilized teams to respond to relief and recovery operations.
Newcastle Disease –
• NIFC mobilized crews to conduct chicken eradication projects to stem the spread of disease.
Africa Fire Planning
• Currently have specialists assisting Kenya Forest Department and Kenya Wildlife Service develop fire management planning program.
National Interagency Fire Center
The 2006 Fire Season
• 83,240 fires; 9.1 million acres (9/25/06) (10-year average is 62,898 fires burning 5 million acres)
• Characterized by -Abnormal early season in TX and OK-Drought in SW; wet spring elsewhere-Unusually high temperatures; dry conditions-Repeated cycles of lightning storms
• Approximately 16,000 fire personnel engaged for most of the summer (many for 12 months)
National Interagency Fire CenterOne Place
Many Partners
Many Components
Many Challenges
One Mission
National Interagency Fire Center
Radio Equipment Usage 2006 Fire Season
• To date, 204 Starter Systems were issued• Approximately 48,000 VHF and UHF handheld
radios were issued– These means that the 8,000 handhelds in
the radio cache were issued approximately 6 times each this season
National Interagency Fire Center
Frequency Management
• The National Interagency Incident Communication Division (NIICD) has 28 permanent VHF FM Frequencies assigned
(7 tactical, 7 air, 7 repeater pairs (14 frequencies)– These NIICD frequencies are not cleared
nationally, so they are not available to support all incidents
National Interagency Fire Center
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
VHF FM VHF AM
2005
2006
•Approximate number of discrete frequencies assigned that were “borrowed” from other agencies as temporary assignments•Whenever possible, the frequencies were assigned on multiple incidents that were geographically separated to save frequency resources
National Interagency Fire Center
What Kind of Radios Are Needed?
•Narrowband equipment and frequencies have not been mandated yet for State and private organizations
•Narrowband VHF FM handheld radios are needed to eliminate potential communications breakdowns
• Many State fire crews working on large fires this season
did not have Narrowband capable radios. •NIICD radios were assigned to these crews by the Communications Unit Leaders whenever possible to ensure they had positive communications
National Interagency Fire Center
Interoperability IssuesWith State and Private Cooperators• With the wideband / narrowband interoperability
issues, could a “Fire Guard” frequency be established?– Would work best if an FCC Frequency could be
cleared nationally or geographically – Used as an initial contact frequency for State /
Private to contact Federal responders when there is not a pre-season coordination plan in place
– Federal firefighters would monitor it as they do the Air Guard frequency
– After initial contact, a Wideband operational frequency would be agreed upon and programmed into the federal responders radios
• With the wideband / narrowband interoperability issues, could a “Fire Guard” frequency be established?– Would work best if an FCC Frequency could be
cleared nationally or geographically – Used as an initial contact frequency for State /
Private to contact Federal responders when there is not a pre-season coordination plan in place
– Federal firefighters would monitor it as they do the Air Guard frequency
– After initial contact, a Wideband operational frequency would be agreed upon and programmed into the federal responders radios
National Interagency Fire Center
Pre-Season Agreements and Training
• A very important step in our ability to jointly respond to incidents
• Narrowband Basics training, recommended for all wildland firefighters
• Radio web site for updated information:– http://radios.nifc.gov/
• Pre-season agreement example handout
National Interagency Fire Center
BLM Radio ProgramBLM Radio Program
Law EnforcementLaw EnforcementFire OperationsFire Operations
SafetySafety
BLM Radio ProgramBLM Radio Program
Law EnforcementLaw EnforcementFire OperationsFire Operations
SafetySafety
National Interagency Fire Center
Radio Infrastructure Stakeholders
Law Enforcement
Fire
Resources
Realty
Property
Safety
Engineering
Telecommunication (IT)
Procurement
Frequency Management
National Interagency Fire Center
A comprehensive radiomanagement program is necessary to ensure safe
and effective radiocommunications.
A comprehensive radiomanagement program is necessary to ensure safe
and effective radiocommunications.
National Interagency Fire Center
BLM Radio Program Issues and Needs
Leadership• Identify program leader with clearly defined responsibilities• Identify chains of command and Table of Organization• Identify clear authorities and expectations
(must have ability to hold States and Centers accountable for funding and meeting stated goals and timeframes)
Leadership• Identify program leader with clearly defined responsibilities• Identify chains of command and Table of Organization• Identify clear authorities and expectations
(must have ability to hold States and Centers accountable for funding and meeting stated goals and timeframes)
Funding• Needs a centrally funded line item for:
• radio replacement• infrastructure replacement• infrastructure expansion• recurring inspections, maintenance, positions
Funding• Needs a centrally funded line item for:
• radio replacement• infrastructure replacement• infrastructure expansion• recurring inspections, maintenance, positions
National Interagency Fire Center
Procurement/Replacement Cycles• Need a centrally managed procurement/replacement process
Designation of single mobile/handheld radios•Designate one make and model each•Multiple models complicate operations, training, procurement•Set a deadline for making a decision, e.g. 6 months•EF Johnson is currently only mobile meeting BLM LE needs•Racal, Motorola, and EF Johnson are currently only handhelds
that meet LE needs
Training•Need nationally managed annual training, with consistent
standards, for users and technicians
Procurement/Replacement Cycles• Need a centrally managed procurement/replacement process
Designation of single mobile/handheld radios•Designate one make and model each•Multiple models complicate operations, training, procurement•Set a deadline for making a decision, e.g. 6 months•EF Johnson is currently only mobile meeting BLM LE needs•Racal, Motorola, and EF Johnson are currently only handhelds
that meet LE needs
Training•Need nationally managed annual training, with consistent
standards, for users and technicians
National Interagency Fire Center
Infrastructure• Currently able to effectively and reliably support LE and fire ops• Have ability to adapt and expand to meet future needs
Staffing• Adequate technical support personnel (radio techs, dispatchers)
familiar with LE and fire radios• Adequate repair facilities
Planning• Clear, comprehensive planning for future narrowband transitions: analog to digital, unsecured to AES encryption, etc.
Infrastructure• Currently able to effectively and reliably support LE and fire ops• Have ability to adapt and expand to meet future needs
Staffing• Adequate technical support personnel (radio techs, dispatchers)
familiar with LE and fire radios• Adequate repair facilities
Planning• Clear, comprehensive planning for future narrowband transitions: analog to digital, unsecured to AES encryption, etc.
National Interagency Fire Center
Questions?