Preparing for a Particularly Destructive Wildfire Season

As we head into the start of another wildfire season, we find ourselves facing several challenges. Some, such as budget constraints and fewer firefighters to carry out the same jobs as before, aren’t new.

Perhaps the biggest challenge is a huge hit to the big plan: the COVID-19 nightmare that we have been dealing with for more than a year now but, hopefully, not much longer. All of this is on top of the changing environment that is rearing its ugly head all over the globe. Wildfires are consuming more forests and getting into our communities, the long-term effect of which won’t be understood for years.

That said, we must look at how we will make this work in our favor in our efforts.

Training

Training that follows NFPA 1051: Standard for Wildland Firefighting Personnel Professional Qualifications and the courses that are outlined in the standard (developed by very experienced firefighters) typically is well-received. Comments from attendees of trainings of all levels of experience include “This all makes sense now” and “I want more” and the like. Knowledge is power, and we must have it to help to build the capacity within our ranks to empower crews to feel that they have the tools to respond.

Now, understand that training doesn’t mean delivering one course per year and that’s it. Work with your mutual-aid departments. Invite them to your department’s trainings to allow your members to get to know the people of the other departments. Build company drills and share those drills with your mutual-aid departments.

As skill level grows, challenges that training presents must grow. Do everything that you can to make the training as hands-on as possible. Have firefighters train like they will respond, with a sense of urgency.

The training must include wildland fire behavior, because understanding wildland fire behavior is the cornerstone of situational awareness. Furthermore, remember that the wildland fire behavior that was taught 25 years ago doesn’t consider all of today’s circumstances—such as is the case with structure fire behavior and traditional home construction versus lightweight construction. This is the foundation for all levels of firefighter response and helps to build a great base of knowledge.

Ultra-high-pressure (UHP) firefighting pumps have been used in parts of the world where lack of water is a big issue and in Europe for decades. UHP systems, which can be used with straight water, foam and gel, let fire science do the heavy work by delivering every gallon of water to the fire. Some of these even work in multiple areas. At least one system can be used on wildland fires as well as for a true transitional attack.

Fire-blocking gels are another water enhancer that has proven to be useful as an exposure-­protection tool. The gel is introduced to the water stream at the nozzle and will stick to almost every surface that would be exposed to ignition because of wildfire. The idea is that every drop of water is encapsulated in the gel concentrate. Once the exposure is coated, as much as 24 hours of protection time from initial application is possible. In fact, it can be rehydrated for a week after the initial application. Fire-blocking gels are extremely easy to clean up after the fire threat passes.

Regarding water enhancers, don’t use your onboard foam system with them. Use your end-of-the-line application systems. Some companies use a two-hose system to deliver the concentrate to the nozzle.

Furthermore, use the USDA’s Qualified Product List to find gels that were tested and are approved.

Computer programs that help with wildland/urban interface (WUI) preplanning are useful regarding triage structures, establishing safety zones and water sources that will help to build the big plan. Your best option for purchasing such a program is identifying one that can be used in other areas or even other departments within your city. Note: Many programs are promoted in a way that purport that they can do whatever you want them to do, but you quickly can find out that only is true if you are a computer genius. The best programs provide the means whereby all of the information is layered for an address or a location on your maps and provide a structure triage layer and a preplan for that location. Also, the wider the program’s application, the easier that it is to justify its cost.

Doing more with less

Over the past 10 years of training structure fire departments on wildland fire qualifications, I have noticed a positive trend emerging: Departments realize that they must put a long-term training program together, even to the point of building a WUI team.

Beyond the obvious benefit, this has the potential to prompt increased engagement by firefighters, which can pave the way to better retention of staffing. Both new and seasoned firefighters are likely to see the advantage and to be more invested. The days of giving firefighters only the absolute basic training are gone.

From here, things come full circle. More investment on the part of members provides the capability to do more in dealing with a wildland fire issue with less by getting the fire at the start and limiting the potential for a campaign fire.

Changing environment

The environment that we work in when it comes to wildland fire response is changing, with much more extreme fire behavior than what we have experienced and trained for. Understanding the level of threat that you have is time well spent. This includes having a discussion with the local wildfire agency heading into the season and asking the difficult question: “Just how bad do you believe that the fire season will be?” This will determine how much extra effort that you might need to allot for preparation.

If you are in a region that is seeing the fire season turn into a year-round issue, this might include the addition of wildfire specialists. The primary role of a wildfire specialist is to identify the issues and to work on long-term planning to mitigate the issues. This could include, but isn’t limited to, identifying the level of risk and assisting in engaging a consulting firm that specializes in building the big-picture plan, then managing the implementation of that plan, engaging the community to help to build a fire-adapted community and assisting the training department with the delivery of all levels of wildland fire training.

The changing environment also includes our latest nightmare: COVID-19. When we consider responding to an incident during a pandemic, what might first cross our mind is going to a medical call, transporting a patient to a hospital and returning to the station. These days, we might be asked to deploy resources to assist another region, with staff deployed for as long as 21 days. How do you sensibly prepare for this challenge?

Work with the personnel who would be deployed to find their comfort level and build procedures that will help them to feel safe to deploy. This might include having your crews be as self-sufficient as possible, such as the crew rotating chores, including taking care of isolating themselves from other crews at camp. If rapid COVID-19 tests aren’t available at the incident, have one conducted prior to deployment. Also, have a process for members’ return home that permits their family to feel comfortable when the deployment to another region is over.

Be ready

Going into a wildland fire season that looks as though it will be as exceedingly difficult as last year’s played out in parts of the United States, you want to do everything that you can so that your crew will be as prepared as possible. This includes preparation if an incident happens in your community. As referenced above, training is the biggest support that a fire department can provide to its staff. Train your crews, from the newest firefighter to the chief officer, to the same level for each position, as you would do in conjunction with a structure fire. NFPA 1051 is the best guide to use, because each position is spelled out.

If we look at the past 20 years and reflect on what happened each of those years, we see that wildland fires have been getting worse and have started to become more frequent to boot. Sharing information and working on a lasting plan will help you to prepare for what’s to come.