National Interagency Fire Center One Mission One Place

National Interagency Fire Center

One Mission

One Place


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


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 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


• Nation’s support center for wildland firefighting

• Coordinates response to wildland fire and support to other disasters here and around the world.

One Mission


Many Challenges• Coordinating wildland fire and all risk response

and communications nationally among all agencies is critical.


Outside The Fence

• International agreements; resource sharing

(Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand)

• Ongoing relationship with Russia

• Host international delegations


Beyond Fire• Incident Command System

– Effective, efficient method of organizing the management of an emergency response

• All-Risk Response


Columbia ShuttleRecovery Efforts

Incident ManagementTeams and Crews worked with NASA for several months


Tsunami Relief Efforts

NIFC mobilized personnel to assist with relief efforts in a variety of capacities


Hurricane response and relief efforts

NIFC mobilizes personnel and crews to assist with logistics anddistribution of supplies


2005 Hurricane SeasonKatrina, Rita, Wilma

- 12,850 fire personnel- 17 Base Camps- Distribution Centers- Evacuation Centers

Providing logistics and support for the relief effort


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


ICS training for earthquake disaster response in India.

Specialists from NIFCHave presented numerous training sessions in India over the past 2 years.


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.


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


BLM Radio ProgramBLM Radio Program

Law EnforcementLaw EnforcementFire OperationsFire Operations

SafetySafety

BLM Radio ProgramBLM Radio Program

Law EnforcementLaw EnforcementFire OperationsFire Operations

SafetySafety


Radio Infrastructure Stakeholders

Law Enforcement

Fire

Resources

Realty

Property

Safety

Engineering

Telecommunication (IT)

Procurement

Frequency Management


A comprehensive radiomanagement program is necessary to ensure safe

and effective radiocommunications.

A comprehensive radiomanagement program is necessary to ensure safe

and effective radiocommunications.


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


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


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.


Questions?

Documents

National Interagency Fire Center One Mission One Place