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Multi-state fire coordination group region
experiencing increased wildfires this season |
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August 19, 2015 |
The Northern Rockies Geographic Area, which was
established to provide an interagency approach
to wildland fire management and all-risk
support, and includes the states of Montana,
North Dakota, and northern Idaho, Yellowstone
National Park, and a small portion of South
Dakota, had been experiencing an average fire
year until widespread and intense
thunderstorms—many packing substantial lightning
and very little rain— walloped the area last
week. Hundreds of new fire starts were reported
around the region and the ones that escaped
initial attack quickly grew into large
incidents.
The Northern Rockies Coordination Center is
reporting 30 large fires, many of which are
multi-fire complexes, with incident management
teams managing multiple fires. This number does
not include many smaller fires managed locally.
The largest single fire, the Thompson Fire in
Glacier National Park, is 13,680 acres. The
largest complex of fires is the Clearwater
Complex at more than 43,000 acres in Idaho. Not
included in the overall tally are smaller fires
that are being staffed with local responders and
an immense workload related to initial attack
for new fire starts. Combine that with the
demands for resources around the nation and it’s
a challenging proposition for fire managers.
“There’s a lot of fire on the landscape, not
only here, but in California, Washington,
Oregon, Colorado and elsewhere,” said Ken
Schmid, Chair of the Northern Rockies
Coordinating Group. “Resources are stretched
thin with needs everywhere, but we’re working
hard to find ways to meet the need.”
Complexing multiple fires is one strategy that
can help when incident management teams are in
short supply. For the 30 large fires, there are
eight Type 1 and 2 teams available and all are
assigned, managing multiple fires each. In
addition, there are teams assembled locally to
respond as well:19 are working on fires
throughout the region: they have been critical
assets in incident management.
The challenge will be to allocate resources,
including aircraft, crews, engines and heavy
equipment with proper supervision to the
existing fires, and still maintain capacity to
quickly respond to new fires. Additionally, the
Northern Rockies Coordinating Group will have
the task of prioritizing the needs for all
incidents and allocating a limited number of
resources, requests for which exceed what’s
currently available.
“Our teams understand the situation and they are
planning accordingly,” said Schmid. “We are in
constant communication with them to talk about
resources needs, availability, and configuring
the resources they do have for maximum benefit.”
If there’s good news amidst the flurry of fire
activity, it’s that additional help from the
Montana Air National Guard as well as from
Canada have arrived and are available for
assignment. The Guard became available after
Montana Governor Steve Bullock’s Emergency
Declaration over the weekend. Similar
declarations have been made for several counties
in Idaho. The Canadian resources are available
through an agreement between the USDA Forest
Service, Montana, Idaho and several western
states and Canadian provinces.
Firefighters will also catch a break with a
favorable weather forecast for most of the week,
though there will be an increase in westerly
winds on Friday. Fortunately, this will be
followed by cooler temperatures and higher
humidities in the weekend.
The Northern Rockies Coordinating Group is made
up of representatives from the Montana
Firewarden's Association, Montana Disaster and
Emergency Services Division, Montana Department
of Natural Resources and Conservation, Idaho
Department of Lands, North Dakota Forest
Service, Bureau of Land Management, National
Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Fish and
Wildlife Service, Forest Service, Montana Fire
Chief's Association, and Montana Sheriff's and
Peace Officer's Association.
The purpose of the Northern Rockies Coordinating
Group is to further interagency cooperation,
communications, coordination, and to provide
interagency fire management direction and
all-risk support for the Northern Rockies
Geographic Area.
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