United States Search and Rescue Task Force

The Elk Bath picture above, was taken by the Alaskan Type I Incident Management Team (John McColgan) on August 6, 2000 on the East Fork of the Bitterroot River on the Sula Complex.   This picture was taken while fighting a wildland fire.  The Elk seek the safety of the center of the river to escape the fire.

 Introduction

Cities have grown into suburbs and suburbs into what was once considered rural America. Citizens are acquiring secluded homes surrounded by forests, mountain cabins, or sprawling farms.  This movement is creating an extremely complex landscape that has come to be known as the wildland/urban interface.  The impact of severe wildfire on your community, your state and your federal government is staggering.

According to the National Wildland Coordinating Group, since 1970 we’ve spent more than $20 billion dollars fighting fire at the fringes of our burgeoning population centers, in the areas described above as the wildland/urban interface.. Encroaching development into forests, grasslands and farms is resulting in numerous infrastructure problems, including catastrophic wildfires which increasingly threatens lives, homes and businesses.

Wildfire Classifications

There are three different classes of wildfires.  A “surface fire” is the most common type and burns along the floor of a wildland, moving slowly and killing or damaging plants.   A “ground fire” can burn anytime the surface burns and the subsurface organic material is dry enough to burn.  They may be started by lightning and burns on or below the surface floor in the humus layer down to the mineral soil.  “Crown fires” spread rapidly by wind and move quickly by jumping along the tops of the trees.

Firewise Communities

Fire protection in the wildland/urban interface should be viewed as a partnership, whereas most people think government protects communities from the threat of wildland fire. Communities are reconsidering the traditional view of firefighters as “protectors” and homeowners as “victims” of wildland fire.  The paradigm is shifting from “protector-victim” to “ partner-partner”.

By partnering with the fire service, each community can take on a larger responsibility for their own planning, mitigation and personnel protection before and during wildfires.  So each citizen needs to be prepared for the effects of wildland fire before that fire ever starts.   To further explore what you and your community can do visit www.firewise.org and follow the home and community evaluation techniques described there.

Personal Safety

Before The Fire:

  • Keep brush cut back 30 feet around your home.
  • Utilize Firewise landscaping around your home, including fire resistant plants.
  • Keep firewood stacked away from the home.
  • Maintain all exterior wood in good condition to prevent cracks and gaps.
  • Insure that there is adequate water availability for fire protection, such as hydrants or other water sources.
  • Utilize non-combustible materials as roof covering.
  • Several times a year, inspect and remove dead leaves, pine needles and other flammable debris from the roof and rain gutters, under decking and next to wood posts and siding.
  • Work with your local government to have empty lots cleared regularly.
  • Encourage utilities to be underground, gas and electric.
  • Are road widths in your neighborhood wide enough to support emergency vehicles.
  • Develop a community fire brigade and report and or extinguish small fires.

During a Fire:

  • Back your car into the garage or park it in an open space facing the direction of escape.
  • Keep lawn and surrounding plants watered within 30 feet of your home, wet the roof of your home too.
  • If you evacuate, leave early, many deaths have occurred with citizens in their vehicles.
  • Turn off gas at the meter and shut off all pilot lights.
  • Remove flammable drapes from window openings.
  • Lock your home and take your disaster supplies kit.
  • Know more than one way out of your neighborhood.
  • Leave the windows rolled up on your vehicle.
  • Make plans to care for your pets in case you evacuate, or take them with you.

After The Fire:

  • Rebuild to Firewise standards and ask your local officials to adopt National Fire Protection Standard 299 as a basis for measuring the potential danger within the community.

Wildfire Suppression

Introduction:

When dealing with wildfire situations the best method of wildfire suppression is to ensure that the fuel the fire needs to continue to burn is kept away from your home and other structures.  By keeping a 30 foot (minimum) survivable space around your home and by doing a number of simple and affordable mitigation efforts, your home and the surrounding area will be FIREWISE.

  •  Remember during extremely dry conditions wildfire will spread very rapidly.
  • Airborne embers can be carried for one to two miles ahead of the main body of the wildfire.
  • Have CERT teams routinely look for potential fire starts during times of high fire danger.
  • Quickly extinguish any and all small wildfire starts.
  • Develop and maintain escape plans from your neighborhood and distribute it to everyone in the neighborhood.
  • In the escape plan ensure that all residents leaving their residence close all windows and especially garage doors.
  • Encourage all residents to maintain a disaster supplies kit.
  • Encourage all residents to keep roofs and gutters clear of leaves and other debris.
  • Encourage your neighborhood to utilize less fire prone vegetation, and encourage those with greater moisture content.
  • Develop a plan for your neighborhood to ensure all vegetation is adequately watered during extreme wildfire conditions.
  • Encourage your neighbors to follow all established open burning regulations.
  • Incorporate FIREWISE concepts into the covenants governing your neighborhood association.
  • Contact your local forestry office for published materials and educational programs that might be available for use in the neighborhood.
  • Promote the use of prescribed burning, mechanical treatment or herbicidal treatment for limiting and keeping vegetation under control to limit the potential spread of wildland fire.

Wildland Fire Facts And Figures For The Year 2000

  • Largest number of acres burned – Idaho – 1,361,459 acres.
  • Number of wildland firefighter deaths – 21.  Eleven by trauma, 5 by burns, 2 by stress, 2 by lightning and 1 by unknown illness.
  • August 29th was the peak day of the year for fire activity.  28,462 people were fighting fires.  667 crews were assigned.  1,249 engines were assigned.  226 helicopters were assigned.  42 airtankers were assigned.  84 large fires (100 acres or more) were burning and, 1,642,579 acres were on fire in 16 states!
Total Number of Wildland Fires and Acres from
January 1, 2000 to August 08, 2011 by State
State Number of  Fires Number of Acres
AK 351 751,233
AL 5,584 85,827
AR 2,924 35,820
AZ 3,592 85,660
CA 7,283 235,248
CO 2,101 126,747
CT 91 717
DC 2 2
DE 12 165
FL 6,572 200,980
GA 7,357 52,129
IA 0 0
ID 1,599 1,361,459
IL 29 597
IN 1,486 3,668
KS 20 1,112
KY 1,741 141,124
LA 4,542 103,254
MA 1,854 2,735
MD 253 506
ME 243 298
MI 646 11,678
MN 2,828 70,539
MO 200 13,017
MS 5,040 73,672
MT 2,437 949,817
NC 4,913 35,008
ND 1,147 71,606
NE 33 24,537
NH 248 160
NJ 521 1,432
NM 2,466 519,177
NV 1,078 635,715
NY 107 457
OH 817 4,134
OK 1,936 83,547
OR 2,006 477,741
PA 115 954
PR 1 1
RI 109 210
SC 4,477 21,680
SD 588 116,647
TN 2,941 61,123
TX 2,438 188,352
UT 1,929 227,827
VA 1,103 36,784
VT 28 67
WA 1,116 256,781
WI 1,608 4,611
WV 1,087 37,355
WY 651 279,583
Total 92,250 7,393,493

Wildland Fire Statistics

 Total Fires and Acres 1960 – 1999

Year Fires Acres Year Fires Acres
1999 93,702 5,661,976 1979 163,196 2,986,826
1998 81,043 2,329,709 1978 218,842 3,910,913
1997 89,517 3,672,616 1977 173,998 3,152,644
1996 115,025 6,701,390 1976 241,699 5,109,926
1995 130,019 2,315,730 1975 134,872 1,791,327
1994 114,049 4,724,014 1974 145,868 2,879,095
1993 97,031 2,310,420 1973 117,957 1,915,273
1992 103,830 2,457,665 1972 124,554 2,641,166
1991 116,953 2,237,714 1971 108,398 4,278,472
1990 122,763 5,452,874 1970 121,736 3,278,565
1989 121,714 3,261,732 1969 113,351 6,689,081
1988 154,573 7,398,889 1968 125,371 4,231,996
1987 143,877 4,152,575 1967 125,025 4,658,586
1986 139,980 3,308,133 1966 122,500 4,574,389
1985 133,840 4,434,748 1965 113,684 2,652,112
1984 118,636 2,266,134 1964 116,358 4,197,309
1983 161,649 5,080,553 1963 164,183 7,120,768
1982 174,755 2,382,036 1962 115,345 4,078,894
1981 249,370 4,814,206 1961 98,517 3,036,219
1980 234,892 5,260,825 1960 103,387 4,478,188

Average Number of Fires and Acres Burned By Decade

Dates Average Number of Fires Average Acres Burned
1919-1929 97,599 26,004,567
1930-1939 167,277 39,143,195
1940-1949 162,050 22,919,898
1950-1959 125,948 9,415,796
1960-1969 119,772 4,571,255
1970-1979 155,112 3,194,421
1980-1989 163,329 4,236,229
1990-1999 106,306 3,647,597
Number of Wildland Fires and Acres By Cause

Year Cause Fires Acres
1988 Human 138,238 3,559,021
Lightning 16,335 3,839,868
1989 Human 107,318 2,080,388
Lightning 14,396 1,183,803
1990 Human 105,784 1,735,365
Lightning 16,979 3,719,408
1991 Human 104,777 1,752,179
Lightning 12,164 484,639
1992 Human 89,701 1,408,300
Lightning 14,245 1,048,703
1993 Human 87,725 1,166,355
Lightning 9,305 1,143,063
1994 Human 94,265 1,915,340
Lightning 19,801 2,811,932
1995 Human 120,045 1,454,377
Lightning 9,974 862,218
1996 Human 99,606 3,365,050
Lightning 15,560 3,336,792
1997 Human 79,484 984,683
Lightning 10,033 2,677,674
10-Year Average Human 102,694 1,942,106
Lightning 13,879 2,110,810
Suppression Costs for Federal Agencies

Year Bureau of Land Management Bureau of Indian Affairs Fish and Wildlife Service National Park Service USDA Forest Service Totals
1994 $ 98,417,000 $ 49,202,000 $ 3,281,000 $ 16,362,000 $ 678,000,000 $ 845,262,000
1995 $ 56,600,000 $ 36,219,000 $ 1,675,000 $ 21,256,000 $ 224,300,000 $ 340,050,000
1996 $ 96,854,000 $ 40,779,000 $ 2,600 $ 19,832,000 $ 521,700,000 $ 679,167,600
1997 $ 62,470,000 $ 30,916,000 $ 2,000 $ 6,844,000 $ 155,768,000 $ 256,000,000
1998 $ 63,177,000 $ 27,366,000 $ 3,800,000 $ 19,183,000 $ 215,000,000 $ 328,526,000
1999 $ 85,724,000 $ 42,183,000 $ 4,500,000 $ 30,061,000 $ 361,000,000 $ 523,468,000

Click here to see video of a wildland fire fighters true story!

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