PETERSON AFB, Colo. – United States Northern Command is preparing to deploy more than 500 active-duty U.S. Army soldiers to the Tripod Complex fire in Washington State to assist with firefighting activities. Upon approval from the Secretary of Defense, the soldiers from Ft Lewis, Wash., are expected to arrive at the fire early next week.
This deployment was requested by the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) due to a critical shortage of civilian Type 2 fire fighting crews and an unfavorable weather forecast in the Northwest geographic area of the nation.
Before soldiers can deploy on the fireline, they must be equipped and have special wildland firefighting training. NIFC will provide the specialized equipment and training to the soldiers once approved. Training and equipping typically take five days.
United States Army–North, at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, will have operational control of the deployed forces, but day-to-day fireline operations will be directed by the incident commander.
U.S. Northern Command also has four Air National Guard C-130 aircraft deployed. Two C-130s and supporting personnel are flying out of Klamath Falls, Ore., and two are flying out of Boise, Idaho. Both groups employ the U.S. Forest Service’s Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems (MAFFS).
U.S. Northern Command provides defense support of civil authorities when requested and approved by the Secretary of Defense. For support to wildland firefighting, the requests are processed in accordance with the Economy Act and NIFC will cover the full costs of the military operations.
Additional information regarding military firefighting and U.S. Northern Command can be found at www.northcom.mil. Information about the Tripod Fire Complex can be found at www.inciweb.org/incident/341. Daily updates on wildland fires across the nation can be found at www.nifc.gov/fireinfo/nfn.html.
For more information on U.S. Northern Command’s wildland fire fighting efforts, please contact Patti Bielling at 210-269-7538 or 757-810-1675 or e-mail her at patti.bielling@us.army.mil. For information on the nation’s overall wildland firefighting efforts, please contact Rose Davis, USDA Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management, National Interagency Fire Center, at 208-387-5437, or by e-mail at rzdavis@fs.fed.us.
Facts on Wildland Firefighting and DoD Support
• The National Preparedness Level was upgraded to Level 5 (the highest level) at approximately 11:30 a.m. EDT on July 28, 2006. Preparedness Level 5 means that multiple geographic areas are experiencing major incidents.
• At Preparedness Level 5, the Chief of the USDA Forest Service makes all fire-trained personnel within the Agency, including those outside the fire organization, available to assist in firefighting and to coordinate necessary resources with the interagency firefighting community.
• At Preparedness Level 5, the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) reassesses national resource needs daily and reallocates resources to those fires that are the highest priority.
• Preparedness Level 5 was last activated on July 24, 2003. The earliest date in a calendar year Preparedness Level 5 was reached was June 21, 2002. From 1996 to the present, Preparedness Level 5 has been reached five times (September 1, 1996; July 28, 2000; August 16, 2001; June 21, 2002; and July 24, 2003).
• Since 1975, USDA and the Department of the Interior have had an interagency agreement with the Department of Defense which allows DoD to provide firefighting support to the wildland fire management agencies when needed.
• The military is called upon when national civilian resources are fully committed to on-going fires or on standby for initial attack and there is the need for further resources. This level of commitment is typically reached when the National Preparedness Level is at 5.
• Military resources are normally requested in battalion strength, which is equivalent to 25 20-person crews, plus their command and control elements. Each battalion fields about 550 personnel. The trainers provide a day of wildland fire training at the military installation. The next day, the battalion deploys to the fire for additional training and firefighting. The total commitment of a battalion is up to 30 days from the day of deployment.
• The military also supports firefighting efforts through the Military Airborne Firefighting System (MAFFS) program. This program provides Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units flying in Air National Guard C-130 aircraft as airtankers to support wildland fire suppression activities. Four MAFFs are currently deployed. In the past decade, the military has provided firefighters and MAFFS support during several critical fire seasons including, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003.
Source: United States Forest Service