7.4 Wildfires

WHO? The National Interagency Fire Center.

WHAT? Provides national firefighting assets on a cost-reimbursement basis.

WHEN? When directed by Geographic Area Coordination Centers.

WHERE? Comprising 10 regions encompassing the US including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.

WHY? Because wildfires are an unstoppable form of domestic catastrophic destruction.

As we’ve mentioned a number of times over the past couple of topics, the National Response Framework was created to streamline the means for obtaining Federal emergency response assets. The NRF is not the only means for obtaining Federal assets. The National Contingency Plan, for example, governs Federal response to major oil spills, such as the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. And Federal assistance for wildfires is different too. Given the 2018 wildfire tragedies in California, this topic will take a closer look at Federal support in the case of wildfires. In 2018, California suffered over 8500 wildfires, burning nearly 2 million acres, causing $3.5 billion in damages, and killing over 100 people. These can truly be considered catastrophic. Wildfires are a threat across the nation, but they have become particularly troublesome in the West which has been suffering increasing drought and warmer temperatures. Over the last 10 years, wildfires burned an average of 6.6 million acres annually across the US. Wildfires are becoming bigger, more frequent, and more destructive. In 2017 they destroyed 12,300 structures, 65% of them residences, and nearly 90% of them in California. Wildfires are becoming more destructive due to the rapid growth of housing in the Wildland Urban Interface. From 1990 to 2010, the number of new houses built in the Wildland Urban Interface grew 41% from 30.8 to 43.4 million. Houses on the edges of forests are more susceptible to wildfire. Wildfires are often caused by lightening, but they are increasingly caused by humans due to carelessness with extinguishing campfires or disposing of cigarettes. The general rule for fighting wildfires is “your land, your fire”. The difficulty is that wildfires can spread fast, growing as much as a football field every second. Therefore, wildfires typically entail a coordinated response as they rapidly burn across jurisdictional boundaries. The same rule applies to the Federal government, “their land, their fire”. The Federal government owns 640 million acres of land nationwide. 45.8% of California is Federal land. Many homes in the Wildland Urban Interface back up onto national forests and national parks. The Forest Service within the US Department of Agriculture is responsible for wildfire management on 193 million acres of national forests. The Department of Interior does the same for 400 million acres of national parks. In 1965, the various different Federal agencies charged with wildfire management decided to pool their resources and created the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise Idaho to manage them. Every year, NIFC contracts an alert force of firefighting ground crews and air teams. The National Interagency Coordination Center in Boise allocates air and ground teams to Geographic Area Coordination Centers as needed throughout the year. There are 10 Geographic Area Coordination regions encompassing the US, including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. Due to its high incidence of wildfires, California is divided among two regions. The GACCs maintain 24-hour watch and are prepared to dispatch fire crews when necessary. Fire crews are only necessary if a wildland fire threatens lives or property. Otherwise, remote fires may be allowed to burn as an essential component of the wildland ecosystem. The cost for deploying fire crews is reimbursed to NIFC as specified in the Cooperative Protection Master Agreement. In addition to Federal agencies, State and Local jurisdictions may also join NIFC. California is a member of NIFC. When fires grow beyond a local jurisdiction’s capability, they place a call to the nearest Geographic Area Coordination Center and request NIFC firefighting assets. California spent over $676 million fighting the 2018 wildfires. In November 2018, FEMA approved a request for a Fire Management Assistance Grant which could reimburse up to 75% of firefighting costs. Drought, lightning, and high winds make catastrophic wildfires an almost certainty. Controlled burns reducing ground fuel can help mitigate but not eliminate catastrophic wildfires. Research has shown, though, that homes can be better protected and even survive wildfires if roofs are non-flammable, and landscaping removes potential fuel within 120 feet of the building. So even if we can’t eliminate wildfires, maybe we can keep them from becoming catastrophic.