Transcript Slide 1

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Good dat da
ice is gone,
eh Sven?
Ya betcha,
Ole!
AMR – WFSA – WFIP
“Acronyms R Us”
Wilderness Fire Resource Advisor
April 24, 2007
Ellen Bogardus-Szymaniak
Prescribed Fire and Fuels Specialist
Chippewa and Superior National Forests
Minnesota
(Stolen from Mike Frary – BLM - Colorado)
Objectives for the Next 45 Minutes:
• Understand the acronyms: AMR, WFIP,
and WFSA.
• Understand how each are used in a
wilderness fire context.
• Understand your roles in the
preparation and implementation of
the WFIP and WFSA
First – You must be
assimilated by the Fire
Borg and get to know
some fire terminology
What Is A Wildland Fire?
Wildland Fire: Any non-structure
fire that occurs in the wildland.
Three distinct types of wildland
fire have been defined: wildfire,
wildland fire use, and
prescribed fire.
A Wildfire is ……..
….An unplanned, unwanted
event.
The management objective for
wildfires (regardless of
ignition source) is to put it
out.
A Wildland Fire Use (WFU) fire
is……
…..a wanted event.
It is the application of the appropriate
management response to naturallyignited wildland fires that accomplish
specific resource management
objectives in predefined designated
areas outlined in Fire Management
Plans.
A Prescribed Fire is………..
…..a wanted event.
Any fire ignited by
management actions to meet
specific objectives.
It just so happens that all
three types of fires can be
found in a Wilderness
Appropriate Management
Response (AMR) is:
Taking the actions (suppression
or otherwise) that are appropriate
given the laws, policy, sociopolitical situation, and
environmental conditions that are
in effect at a given point of time.
Fire Managers have been using the
appropriate management response
on wildfires for many years, often
without knowing it, and almost
always without calling it AMR.
For example, the “10:00 am” policy was
the appropriate response for it’s time,
because policy did not allow otherwise.
Appropriate Management
Response
• Can definitely be used in a
wilderness area
• Your role as a WRA is to actively
participate in the development of
appropriate strategies and tactics
Common AMR
Strategies, Tactics, and
Tools Used in
Wilderness and NonWilderness Fires
Full Perimeter Control
This is the most commonly used
strategy on wildland fires.
Control lines are constructed
around the entire perimeter of
the fire. Roads, rivers and other
barriers can be used in
conjunction with constructed
lines. In the end, a physical
barrier exists completely around
the fire.
Point Protection
This strategy involves protecting
specific points from the fire while
not actively trying to line the entire
fire edge. Points being protected
may be communities, individual
homes, areas of high resource
value, etc.
Large Scale Burnout
This strategy involves selecting line
locations or barriers that offer the
best likelihood of successfully
holding a fire, and then burning out
the fuels in between the original fire
and the planned control line. There
are no limitations on the size of a
burnout.
Monitoring
This strategy may be used for
many reasons. Depending on the
conditions within the fire
environment, the incident
commander may determine that no
action needs to be taken other than
observing the fire spread on a
regular basis.
Fuel Breaks
Fuel breaks may be totally devoid of
vegetation or may be shaded, in
which some large over-story trees
remain. Fuel breaks are often
established prior to a fire season or
fire event. The presence of a fuel
break may serve as a control line,
as part of point protection or as a
trigger point in monitoring.
Use of Natural or Artificial
Barriers
Any type natural (rivers,
streams, cliff lines, rock slides,
etc.) or artificial (roads, dams
agricultural fields, etc) barriers
may be used as a component of
any of the AMR strategies.
Community Treatments
A slight twist on point protection,
community treatments may involve
actions within a sub-division or
community to protect homes
without actually building lines or
conducting hose lays.
Slowing/Delaying Fire Spread
This involves using any of a
variety of actions to slow a fire
spread and buy additional time in
anticipation of a weather change,
arrival of resources or other
reasons.
Minimum Impact Tactics
Any of a wide range of actions to minimize
the appearance of fire management
tactics. Includes such actions as flush
cutting stumps, camouflaging stumps and
bucked logs, dragging brush out of site of
trails, etc. Several regions have
developed guides and these should be
utilized for additional assistance and
direction.
2007
Appropriate
Management
Response
Suppression
Response
Successful
Unsuccessful
Successful
Fire Ignition,
FMP approved
Stage I: Initial Fire
Assessment,
Periodic Fire
Assessment
Stage II: Short-Term
Implementation
Actions,
Periodic Fire
Assessment
Wildland Fire
Situation
Analysis
Unsuccessful
Unsuccessful
Successful
Stage III: Long-Term
Implementation
Actions,
Periodic Fire
Assessment
Wildland Fire Implementation
Plan
- aka WFIP
- Not necessarily a wilderness
“thang”
Wildland Fire Implementation
Plan (WFIP)
A progressively developed
assessment and operational
management plan that documents the
analysis and the selection of
strategies and describes the
appropriate management response
for a wildland fire being managed for
resource benefit
WFIP STAGE 1
•
•
•
•
Purpose:
Document the fire situation
Describe initial management
actions
Set the initial periodic assessment
schedule as the preliminary stage
of the planning process
Agency Administrator decision
WFIP Stage One Content
Strategic Fire Size-Up
Fire name
Fire number
Jurisdictions)
Administrative Unit(s)
Fire Management Unit (FMU)
Geographic Area(s)
Management Code(s)
Start date/time
Discovery date/time
Current size
Location
Cause
Fuel model(s)/conditions
Current weather
Forecasted weather
Current Observed fire behavior
Forecasted fire behavior
Availability of resources
Decision Criteria Checklist
Initial Management Actions
Special hazards and concerns
Safety Concerns
Values at Risk
Operational Plan
Periodic Fire Assessment

The Unit Duty
Officer, Qualified
Representative or
Fire Use Manager
completes the
stage one WFIP in
concert with the
Agency
Administrator or
Delegated Acting
WFIP STAGE 2
•
•
•
•
Purpose above Stage 1:
Specify management objectives
Document the fire situation and
associated areas of concerns
Identify management actions and
estimated costs
Document the Periodic Fire
Assessment
WFIP Stage Two Content
The Fire Use
Manager completes
the stage two WFIP
in concert with the
Agency
Administrator or
Delegated Acting
•Objectives
•Fire Situation
-Safety considerations
-External concerns
-Environmental concerns
-Threats
-Current and predicted
fire behavior
-Current and predicted
weather
•Management actions (include
description of action and
expected duration)
•Estimated costs
•Periodic fire assessment
WFIP STAGE 3
Purpose:
• Documents a risk assessment and
provides implementation actions
necessary for management of a
wildland fire to accomplish identified
objectives over a potentially longduration.
WFIP STAGE 3
• Provides a definition of the
acceptable management limits of
multiple fires, or fire complexes
represented by the Maximum
Manageable Area (MMA)
• Considers long-term fire behavior
predictions and risk assessments.
• Identify all known threats from the
fire and address operational actions
to mitigate or eliminate those threats.
WFIP Stage Three Content
The Fire Use
Manager or Fire Use
Management Team
completes the stage
three WFIP in
concert with the
Agency
Administrator or
Delegated Acting
•Objectives and Risk Assessment Considerations
-Natural and Cultural resource
objectives
-Constraints
•MMA Definition and Maps
•Weather season/drought discussion and
prognosis
•Long-Term Risk Assessment (describe techniques
and outputs, include maps as appropriate)
•Threats To:
-MMA
-Public Use and Firefighter Safety
-Smoke dispersion and effects
-Other Resources
•Monitoring Actions (actions, frequency, and
duration)
•Mitigation Actions (describe holding actions,
management action points that initiate these
actions and key to map if necessary)
•Resources needed to manage the fire
•Contingency Actions (describe actions necessary
when mitigation actions are unsuccessful)
•Information Plan
•Estimated costs of long-term implementation
actions
•Post-burn evaluation
•Signatures and Date
WFIP Stage
Maximum Completion
Timeframe
WFIP Stage I
8 hours after confirmed fire
detection and Strategic Fire
Size-Up
WFIP Stage II
48 hours after need indicated
by Wildland Fire Use
Management Needs
Assessment
WFIP Stage III
7 days after need indicated by
Wildland Fire Use
Management Needs
Assessment
Periodic Fire Assessment
As part of all stages and on
assigned frequency thereafter
WFIP
• Your role as a WRA is to actively
participate in the development of
appropriate strategies and tactics
and ensure that wilderness issues
are surfaced during the WFIP
process
2007
Appropriate
Management
Response
Suppression
Response
Successful
Unsuccessful
Successful
Fire Ignition,
FMP approved
Stage I: Initial Fire
Assessment,
Periodic Fire
Assessment
Stage II: Short-Term
Implementation
Actions,
Periodic Fire
Assessment
Wildland Fire
Situation
Analysis
Unsuccessful
Unsuccessful
Successful
Stage III: Long-Term
Implementation
Actions,
Periodic Fire
Assessment
DECISION MAKING:
Wildland Fire Situation
Analysis (WFSA)
The WFSA Process: What are
the reasons to initiate a WFSA?
• Wildfire escapes Initial Attack
• Wildland Fire Use escapes or exceeds
prescription parameters
• Prescribed Fire escapes or exceeds
prescription parameters
WFSA –isWhat
is Thing
this thing
called a
a
What
This
Called
WFSA?
WFSA?
An assessment and decision making
process that evaluates and
documents alternative management
strategies against selected safety,
environmental, social, economic,
political, and resource management
objectives.
The WFSA Process:
Reasonable alternatives identified,
analyzed and evaluated
Evaluation criteria established
Alternatives considered that
minimize sum of estimated
suppression cost + resource damage
WFSA revised as conditions change
Why do a WFSA?
1. It is the document that gives guidance and
direction to the Incident Commander from
the line officer
2. It documents the decision/thought
process, including alternatives analyzed but
not selected
3. It documents incident priorities and
constraints
4. It documents that financial consideration
was given in selecting the alternative
Approval and Certification Timeframes
Initial WFSA must be approved prior to
initiation of a new strategy and within 12
hours of a fire escaping initial action.
Chief and Deputy Chiefs, Regional
Foresters and Area Director:
Certification of the WFSA must be
completed with in 24 hours of escape of
initial action, unless agreed to otherwise.
Take Home
• The WFSA process requires a team
effort, build the team prior to the fire
• Financial analysis has error, the objective
is to make that error consistent in all of
the alternatives
• Line officers need to be engaged
before, during, and after the
WFSA process
WFSA
• Your role as a WRA is to actively
participate in the development of
appropriate strategies and tactics
and ensure that wilderness issues
are surfaced during the WFSA
process
REMEMBER!!
• It is your job as a Wilderness Resource
Advisor is to provide the best
information and advice you can to
help the Agency Administrator
make informed and prudent
decisions!
• They are the decision makers and
they must have your assistance
and support throughout the
process!