Survey assesses fire departments’ readiness for handling wildland fires

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NFPA Needs Assessment wildland fire
Excerpt #1 from the Wildland Fire section of the NFPA Needs Assessment.

A survey conducted by the NFPA asked fire departments of all sizes about their readiness and capability for suppressing wildland fires. This general topic was one of seven in the survey that was sent to more than 26,000 fire departments in the last year.

NFPA Needs Assessment wildland fire
Excerpt #2 from the Wildland Fire section of the NFPA Needs Assessment.

From the NFPA:

“This Fifth Fire Service Needs Assessment Survey was conducted beginning in 2020 and concluding in 2021. It follows earlier surveys completed in 2001, 2005, 2010, and 2015. A total of 2,969 fire departments responded to the survey, with approximately 75 percent responding online and 25 percent filling out the paper version. Overall, the response rate was 11 percent, ranging from a 7 percent response from fire departments protecting populations of less than 2,500 to a 39 percent response from fire departments protecting populations of 500,000 or more. The previous Needs Assessment report included additional state-level reporting. NFPA will be working in the coming months to produce these types of reports for selected states.

“This report shows that while some fire service needs have been declining, many have remained constant or increased. Fire service needs exist for departments of all sizes and in every area, including staffing, training and certification, facilities, apparatus, personal protective equipment (PPE); and health and wellness. In general, the smaller the community protected, the greater the need.”

Details:
Interactive survey results
Complete report
Wildland and Wildland Urban Interface section

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Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

2 thoughts on “Survey assesses fire departments’ readiness for handling wildland fires”

  1. I really wish this survey would have come out at a time when more of us would see it. Based on my experience in the PNW, it’s a big issue. Our community fire departments are well trained to handle first aid and structural fires, but there is a lack of training/desire to deal with wildland fire at the level it needs to be dealt with. They are not just our first responders, in many cases, they may be our only hope of keeping a fire small. Yet too many departments are not adequately trained/equipped to do so…..and there is a lack of desire to acquire those tools….again, based on my experiences.
    I have personally demobed community engine crews because they were ineffective. On the 2020 Riverside fire in Oregon, there is a well documented case of a community fire department abandoning local citizens.
    That fire department is now contracted to provide training services to other departments in the area. Discouraging and frightening.

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    1. Failing to assist stranded tourists and citizens was a problem in the 2016 Gatlinburg Wildfire as well.

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