The reincarnation of the Fireline Handbook, now saddled with the name Wildland Fire Incident Management Field Guide, is now available as an eBook for your Apple and Android devices. The January, 2014 revision is described on the Google Play store as “scanned pages”, and is designed for tablets or the “web”.
I downloaded the Android version and viewing it in a web browser on a 20-inch monitor was not a satisfying experience. It looked like a low-resolution scanned document. However on a 7-inch Nexus tablet the text was small when viewing an entire page, but it was very sharp and quite readable. Flipping from page to page was easy as pie. It would probably be even better on a larger tablet but don’t even think about trying to read it on a smart phone.
The Fireline Handbook, last revised in 2004, was officially retired in 2013 and replaced with an electronic version, a .pdf, of the Wildland Fire Incident Management Field Guide (PMS 210). The National Wildfire Coordinating Group explained last year why they created the new publication:
The document was renamed because, over time, the original purpose of the Fireline Handbook had been replaced by the Incident Response Pocket Guide. As a result, this document now serves as a guide for wildland fire managers and subsequent staff.
The January, 2014 revision of the Incident Response Pocket Guide is available for download as a .pdf document.
Still not a big fan of the idea. Just not practical packin’ around a three-ringed binder. Glad I hung on to a few “red books”. Still have one in my pack and another sliding around on the dash of the truck. Looking like I’ll have to start guarding them a bit closer.
Here is the link directly to the PDF
http://www.nwcg.gov/pms/pubs/pms210/pms210.pdf