News and opinion about wildland fire
Ben Watkins is the winner in our contest to guess the date of the first assignment of a Type 1 incident management team on a fire. Mr. Watkins, a County Ranger with the North Carolina Forest Service, selected May 11. Dueitt’s team was ordered for the Mud Lake Complex in Florida on May 12. Congrats!
Other guesses that were close:
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized60 Comments on Contest: when will the first Type 1 Incident Management Team be assigned 
On March 8 we looked back at the weather in the United States over the last three months knowing that it could have an effect on wildfires over the next three to six months. However the extent to which past weather influences future fires is debatable and can be overridden by the weather conditions during the fire season.
What is YOUR prediction for the 2015 fire season? Like the first robin you see in the spring, the assignment of the first Type 1 Incident Management Team (IMT) is a sign that things are getting real. In the last few years there have been about 30 to 50 assignments each year for T1 IMTs.
So let’s have a contest about the date the first Type 1 IMT will be assigned on a fire.
How to enter: In a comment below this article give us your prediction of the date the first Type 1 IMT will be assigned to a fire in 2015. In case more than one person selects the correct date, include the state. A second tie breaker will be the general area within that state. The date is defined by the date they are actually dispatched to a fire, not necessarily arriving at the fire. For the purposes of this contest, a Type 1 IMT includes only the 16 national interagency IMTs listed here. Only one entry per person, of course.
Deadline for entries: write your date with the two tie breakers in a comment below this article before April 1, 2015. If an IMT is assigned before April 1, the deadline for entries will change retroactively to the day before that fire started.
Prize: the winner will receive a limited edition Wildfire Today cap. So that we can contact the winner, you must enter your correct email address in the form when you are writing your comment. As usual, email addresses will never be disclosed to anyone without your specific permission.
