A memo released by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) suggests that the new 148-page document “can be printed locally in a standard 8½” x 11”, three-ring binder format.”
When it was first introduced, the Fireline Handbook, PMS 410-1, was appropriately named, fitting easily in your hand and pocket. Over several decades it became bloated as committees kept adding everything they could think of to it until it was over an inch thick and weighed almost a pound (15 ounces). It grew to 430 pages without the optional Fire Behavior Appendix and barely fit into a pants pocket. It was last updated in 2004.
The Fireline Handbook has become less valuable as other reference guides have been introduced, including the The Incident Response Pocket Guide (IRPG) and theInteragency Standards for Fire and Fire Aviation Operations, better known as the Red Book. The newer guides had some of the same information as the Fireline Handbook.
The Wildland Fire Incident Management Field Guide still has some information that is duplicated in the Incident Response Pocket Guide (IRPG) and FEMA’s National Incident Management System Emergency Responder Field Operating Guide (ERFOG), but according to the NWCG, which published the new guide, the documents have different purposes and user groups.
Wildfire Today first wrote about the possible demise of the Fireline Handbook in March, 2011.
The recipients for the 2011 Paul Gleason Lead by Example awards were announced today. This year four people were recognized for demonstrating valued leadership traits during or in support of wildland fire operations: Travis Dotson, Tony Doty, Patrick Lookabaugh, and Ralph Thomas.
Here is the text from the announcement issued today at the National Interagency Fire Center:
We received the following information from David Caraway, Founder & CEO of ForceReadiness.com:
We would like to announce that we have created a free iPhone app for the New Generation Fire Shelter. It integrates several documents and videos on both the fire shelter, and entrapment avoidance. This app will remain a free app. The iRPG [Incident Response Pocket Guide] iPhone app has been downloaded 3,000 times, and we hope that this app is able to find its way into the hands of as many firefighters.
As always, we welcome any feedback we can receive from the firefighter community on how to make the app better.
We don’t have an iPhone, but have gone Android instead. Would anyone like to submit a review of the app? There is only one review of it in the app store.
Strong winds and low RH in west Texas result in fire growth on Tuesday
The strong winds and single-digit humidity that was predicted for west Texas on Tuesday materialized, and caused several fires to add significant acreage. The RAWS weather station in Fort Davis near the Rock House fire recorded a minimum humidity of 5%, with 20-25 mph winds gusting up to 40.
Residents near Balmorhea were forced to evacuate. The Texas Forest Service issued this update about the fire at 8:46 p.m. on Tuesday:
Weather conditions, dry fuel, and terrain have aligned to create extreme fire behavior on the Rock House Fire. On the northwest flank, the fire is moving down Gavina Ridge and pushing toward Hwy 118.
Crews are considering conducting burn out operations, if necessary and possible, in order to try to contain the fire north of the road. Resources including hoses, pumps, and sprinklers have been staged around the McDonald Observatory.
According to the National Situation Report the Rock House fire increased in size by almost 6,000 acres on Tuesday, bringing the total of blackened acres up to 230,904.
Temporary cell towers on fires in Texas
Verizon is touting their efforts to bring in temporary mobile cell towers to fires in Texas to help the firefighters and citizens keep in touch. They did this on the PK Complex and also on the Rock House fire. Here is an excerpt from a press release by the company on Tuesday:
DALLAS, TX — Verizon Wireless deployed a temporary cell site, or Cell on Wheels (COW) to the Fort Davis area to support the communication needs of those leading the firefighting relief efforts from the federal, state and local government. The COW improves the Verizon Wireless network coverage in the Davis Mountains State Park.
Furthermore, Verizon Wireless has been in regular contact with the Emergency Operation Commands at the Fort Davis and Possum Kingdom fires – and should additional assistance be requested, Verizon Wireless has personnel, aircards, and Push To Talk devices to aid with any other communication efforts needed by the first responders or local authorities.
“Wireless communication is crucial during emergency situations,” said region president Frank Antonacci. “It’s of utmost importance that first responders and emergency personnel have a strong network to support their communications needs where and when it’s most needed.”
Rare wildfire in Belgium
Fire Geezer has the story of a rare wildfire in Belgium. He has some very good photos and a video, from which the screen grab below was taken. Go to Fire Geezer to check it out.
Incident Response Pocket Guide app available for Android phones
On April 17 Wildfire Today told you about the Incident Response Pocket Guide app that was available for iPhones. Now SpotFire Ent. has written one for Android phones. They call it a “trial version”, saying “this is not the full version of the IRPG”, and promise that a full version “is forthcomming”. It is free, so I wonder if the full version will NOT be. But even if the final version is not free, I have no problem paying software developers for their work.
Here are some screen grabs of the trial app:
UPDATE May 18, 2010:
A “full version” of the app for Android has been released. The cost is $1.87.
A private company has written an iPhone app for the Incident Response Pocket Guide. Wildfire Today received this email:
ForceReadiness.com has created an Incident Response Pocket Guide iPhone application and will offer it for free. Android support will come later this year. We’d certainly appreciate your feedback, or better yet, your help in getting the word out. No gimmick here. We’re committed to providing a certain amount of free apps to the people we serve and we thought iRPG would be a great one for wildland firefighters.
The direct link to the iRPG app in the iTunes App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/incident-response-pocket-guide/id430155496?mt=8
The National Wildfire Coordinating Group is considering doing away with the Fireline Handbook (FH), or at least that is one of the options mentioned in an email sent out by the NWCG’s Operations and Workforce Development Committee. Here is an excerpt:
The Operations & Workforce Development Committee (OWDC) is in the process of revising the Fireline Handbook, and is seeking your input.
Over time, the purpose of the Fireline Handbook has changed a great deal. Since the advent of the Incident Response Pocket Guide (IRPG), the Fireline Handbook’s use has changed dramatically. It is no longer the fireline reference for firefighters and has become more of a standards guide for incident overhead.
As a result, the OWDC is seeking wide input on the future of the Fireline Handbook. We are considering whether or not it needs to continue, what its future purpose should be, and a change in the name of the document.
The FH is not the easiest thing to carry around, weighing in at almost a pound (15 ounces) and it barely fits into a pants pocket. It has 430 pages, without the optional Fire Behavior Appendix. The number of pages could be reduced by 20-40% if it were reformatted with smaller margins, and without all the “white space” and blank lines between listed items. Most of the publication is devoted to checklists and how-to guides for overhead personnel and is not very useful for ground-pounders or most Operations section personnel.
The Incident Response Pocket Guide (IRPG) (download a .pdf of the 2010 version) has become far more valuable to Operations personnel on the fireline than the FH. It has most if not all of the safety and operations check lists, plus many items that are not included in the FH. And it is updated annually. The IRPG is more useful for Operations personnel out on the ground or the fireline. It is designed for a shirt pocket, has 110 pages, and only weighs 2.5 ounces.
Both publications are useful, but my suggestion would be to keep the IRPG the way it is, but modify the FH to remove the duplication which is also in the IRPG. And reformat it as described above, with both changes reducing the number of pages by about half.
The name should be changed to remove the association with the fireline, since it is primarily, and will be even more so, for overhead personnel, most of whom would not be out in the field but would be in an Incident Command Post or other administrative facility. One of the suggestions in the online survey for a new name is “Incident Management Guide”, which would make it more of an all-hazard publication.
What do you think? Keep the Fireline Handbook the way it is, modify it, or get rid of it?
The Fireline Handbook has been retired and replaced with an electronic file, a .pdf, called Wildland Fire Incident Management Field Guide (PMS 210).
