As Ryan Maye Hardy reported on July 7, the wildland fire season is off to a slow start across the United States. This is due in part to a wet spring in some areas, but Peter Dybing contributed the following article that looks at some of the other factors that affect the number of acres burned.

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Wildfire Success, 2014, A Season NOT For The Record Books

Successful governmental organizations are able to manifest the ability to lay a firm foundation utilizing the sticks and stones that have been thrown at them by the public and internal after action reviews.

To date, the 2014 fire season stands as an example of the Fire communities’ ability to re-master approaches to wild land fires to save lives, money, organizational resources and limit the profound effects that fire has on local communities.

These results have come as a direct result of cultural and policy shifts that include:

First, a new focus on a robust response to fires while they are small, second the wide spread establishment of Type 3 Incident Management Teams and finally the development of strong ties with local Fire Departments.

National discussion about the tremendous cost of large fires has led to new approaches in initial attack. In the past, small fires received small responses, not so this year. By simply following the “Wild Cad”(Dispatch activity tracking) system it is obvious that dispatchers across the country have embraced an ethic of “overwhelming force” in response to small fires. While this new approach may lead to small fires costing nearly $10,000, there is immeasurable savings in risk to human life, long term fiscal cost and community resources should these fires have beeen allowed to grow.

There is an excellent article on the subject titled “The cost of saving money on wildfire suppression” at the Wildfire Today site.

Dispatchers across the country deserve the gratitude of firefighters for embracing organizational change that saves lives, homes and natural resources.

The second factor that has a causal relationship with fires remaining smaller is effective Type 3 Incident Management Teams. Land managers have recognized the need to move away from the approach of “thrown together” Type 3 teams and towards support for standing Type 3 organizations. These teams have working relationships, links with area stakeholders, regular training and established protocols for incident response.

In short, local Type 3 teams have the advantages of nationally available IMT’s with less cost to the local unit and the ability to access these advantages rapidly. These changes have come as a result of a number of factors. First, the national focus on funding for Type 3 IMT’s, second, the willingness of local managers to embrace spending substantial resources on developing additional response capabilities and finally the willingness of experienced fire resources to engage as members of these smaller local teams.

There is an excellent review of Type 3 teams and their ability to be successful at the Lessons Learned Center titled “Initial Impressions Report — Type 3 Incident Management Organizations”.

Finally, related to the emergence of established local teams, is the increased emphasis on relationships with local fire organizations. Local fire departments have, with the assistance national land management organizations, developed a talented, well-trained and effective force of Wild Land Firefighters. Gone are the days when structural fire departments were insular and not interested or able to respond to wild fires.

Much of the credit for keeping small fires small can be directly traced to the working relationships forged over the last decade between federal, state and local agencies. Wild land firefighters have developed a profound respect for our brothers and sisters in local fire departments and they deserve a large measure of respect for their efforts and professionalism.

As of the beginning of July 2014, fewer acres have burned than any other fire season since 2004. We should take the opportunity to review the reasons for this success and be willing to take pause and congratulate the Dispatchers, Fire Managers and Local Fire Departments that have, through their willingness to embrace new information, made a meaningful difference in our ability to circumvent the destruction that large fires cause.

Large-scale change is difficult. As Firefighters we should be proud to be part of agencies that are willing to confront organizational resistance and evolve effective approaches in service to our citizens.

This year, instead of celebrating our collective ability to respond to large fires, lets celebrate the reduction in the need for us to do so!

Now that’s a real success!

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Peter Dybing, lives in Durango Colorado and became a Firefighter in 1985. He is currently the Logistics Section Chief on an Interagency Incident Management Team in the Southern Area.