1. National Interagency Fire Center One Mission One Place

2. National Interagency Fire Center History 1965: Joint BLM-FS Coordination Center established near Julia Davis Park 1968: Construction of Boise Interagency Fire Center at airport with Weather Service 1970s: BIFC becomes interagency 1993: Name changed officially to NIFC

3. National Interagency Fire Center Today: Many Partners Bureau of Land Management National Park Service Bureau of Indian Affairs U.S. Fire Administration USDA Forest Service National Weather Service U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service National Association of State Foresters

4. National Interagency Fire Center National Interagency Coordination Center National Incident Radio Support Cache Remote Automatic Weather Stations unit Predictive Services National Fire and Aviation Training and Support Group Fire Equipment Development Unit (BLM) Great Basin Cache (largest of 11 federal caches) Boise BLM smokejumpers National Fuels Management and Community Assistance Many Components

5. National Interagency Fire Center Nations support center for wildland firefighting Coordinates response to wildland fire and support to other disasters here and around the world. One Mission

6. National Interagency Fire Center Many Challenges Coordinating wildland fire and all risk response and communications nationally among all agencies is critical.

7. National Interagency Fire Center Outside The Fence International agreements; resource sharing (Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand) Ongoing relationship with Russia Host international delegations

8. National Interagency Fire Center Beyond Fire Incident Command System –Effective, efficient method of organizing the management of an emergency response All-Risk Response

9. National Interagency Fire Center Columbia Shuttle Recovery Efforts Incident Management Teams and Crews worked with NASA for several months

10. National Interagency Fire Center Tsunami Relief Efforts NIFC mobilized personnel to assist with relief efforts in a variety of capacities

11. National Interagency Fire Center Hurricane response and relief efforts NIFC mobilizes personnel and crews to assist with logistics and distribution of supplies

12. National Interagency Fire Center 2005 Hurricane Season Katrina, Rita, Wilma - 12,850 fire personnel - 17 Base Camps - Distribution Centers - Evacuation Centers Providing logistics and support for the relief effort

13. National Interagency Fire Center Fire crews cleared 400 miles of roads in 2-week period Received and distributed 10 million gallons of water 80 million pounds of ice 11 million ready-to-eat meals Served 36,000 meals a day Countless examples of tireless, organized Interagency operations

14. National Interagency Fire Center ICS training for earthquake disaster response in India. Specialists from NIFC Have presented numerous training sessions in India over the past 2 years.

15. National Interagency Fire Center Other Mobilizations: 9/11 Terrorist Attack – NIFC mobilized teams to respond to relief and recovery operations. Newcastle Disease – NIFC mobilized crews to conduct chicken eradication projects to stem the spread of disease. Africa Fire Planning Currently have specialists assisting Kenya Forest Department and Kenya Wildlife Service develop fire management planning program.

16. National Interagency Fire Center The 2006 Fire Season 83,240 fires; 9.1 million acres (9/25/06) (10-year average is 62,898 fires burning 5 million acres) Characterized by -Abnormal early season in TX and OK -Drought in SW; wet spring elsewhere -Unusually high temperatures; dry conditions -Repeated cycles of lightning storms Approximately 16,000 fire personnel engaged for most of the summer (many for 12 months)

17. National Interagency Fire Center One Place Many Partners Many Components Many Challenges One Mission

18. National Interagency Fire Center Radio Equipment Usage 2006 Fire Season To date, 204 Starter Systems were issued Approximately 48,000 VHF and UHF handheld radios were issued –These means that the 8,000 handhelds in the radio cache were issued approximately 6 times each this season

19. National Interagency Fire Center Frequency Management The National Interagency Incident Communication Division (NIICD) has 28 permanent VHF FM Frequencies assigned (7 tactical, 7 air, 7 repeater pairs (14 frequencies) –These NIICD frequencies are not cleared nationally, so they are not available to support all incidents

20. National Interagency Fire Center Approximate number of discrete frequencies assigned that were borrowed from other agencies as temporary assignments Whenever possible, the frequencies were assigned on multiple incidents that were geographically separated to save frequency resources

21. National Interagency Fire Center What Kind of Radios Are Needed? Narrowband equipment and frequencies have not been mandated yet for State and private organizations Narrowband VHF FM handheld radios are needed to eliminate potential communications breakdowns Many State fire crews working on large fires this season did not have Narrowband capable radios. NIICD radios were assigned to these crews by the Communications Unit Leaders whenever possible to ensure they had positive communications

22. National Interagency Fire Center Interoperability Issues With State and Private Cooperators With the wideband / narrowband interoperability issues, could a Fire Guard frequency be established? –Would work best if an FCC Frequency could be cleared nationally or geographically –Used as an initial contact frequency for State / Private to contact Federal responders when there is not a pre-season coordination plan in place –Federal firefighters would monitor it as they do the Air Guard frequency –After initial contact, a Wideband operational frequency would be agreed upon and programmed into the federal responders radios With the wideband / narrowband interoperability issues, could a Fire Guard frequency be established? –Would work best if an FCC Frequency could be cleared nationally or geographically –Used as an initial contact frequency for State / Private to contact Federal responders when there is not a pre-season coordination plan in place –Federal firefighters would monitor it as they do the Air Guard frequency –After initial contact, a Wideband operational frequency would be agreed upon and programmed into the federal responders radios

23. National Interagency Fire Center Pre-Season Agreements and Training A very important step in our ability to jointly respond to incidents Narrowband Basics training, recommended for all wildland firefighters Radio web site for updated information: –http://radios.nifc.gov/http://radios.nifc.gov/ Pre-season agreement example handout

24. National Interagency Fire Center BLM Radio Program Law Enforcement Fire Operations Safety BLM Radio Program Law Enforcement Fire Operations Safety

25. National Interagency Fire Center Radio Infrastructure Stakeholders Law Enforcement Fire Resources Realty Property Safety Engineering Telecommunication (IT) Procurement Frequency Management

26. National Interagency Fire Center A comprehensive radio management program is necessary to ensure safe and effective radio communications. A comprehensive radio management program is necessary to ensure safe and effective radio communications.

27. National Interagency Fire Center BLM Radio Program Issues and Needs Leadership Identify program leader with clearly defined responsibilities Identify chains of command and Table of Organization Identify clear authorities and expectations (must have ability to hold States and Centers accountable for funding and meeting stated goals and timeframes) Leadership Identify program leader with clearly defined responsibilities Identify chains of command and Table of Organization Identify clear authorities and expectations (must have ability to hold States and Centers accountable for funding and meeting stated goals and timeframes) Funding Needs a centrally funded line item for: radio replacement infrastructure replacement infrastructure expansion recurring inspections, maintenance, positions Funding Needs a centrally funded line item for: radio replacement infrastructure replacement infrastructure expansion recurring inspections, maintenance, positions

28. National Interagency Fire Center Procurement/Replacement Cycles Need a centrally managed procurement/replacement process Designation of single mobile/handheld radios Designate one make and model each Multiple models complicate operations, training, procurement Set a deadline for making a decision, e.g. 6 months EF Johnson is currently only mobile meeting BLM LE needs Racal, Motorola, and EF Johnson are currently only handhelds that meet LE needs Training Need nationally managed annual training, with consistent standards, for users and technicians Procurement/Replacement Cycles Need a centrally managed procurement/replacement process Designation of single mobile/handheld radios Designate one make and model each Multiple models complicate operations, training, procurement Set a deadline for making a decision, e.g. 6 months EF Johnson is currently only mobile meeting BLM LE needs Racal, Motorola, and EF Johnson are currently only handhelds that meet LE needs Training Need nationally managed annual training, with consistent standards, for users and technicians

29. National Interagency Fire Center Infrastructure Currently able to effectively and reliably support LE and fire ops Have ability to adapt and expand to meet future needs Staffing Adequate technical support personnel (radio techs, dispatchers) familiar with LE and fire radios Adequate repair facilities Planning Clear, comprehensive planning for future narrowband transitions: analog to digital, unsecured to AES encryption, etc. Infrastructure Currently able to effectively and reliably support LE and fire ops Have ability to adapt and expand to meet future needs Staffing Adequate technical support personnel (radio techs, dispatchers) familiar with LE and fire radios Adequate repair facilities Planning Clear, comprehensive planning for future narrowband transitions: analog to digital, unsecured to AES encryption, etc.

30. National Interagency Fire Center Questions?