EFFECTIVE DATE: 01/31/1991
DURATION: This supplement is effective until superseded or removed. / 5130
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FSM 5100 – fire management
Chapter 5130 – fire suppression
5130.3 - Policy.
Managers shall make justifiable decisions on initial actions. These decisions may be preplanned; made "on-the-spot" or be "on-the-spot" changes of preplanned actions. Document all decisions and include time and decision maker. The on-the-ground fire manager should also be documenting the background decision process. The documented decision is reviewed with regard to changed conditions and/or burning periods. Continuation of existing action or significant changes in action must also be documented. File all documentation in 5130.
Fire management direction within Region 3 in the absence of an approved land management plan or fire management area plan, specifically means actions which minimize the sum of suppression costs plus resource damages.
5130.4 - Responsibilities.
"Red Cards" will be issued to all physically able personnel.
5130.41 - Regional Foresters, Forest Supervisors, and District Rangers.
1. Forest officers will take appropriate suppression action on all fires discovered on National Forest System land, land under Forest Service protection by contract or agreement, or on other lands intermingled or adjacent when the fire constitutes threat to these lands. Report all fires to the nearest Forest Service headquarters.
5131 - INITIAL ACTION.
Appropriate initial attack action must be based on approved management direction, resource values threatened, and minimization of cost plus resource damages.
When an unplanned ignition occurs in an area with documented prescriptions in an approved land management plan or fire management area plan, the resource manager must make an immediate decision to manage it as a wildfire or as a prescribed fire. Prescribed fires require monitoring of the fire by a designated monitor to insure that prescriptions and objectives are met. If the prescription is being exceeded in some area, but professional judgment indicates that objectives are being met, the prescription can be adjusted by the approving officer without declaring the prescribed fire an escaped fire. When conditions are such that objectives and or prescriptions are no longer being met, the fire must be declared an escaped fire and managed as such. Once declared an escaped fire, the fire cannot be returned to prescribed fire status. Designation of a fire as an escaped fire then requires appropriate suppression response.
Designation of an unplanned ignition as a wildfire requires appropriate initial response action. Appropriate initial action has no time constraints other than prompt implementation, rather, by inference in FSM 5131, item 4, initial action can last for an unlimited number of
burning periods, so long as the action is still consistent with management direction evaluated prior to each burning period.
5132 - ESCAPED FIRES.
Designation of escaped fire applies to prescribed fire as previously described, or to a wildfire in which the initial suppression action is no longer considered appropriate or adequate.
5132.1 - Escaped Fire Situation Analysis.
Designation of escaped fire requires an escaped fire situation analysis (EFSA) only if the appropriate actions taken during the first and prior to the second burning period following designation are not expected to provide containment. Alternatives identified in the EFSA must identify and allow the approving line officer to choose the alternative which minimizes the sum of suppression costs plus resource damages.
5134.1 - Basic Wildfire Suppression Organization.
The decision to order an Air Attack Group Supervisor (AAGS) and/or Air Operation Branch Director (AOBD) depends upon the complexity of operations. The following shall guide the decision maker.
1. A qualified Air Attack Group Supervisor will be assigned to a fire or complex of small fires when the forest fire management officer or forest aviation officer believes the air operations complexity warrents one. Only an Air Attack Group Supervisor (AAGS) qualified and red carded under the National Wildifire Coordinating Group Wildland Fire Qualifications Subsystem guide 310-1 will be assigned. Assignment of an AAGS will be limited to any combination of five or less fixed wing and/or rotor-wing aircraft.
2. An Air Operations Branch Director will be assigned to a fire when the forest fire management officer or forest aviation officer believes the complexity warrants one. The Air Operations Branch Director (AOBD) shall be qualified and red carded under the National Wildfire Coordinating Group Wildland Fire Qualifications Subsystem guide 310-1. Assign an AOBD any time there are six or more fixed and/or rotor-wing aircraft assigned to the fire.
5134.2 - National Reinforcement Resources.
Regional Suppression Crews. The Southwestern Region uses two types of suppression hand crews: Type I hand crews; that is, Interagency Hotshots, and Type II hand crews; that is, agency regular crews, and Southwest Fire Fighters (SWFF). These crews are recruited differently, for different purposes, and operate under different rules. In fire suppression emergencies, agency regular crews and SWFF crews will be recruited to supplement available Type II hand crews. In cases of SWFF recruitment, the policies and guidelines in FSH 5109.32, Fireline Handbook, Region 3 supplement, chapter 20, will apply.
1. Type I Hand Crews, that is, Interagency Hotshot. The primary objective of hotshot crews is fire suppression. To meet this objective, they must be ready as a crew unit and trained to provide initial attack or fast reinforcement action. To accomplish this, insure that (1) work schedules will include the major daily burning periods and the high hazard and occurrence days, and (2) dependable on-and-off Forest transportation is provided. Each crew shall be self-supporting. Transportation shall be by crew carrier or bus. The crew carriers or bus will have proper space for seating plus storage for hauling hand tools, MRE's, canteens, flashlights, and each person's personal pack.
The goals of the hotshot crew program are to place any or all Region 3 hotshot crews on a given fire in time to perform effective suppression work for the first night shift and to arrive on any fire in the Region within 6 hours from dispatch and in 4 hours if located within the same state as the fire.
Hotshot crews will consist of 18-20 persons (one superintendent; two squad bosses; and 16-17 crew members).
On-Forest hotshot crews will be considered initial attack resources and be required to meet local "get-away" time standards.
Off-Forest hotshot crews will be considered first line reinforcements. "Get-away" requirements will be:
1. During duty hours. Leave station or worksite within 30 minutes after dispatch order is passed to the crew superintendent.
2. During off duty hours. Leave station within 2 hours after dispatch order is passed to the crew superintendent.
Only after the primary objective is fulfilled will the crew be considered a "contributed" labor force. After fire suppression, priority for other activities will be:
a. Physical and aerobic conditioning
b. Training
c. Presuppression
d. Maintenance of fire improvements
e. Maintenance of administrative improvements
f. Other Forest Jobs
A hotshot crew will be organized, trained, and worked on normal jobs as a single-crew unit. On suppression assignments, the crew may be broken into squads if the fire situation requires.
Recruitment will normally be through regular personnel recruitment procedures.
The crew shall be employed under regular appointment authorities.
When crews travel via ground transportation or foot, they shall travel with their complete personal packs. Handtools will be taken with the crew on fire assignments within the Southwest Area. Unless specifically requested, crews shall not take tools on aircraft when on assignment outside the Southwest Area. Each crew shall purge and take two chainsaws, with chaps on every assignment. Fusees cannot be transported in aircraft unless in their designated boxes and so marked. Fusees shall not be carried in personal packs when crews are transported by air. Transport of fusees in personal packs can result in civil prosecution of the individual for violation of FAA regulations.
When hotshot crews are transported by air within the Southwest Area, their assigned ground transportation will be dispatched as requested. If a hotshot crew is transported via twin otter, a second aircraft may be required unless their assigned ground transportation is sent.
A complete hotshot personal pack will not exceed 25 pounds. As a minimum, it will consist of:
One - hand tool
One - headlight with batteries
One - 1-quart canteen without water
One - fire ration
Gear to provide personal needs for 2 weeks of fireline duty.
One - back pack
(The superintendent's personal pack will include a crew first aid kit, two files with handles and guards, and a supply of crew and individual timeslips in lieu of a fireline tool.)
The above weight limitations do not include items normally worn such as: boots, gloves, fire shirt, jacket, hardhat, and a 1-quart canteen with water. The personal weight posted on the individual hardhat will include the weight of these items. In all cases, the total crew weight shall not exceed 4800 pounds.
2. Type II Hand Crews. All SWFF crews are recruited from the various pueblos, communities, and reservations in Arizona and New Mexico. A current list of available crews can be found in chapter 60 of the Mobilization Plan.
Management of SWFF is directed through a coordinated effort of the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Park Service, and the New Mexico Department of State Forestry. Representatives of these agencies establish the policies and guidelines for the SWFF.
a. A crew will consist of a maximum of 20 persons (one Crew Representative; one Crew Leader; three squad bosses; and 15 crew members). Trainees in any position will reduce the crew member numbers.
b. Pay Plan for Emergency Firefighters will provide the employment authority and pay rates (Crew Leader, AD-4; Squad Boss, AD-3; Crew Member, AD-2).
c. A Crew Representative will be provided for each crew.
d. An Area Resources Coordination Officer (ARCO) will be provided any time four or more crews are dispatched out of the Southwest Area.
e. Disciplinary action for unsatisfactory performance or conduct enroute to, from, or on the fire or duty station, is the responsibility of the Crew Representative, Crew Leader, or Squad Boss. This responsibility cannot be redelegated to the recruiting Forest or agency.
f. Job descriptions for Area Resource Coordination Officer, Crew Representative, SWFF Crew Bosses and SWFF Squad Bosses are in FSH 5109.32 Fireline Handbook, Region 3 supplement, chapter 40.
3. Type II Hand Crews. Agency regular crews can be recruited at any time to meet fire suppression needs regionally or nationally. Crew member assignment is at the discretion of the local unit fire management officer, and shall not be restricted due to higher fire "Red-Card" qualifications.
a. A crew will consist of a maximum of 20 persons (one crew boss; three squad bosses; and 16 crew members). Trainees in any position will reduce crew member numbers.
b. Agency regular crews are expected to travel as regular employees under standard travel regulations. Meals and lodging, outside of a fire camp or staging area situation, will not normally be provided by the government.
c. Each crew member will equip themselves in a manner equivalent to that outlined for hotshot personal pack requirements.
d. All other guides, rules and regulations concerning hotshot crew members, that is, travel with gear, weight limitations, work as a crew or squads, and transport of flammables, shall apply to agency regular crews.
5134.6 - National Incident Management Teams.
Regional Fire Overhead Teams. The process for selecting and managing two Interagency Incident Management Teams, maintained for Regionwide, interregional, and interagency assignments is found in the Southwest Region Mobilization Plan, section 62. This plan supplements the National Mobilization Guide issued by the National Interagency Fire Coordination Center.