Updated: 01/13/00 12:49

Click on images for larger charts of 10-year fire and acre statistics.

Fire is an important natural process and its value in enhancing the health of an ecosystem,  cannot be overstated.  Fire can reduce dense vegetation improving wildlife habitat and lessening the potential for large, disastrous wildfire.

Land managers are directed to prepare a prescribed fire/burn plan for every acre of public land that can burn.  Some areas require total suppression while others will benefit from a wildland fire.  Those acres that will benefit from a fire can either be treated by a management ignited fire (prescribed fire) or a naturally ignited fire (wildland fire use) which is managed to achieve resource benefits under close supervision.  

Prescribed Fires and Acres Reported to NIFC as of December 30, 1999

Wildland Fire Use Fires and Acres Reported to NIFC as of December 30, 1999

Because the agencies at NIFC have developed such an efficient rapid response system, they are often asked to assist with other types of incidents throughout the nation and the world.  Requests for domestic incidents will come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, while international assistance requests are facilitated through the State Department.

• In mid-February, the National Interagency Fire Center sent 32 hand-held radios, repeaters and aircraft communications equipment to assist crews with the clean up efforts for the New Carissa oil tanker stranded off the Oregon Coast near Coos Bay.

• On June 10, NIFC sent 48 hand-held radios and other communication equipment to assist relief efforts near Oglala, South Dakota, after a tornado ripped through the southwest part of  the state.

• In September, tropical hurricanes Dennis and Floyd pounded the east coast.  NIFC sent incident management teams to assist with relief efforts in the wake of the storms to manage receiving and distribution centers.

By working with land management agencies and local communities, prevention and education teams can raise the awareness of fire danger and help reduce the risk of human-caused fires when extreme burning conditions exist.  Conditions in Florida, Minnesota and Montana/northern Idaho prompted land managers to request these teams as fire danger increased.

Florida
Florida experienced weather conditions that set the stage for extreme fire activity reminiscent of 1998.  Five prevention and education teams were mobilized to the state in early spring raising public awareness about the danger of another siege of wildland fires.  As a result, the number of human-caused fires dropped significantly even in the face of increasing fire danger.

Minnesota
On July 4th, an intense thunderstorm, accompanied by winds in excess of 90 miles per hour, pounded an area in the Superior National Forest.  In its wake, nearly half a million acres of timber was leveled.  The downed trees and drought-like weather conditions created a tinder box for wildland fires.  A fire prevention and education team was asked to assist the Forest in developing and implementing a comprehensive fire prevention program to mitigate human-caused fires.

Montana/Northern Idaho
By early August, fire danger was high, human-caused fires were on the rise, and several planned community events were expected to bring thousands of people into communities and the wildlands of Montana and northern Idaho.  A prevention and education team first concentrated its efforts near Butte, Montana, the area of most concern, and then targeted other areas between the two states where fire danger was reported as extreme.

Throughout the United States it is more and more common to see homes and other types of structures in wildland environments.  This trend is creating an expansion of wildland/urban interface areas where structures are located next to large amounts of vegetation.  Because of their location, these structures are extremely vulnerable to fire should a wildland fire occur in the surrounding area. 

 In 1999, 817 structures (residences and outbuildings) were destroyed by wildland fires from 13 states.  Nearly 750 of those structures were burned in nine fires in California.  One particularly devastating event was the Jones fire near Redding, California, where 428 structures succumbed to the 26,000 acre blaze.

There are resources available to homeowners in the wildland/urban interface to learn about keeping their property safe from wildland fires.  The FireWise web site <www.firewise.org> provides information to protect your home from unnecessary loss to wildland fire.

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