Firewise Rural Communities

Fire safe house that survived the California fires of 1994

After federal agencies contributed to fighting almost 94,000 wildfires in 1999 and after the 2000 Cerro Grande fire in Los Alamos, New Mexico destroyed 235 structures, the president directed the secretaries of agriculture and interior to develop a plan to respond to wildfires, reduce the impacts of wildfires on rural communities and ensure safe fire management for the future. What evolved was a community-focused plan that regional development organizations are suited to deliver.

The National Fire Funding Plan proposes an “Urban Wildland Interface Communities” initiative, expanding rural fire protection and community education. Jack Sept, Chief Executive of External Affairs for the National Interagency Fire Center, explains, “With federal agencies working together to increase investments in community fire risk and hazard reduction, we avoid duplicating services and are strengthening fire protection.”

Wildland Interface Communities
The Urban Wildland Interface Communities initiative, in which fire protection, education and assistance is aimed at communities located near federal lands and Indian Trust Lands, is the impetus for many of the rural and community education programs. The US Departments of Agriculture and Interior, under the initiative, work together to provide communities the opportunity to learn about risk evaluation and fire behavior, and inventory their fire protection infrastructure. Sept explains, “Volunteers sometimes are able to respond to federal land fires first, making their safety preparedness manageable with regional planning.”

Rural Fire Programs
The Kiamichi Economic Development District in Oklahoma (KEDDO), an Economic Development Administration funded district serving seven counties, is one regional development organization whose regional planning and delivery of rural volunteer fire programs exemplifies Sept’s point. Chester Dennis, KEDDO’s Executive Director, described KEDDO’s rural programs, “We administer fire fuel reduction education, develop volunteer training facilities and operational grants for vehicles and workers compensation reserves, build fire stations, distribute material supplies for dry hydrants and wet hydrants, distribute reconditioned military gear, and manage revolving funds to purchase protective gear.”

KEDDO, like other regional organizations in Oklahoma, has a state contract to employ a regional fire coordinator. Jimmy Pitts, Oklahoma Forester and Director of the agriculture department’s rural fire division, commented on regional development organization contributions to program growth, “The contracts started as a pilot program in 1980 and grew into what we have today. Having an experienced regional field contact has helped volunteer programs grow from about 45 to 940.”

Firewise Communities
Larry Morgan, KEDDO’s Regional Fire Coordinator, says, “Community education about fuel reductions can be hard to illustrate. Through Oklahoma’s involvement in the Firewise Community program we expect to be offering community workshops.” Firewise, already established before the 2000 national plan, offers states a chance to bring private and public stakeholders together to learn about fuel reductions in workshops.

Pat Durland, Firewise Director at the National Interagency Fire Center, reported that some states, like Oklahoma, are using Firewise to accomplish the national plan’s goal to ensure fire management in the future. Pat McDowell, Oklahoma’s Assistant Director of the Agriculture Forestry division, and Sam Stranton of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), are working to bring Oklahoma’s fire fighting community and general public together at workshops. Regional fire coordinators, with the support of regional development organizations, will be trained to facilitate the workshops.

By Kelly Novak, NADO Research Foundation Research Manager To learn more about fire management programs, contact the National Interagency Fire Center at (208) 387-5512 or visit www.nifc.gov; Kiamichi EDD of Oklahoma at (918) 465-2367; Oklahoma Forestry Division and BIA at (405) 522-6146; Oklahoma Rural Fire Division at (405) 288-2386.

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