Australia: U.S.F.S to send 60 wildland fire personnel

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Australia: U.S.F.S to send 60 wildland fire personnel

U.S.F.S Deployment to Australia. - National Interagency Coordination Center in Boise, Idaho news release:

February 11, 2009 [Boise, Idaho] The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) received a request for assistance from Australia, in the wake of unprecedented fire activity in the southeastern part of Australia. Wildfires in Australia have claimed at least 200 lives in the past week.

The United States will send 60 wildfire specialists to Australia to meet this request. American specialists include wildland fire personnel with expertise operations, planning and logistics. Two thirteen-person teams specializing in rehabilitating burned areas, and one 20-person suppression team also will be sent. The specialists, all from federal agencies, will come from throughout the United States. Their length of deployment will be up to 35 days.

Deployment information:
Firefighters will be traveling to Australia in a group(s) on the same flight. NIFC/NICC will designate the Chief of Party for the group.

This fire assignment will be to the State of Victoria, Australia. You will fly from the U.S. to Melbourne, the capital of Victoria. You will be working for the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE), which is the main state land management agency. HERE is the main website for current firefighting activities involving DSE.

You will also work with other Victorian State agencies such as Parks Victoria. The State of Victoria has a single volunteer fire fighting organization, the Country Fire Authority (CFA). You will also be working with CFA firefighters. Their website is: http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/.
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As of Thursday, fires in Australia have killed 181 people, damaged or destroyed 1,069 private dwellings, and burned more than 1 million acres.

Additional info: In total, 63 firefighters nationwide are being sent to help in the wildfire effort, under an international-aid agreement. The U.S. contingent will include smoke jumpers, rapellers, hotshot crew members, fire management personnel, a meteorologist and four burned area recovery(BAER) specialists.

They'll depart Friday and rendezvous with other firefighters in Los Angeles before heading to Melborne. They will be in the State of Victoria, working for the Department of Sustainability and Environment for up to 35 days.

Australians, New Zealanders and Canadians, among others, have assisted with U.S. wildfires. The last time U.S. firefighters were last deployed to Australia was in late 2006 and early 2007.

The United States and Australia signed a mutual assistance agreement in 2001. Similar incident command structures, training and physical requirements allow firefighters from one country to easily work with another.

Since the agreement was signed, Australia has sent firefighters and managers to the United States in 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2008. The United States sent firefighters and managers to Australia in 2003 and 2007.

Update: Feb. 13, 2009 -DOI contingent info -

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of the Interior will immediately deploy 29 experienced wildland firefighters to Australia to help battle raging wildfires in Victoria State, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today.

The Department of Agriculture’s U.S. Forest Service also is sending about 31 wildland firefighters as part of the United States assistance.

On February 11, the State Government of Victoria formally requested U.S. assistance, including two 13-member Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation teams; one suppression crew (20 people); three planning chiefs; four operations chiefs; three logistics chiefs; one public information officer; three liaison officers

The wildland firefighters Interior is sending include 18 from the Bureau of Land Management; five from the National Park Service; three from the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and three from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

All are federal employees who will be deployed for up to 35 days. Departures are scheduled to begin today. Australia will reimburse the United States for all expenses, including salaries.

Source: http://www.nifc.gov/fire_info/news/nr_Australia_Assistance020909.pdf

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How fires get their names

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Thursday, February 12, 2009