Fire Planning, Fire and Fuels Management Step-up Plans

9211 (931) P
July 18, 2012
EMS TRANSMISSION: 7/27/2012
Instruction Memorandum No. WY-2012-042
Expires: 9/30/2013
To: District Managers
From: Associate State Director
Subject: Step-up Plans
Program Area: Fire Planning, Fire and Fuels Management
Purpose: This Instruction Memorandum (IM) provides direction to create and maintain a
Step-up Plan. In addition, this IM provides clarification to information found in the 2012
Interagency Standards for Fire and Fire Aviation Operations (the Red Book).
Policy/Action: BLM Wyoming Districts will each create and maintain a Step-up Plan that
provides guidance for actions to occur, mainly related to staffing, as fire danger increases. The
Step-up Plan will include:
• Number of staffing levels used by the District
• Fire danger component or index and the range of that used to determine each staffing levels
• Preparedness and supplemental preparedness actions that could be taken on the District under
each of the District’s staffing levels
• Any additional conditions that could cause an create a need for implementation of
supplemental preparedness
• Potential funding sources for supplemental preparedness.
The Step-up Plan should be based on analysis completed as part of the District’s Fire Danger
Operating Plan (FDOP), which is required per the Red Book. This Step-up Plan should be
included in the unit’s FDOP, and may be best incorporated as an appendix to the FDOP. An
example of a Step-up Plan is included as Attachment 1.
Timeframe: Step-up Plans, that are part of the manager approved FDOP, must be in place
before the Wyoming State Office will approve spending of State Director Severity for short-term
needs that go beyond normal preparedness.
Budget Impact: Minimal budget impact is expected.
United States Department of the Interior
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Wyoming State Office
P.O. Box 1828
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009-1828
IN REPLY REFER TO:
2
Background: Preparedness actions are based on operational plans such as FDOPs, Preparedness
Level Plans, Step-up Plans, and/or Initial Response Plans. While the Red Book addresses many
operational plans, it does not consistently clearly differentiation between the variety of plans
which has caused some confusion in the field.
Beginning in 2012, the BLM required each unit to develop and maintain a Fire Danger Operating
Plan (FDOP). FDOPs guide the application of information from decision support tools, such as
the National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS), by describing how this information is applied
to unit fire management decisions. The FDOP is an overarching plan that contains analysis that
should be used in the development of many of the other preparedness plans. These other
preparedness plans do not need to be stand-alone documents, but instead a unit could create a
“FDOP and Preparedness Plan” and incorporate these plans as either an appendix or a separate
section in the plan. An example of an analysis that is part of the FDOP and then used in another
preparedness plan is the analysis for determining Staffing Levels. Staffing Levels is the daily
staffing of initial attack resources (how many resources are available on the unit?), as opposed to
the actual dispatching of initial attack resources to a specific incident (how many resources are
sent to a new fire?). Staffing Levels only take fire danger into consideration and are often
confused with Preparedness Levels, which incorporates more than fire danger alone. Staffing
Levels are based on one of the following: Ignition Component, Spread Component, Energy
Release Component, Burning Index, or Keetch-Byram Drought Index. A unit may have a few as
three and as many as nine Staffing Levels. The FDOP should contain the analysis for
determining the unit’s Staffing Levels. Once the FDOP Staffing Level analysis is complete,
information from that analysis is entered into the Weather Information Management System
(WIMS) fire danger rating processor, which then computes daily Staffing Levels as a direct
output of the system. The Staffing Level analysis information could then be used for a Step-up
or Staffing Plan (see below).
It is important to understand that Staffing Levels are not equivalent to Adjective Fire Danger
Ratings (Adjective Ratings) although both are calculated in WIMS based on parameters provided
by local fire managers and both should be addressed in the unit’s FDOP. Staffing Levels are for
internal agency use, while Adjective Ratings are general descriptions of fire danger for the
purpose of informing the public. A unit may have three to nine Staffing Levels, but there are
always five levels for Adjective Ratings. The five levels for Adjective Ratings are described by
either the following words or colors: Low (L) or green, Moderate (M) or blue, High (H) or
yellow, Very High (VH) or orange, and Extreme (E) or red. Adjective Ratings are based on
Staffing Levels combined with the Ignition Component.
Preparedness Level Plans are required at the national, State/regional, and local level. These
plans address the five Preparedness Levels (PLs) and provide management direction based on
plan identified levels of burning conditions, fire activity, and resource commitments; unlike
Staffing Levels Preparedness Level consider other risk and workload factors in addition to fire
danger. In the past, units have confused the Preparedness Levels with Adjective Ratings most
3
likely because both five levels. They are different indicators to help guide different types of
decisions. Often times these Preparedness Level Plans are incorporated in a local unit’s FDOP
and in a State/regional level’s or national level’s mobilization guide.
Step-up Plans, also called Staffing Plans, are not required by national policy, but are now
required by BLM Wyoming. Step-up plans are designed to direct incremental preparedness
actions in response to increasing fire danger. These actions are delineated by Staffing Levels.
The Step-up plan should address the different Staffing Levels for the unit and the corresponding
planned actions intended to address the changing fire danger conditions. A Step-up Plan should
also include supplemental preparedness actions. Supplemental preparedness actions are
designed to enhance a unit’s fire management capability during short periods (e.g., one burning
period, July 4, or other pre-identified event) where normal staffing cannot meet initial attack,
prevention or detection needs. As previously mentioned these plans should be incorporated in
the local unit’s FDOP.
Initial Response Plans, also referred to as Preplanned Dispatch Plans or Run Cards, specify the
response within a defined geographic area to an unplanned ignition based on fire weather, fuel
conditions, fire management objectives and resource availability.
Directives Affected: This IM clarifies direction provided in Chapter 10 of the Red Book. In the
future, direction on maintaining Step-up Plans will be included in the BLM Wyoming Planned
Target Allocation (PTA) and/or Annual Work Plan (AWP) Directives.
Coordination: The BLM Wyoming State Office Fire and Aviation staff coordinated the
issuance of this IM with Wyoming’s District Managers and Fire Management Officers, as well
as with the BLM representative to the NWCG Fire Danger Subcommittee.
Contact: Please contact Gwenan Poirier, Fire Planner BLM CO and WY, at 303-239-3689 or
Jeff Fedrizzi, State Fire Management Officer BLM WY, at 307-775-6234 with any questions or
concerns.
Signed By: Authenticated
Stephanie Connolly Sherry Dixon
Associate State Director Secretary
Distribution
Director (FA-100), Boise, ID 1 w/atch
Field Managers 1 w/atch
Fire Management Officers 1 w/atch
CF 1 w/atch
1 Attachment
1 – Example Template (3 p)