Wildland Fire Operations Risk Management Information Paper

Topic: Emphasis on risk management in wildland fire operations for 2007

Background: Over the past several weeks, there have been several accidents and near misses in various parts of the country involving wildland fire personnel and equipment. They include:

Serious injuries sustained by firefighters during a fire burn-over in Nevada
Two fire shelter deployment incidents in California, one included the loss of vehicles
An entrapment situation in Montana involving three vehicles and seven people, no injuries
One air tanker, two SEATs and one helicopter were damaged while working on fires, no fatalities

Analysis of wildland firefighter fatalities for the period 1990 – 2006 shows that 310 people nationwide (all agencies including contractors) were killed during wildland fire operations. The report portrays four major causes of death, responsible for 275 or 89% of those deaths, as follows:

Aircraft accidents, 72 people, 23% of total
Vehicle accidents, 71 people, 23% of total
Heart attacks, 68 people, 22% of total
Burnovers, 64 people, 21% of total

Luckily, none of the incidents that occurred this past month resulted in a fatality, but any of them could have easily had such a result. Given the fact that 2007 is already proving to be a challenging fire season, it is appropriate to focus on greater situation awareness and effective risk management.

Situation Awareness: Fuels across the western U.S. are extremely dry due to a combination of factors including low snow winter pack, below normal spring rains, high June/July temperatures, and increased vegetation mortality from drought, disease and insects. Recent fire activity has exhibited rapid spread and erratic behavior in areas where live fuel moistures are generally between 70 to 90 percent, well below seasonal averages for this date. Energy Release Component numbers are correspondingly at or above historical maximums in most western states. Thousand–hour dead fuel moistures are approaching all time record lows. This situation raises the following concerns for firefighters:

Anticipate runs in dry live fuels such as pinyon and juniper, especially in windy conditions. Do not assume green fuels will not burn.
Anticipate easy ignition and rapid spread in flashy fine fuels.
Watch for moderate to long range spotting from torching trees or active crown fires.
Anticipate fire whirls in hot, unstable conditions which can rapidly jeopardize control lines and increase fire growth rate.
Watch for fire to exhibit extreme spread rates, elongated flame fronts, and an increase in volume of aerial fire brands.

Key Points for Risk Management: We know what kills us on wildland fire operations; the causes of death do not change over time, just the numbers of people. We also know the mitigations for these hazards:

Aviation operations: ensure that the mission is necessary and that everyone on board is essential to the mission. Preplan flights, identify known flight hazards and take action to mitigate risks.
Vehicle accidents: use seat belts and adhere to agency driving policies to avoid driving while fatigued. Use caution on narrow dirt roads and when environmental conditions are unfavorable, e.g., night time, dust, smoke, wildlife. Use caution on steep roads when driving a heavily loaded vehicle or one where the load can shift.
Heart attacks: maintain a high level of physical fitness and a healthy diet; monitor your health with the help of a physician.
Burnovers: use LCES and the Standard Firefighting Orders to identify hazards and mitigate risks; use the Watch Out Situations to detect hazardous situations early and avoid or mitigate them; maintain situation awareness and crew cohesion at all times.
Human Factors: Human error typically contributes to about 80 of wildland fire/aviation accidents. Here are key issues to remember:

Task Saturation:

Potential for human error is increased when personnel must multi-task as a result of the mission/ergonomic environment (human/machine interface), the organization, or the complexity of a tactical operation) thereby losing situational awareness.

Ensure that personnel are qualified in their assigned position and trained in techniques for workload management (i.e. delegate tasks, adjust tactics, reduce number of resources if necessary, get additional personnel to help with operation). It may be helpful to establish local/personal "trigger points" to identify when task saturation is at a critical level. When practical attend Crew Resource Management and/or simulator training.

Risk vs. Reward:

Routine acceptance of high-risk assignments as a normal job expectation is a hazardous attitude.

Assess the complexity, as well as the need/value for the mission, ask if it can be done another way, and ask if all personnel are essential to the flight/mission. Solicit input from the fire line and pilots as to the effectiveness of fire tactics.

Fatigue/Burnout:

Extended duration of incident assignments as well as year round incident support (i.e. hurricane relief, fire support, other all-risk) contribute to the cumulative effects of fatigue leading to poor decision making, risk taking and complacency.

Ensure that personnel are allowed adequate periods of rest between assignments. Monitor symptoms of cumulative job fatigue and be proactive to implement duty restrictions for affected personnel. Emphasize restrictions on personnel that are in extended travel status vs. those operating from home base. Adhere to work/rest guidelines, if necessary implement a more restrictive rest policy based on personal/family needs.

These are but a few of the mitigations for some of the hazards that wildland firefighters confront each day. Wildland firefighters have many more risk management methods in their repertoire; many of these are contained in the Incident Response Pocket Guide (IRPG) which should be carried and referred to frequently by all firefighters regardless of experience level.

Now is the time for managers at all organizational levels to engage firefighters and subordinate line officers on the subject of risk management. Leaders at all levels need to lead. Personal attention and conversation indicates your level of commitment to keeping firefighters alive and healthy.

Wildland Fire Operations Risk Management Information Paper

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