Interagency Fire Coordination

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Many different entities at all levels of government provide wildland fire protection. Cooperative and mutual aid agreements, Annual Operating Plans, and local and State Fire Response and Mitigation plans all outline how these various organizations, including the North Dakota Forest Service, will respond, provide mutual aid, ensure firefighter and public safety and encourage cost effective fire protection. Much of the coordination happens within the framework of the National Interagency Incident Management System.

In most cases in North Dakota, the initial response to a wildland fire will be a from rural fire department (R F D). If a fire exceeds the capability of the responding R F D , they may have to request mutual aid from neighboring districts. Local response and mitigation plans detail these agreements and relationships. Several R F D, along with mutual aid partners from other agencies, may work together fighting new fires or those that escape initial attack.

If a wildland fire grows to the point where it exceeds these mutual aid capabilities, R F D may request assistance from the state through the Fire Annex of the State Emergency Operations Plan. The North Dakota Forest Service is the lead agency in the coordination of wildfire emergencies involving state and private land in North Dakota.

In addition to the relationship and agreements the agency maintains with R F Ds across the state, we are also a member of the Northern Rockies Coordinating Group through the North Dakota Fire Council. It is through this coordination that we are able to access the National Interagency Incident Mobilization System, or dispatch system, for short.

When a wildfire emergency exists and the R F Ds request assistance, the North Dakota Forest Service contacts the North Dakota Dispatch Center (N D C) for help. The N D C will first request firefighting agencies within the state for assistance. If no local resources are available, the request is forwarded to the Geographic Area Coordination Center (G A C C). The G A C C will locate and dispatch additional firefighters and support personnel to North Dakota.

The North Dakota Interagency Dispatch Center web site is: http://ndc.fws.gov/

The Northern Rockies Coordinating Group web site is: http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/fire/nrcg/

Interagency Fire Coordination

Coordination of fire response at the local level, begins with volunteer fire departments interacting with their mutual aid partners, the North Dakota Division of Emergency Management and the North Dakota Forest Service. The State Emergency Operations Plan may be activated.

On the national level, coordination is through the North Dakota Fire Council and the North Dakota Dispatch Center in Upham, N D, then up to the Northern Rockies Coordinating Group in Missoula, Montana, and then to the National Wildfire Coordinating Group in Boise, Idaho.

North Dakota Fire Response on State and Private Lands

Rural Fire Departments respond to fires that escape initial attack by activating their mutual aid agreements and notifying their County Emergency Manager. The County Emergency Manager notifies the North Dakota Division of Emergency Management, which in turns activates the State Emergency Operations Plan.  That plan authorizes the North Dakota Forest Service to secure additional interagency resources through the North Dakota Dispatch Center.