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At some point today or tomorrow, I fear we will pass the boundary beyond which there are no additional resources--no crews, no aircraft, no IMTs--to assign. If that happens, areas like NorCal and the NW will have to manage current and new fires with resources on hand. 1/
This means difficult decisions about values at risk & a narrowing of priorities to possibly just whole communities & major infrastructure. ICs and leadership will have the discretion to sacrifice valuable ground for a more favorable position to use the resources they have. 2/
Expect more sharing of resources between incidents, which means a critical piece of one fire may get dealt with while a flank of another is minimally staffed. There will be more spread, more fires. Across the west, tough calls will be made at all levels. 3/
Even if you are adversely affected, know that the decisions are being made with the greatest good in mind, which always includes the safety of firefighters, law enforcement, and the public. 4/
In 2015, the situation was similar in the NW. There were no resources available and the open, unstaffed fire line on fires in OR and WA was the equivalent of mileage from Seattle to Milwaukee. 5/
Listening to those IC morning calls and hearing the pain in their voices when they were describing what needed to be done versus what could be done was gut-wrenching. Working fires where people are begging you to take action that you can't is tough. 6/
We've been here before & we'll be here again soon. We need to support all firefighters who are wrestling with the dilemmas & choosing least bad actions. In the future, we need to do a better job publicly discussing those dilemmas to take a little ethical burden off fire folks. 7/
We also need to realize that our current systems are buckling under the weight of climate change, increased urban fires, greater number of hot/dry days and months, and all the complexity those factors and many others bring to local/state/fed. 8/
As heroic, competent, well-trained, & well-equipped as our wildland firefighting forces are, there needs to be a rethinking of how we do wildland fires. We need to look at everything, including the many widely-held assumptions that came from the mid-20th century. 9/
Until we sit down and do the hard work of good reform--to include the complementary suite of prevention, preparedness, suppression, and recovery--the stress on our firefighters and all public safety/emergency management resources will continue to grow. 10/
It does take a personal toll. Suicides in the wildland fire community are way too high. We need to do better by those we depend on when bad days happen. We can't continue business as usual. 11/
So, as we move through the month, be patient. Understand firefighters may not be able to do everything. It's just a group of people doing the best they can under difficult circumstances. Then, let's think about the future.
And no new starts please. Be careful & stay safe. 12/12
And no new starts please. Be careful & stay safe. 12/12
