So, I got my Red Card!
Which reminded me… you guys probably have NO idea what a Red Card is.
And… you probably have NO idea what I’m talking about half the time when I recap my Forest Service PIO (huh!?) experiences on Type 1 incidents (what!?) like the Backbone Fire and the Tunnel Fire.
Ah, the joys of working for the government!
During my stint in the Peace Corps, I ended up writing a quick blog post explaining all the acronyms, initialisms, slang and jargon I commonly used during my service… and here on my blog.
So, I’m going to do the same for my current job.
This one’s a long one.
Despite the fact that most of my Peace Corps service happened in another language in another alphabet in another country, I think it was easier to explain what I did in the Peace Corps vs. what I’m doing now.
Let’s start with a few simple things.
MY JOB TITLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
My job title is REALLY confusing. I technically have three job titles:
- Public Affairs Specialist. This is my federal “series” job title. It’s standard across all government agencies. It’s the job title that I was officially hired in as. It even has a number code: 1035. I never publicly use this job title, but it’s my technical job title that I use formally.
- Deputy Public Affairs Officer/ Public Affairs Officer (DPAO/ PAO). This is my forest-level job title. I’m a deputy here on the Coconino (meaning I report to the Public Affairs Officer), but when I was working on the Tahoe, I was the Public Affairs Officer with a deputy that reported to me. My boss (the Public Affairs Officer) and I (the Deputy Public Affairs Officer) as well as the third person in our office (the Social Media Manager) are all, technically, 1035 Public Affairs Specialists. However, we had different forest-level job titles that more accurately reflect our job duties.
- Public Information Officer (PIO). This is the job title listed on my Red Card, pictured above. It’s not my day-to-day job title, but it’s the title of the job I am formally qualified to do. It’s the job title I would use should I ever work on an off-forest wildfire with a separate incident management team.
I know that last bullet point is hard to explain, but I’ll elaborate on it in a bit.
The great news? The job title I use doesn’t really change my job responsibilities. On a day-to-day basis, I focus on public communication. Whether I’m working on a fire or not, I write, edit and send press releases, update social media, create materials (digital and physical, like fliers, photos and videos) for public consumption, plan and execute public meetings, give media interviews, update our website and answer public questions.
WILDFIRES AND OTHER INCIDENTS: INCIDENT AND RESOURCE TYPES, AND INCIDENT MANAGEMENT TEAMS (IMTS)
When I talk about “wildfires,” I’ll often refer to them as “incidents.” “Incident” is a broader term that includes everything from natural disasters (wildfires, hurricanes, floods) to terrorist attacks (September 11). Because I work for Forest Service, the most common incidents I work on are, obviously, wildfires.
Incidents — and their resources — range from simple to complex, and each incident — and resource — is given a “type,” ranging from a “Type 1” to a “Type 5.”
The more complex an incident is, the lower its number is. Type 1 incidents — like September 11, or the Dixie Fire — are very complex and need a lot of resources both physical — like equipment — and human — like staff officers and pilots and medics.
Keep in mind: Complexity doesn’t mean size! A one-acre wildfire in the middle of Phoenix is more of a threat and requires more resources than a one-acre wildfire in an uninhabited wilderness area in northern Arizona, right? Right.
Similarly, the more highly-trained and capable a resource is, the lower its number is. A Type 1 helicopter is better equipped to handle a larger incident than a Type 3 helicopter. (This National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) webpage breaks down the difference.)
Because people are considered resources too, a Type 1 PIO (PIO1) is more capable of handling a high-complexity incident than a Type 3 PIO (PIOF/3), just due to the amount of experience and training that PIO has had.
While less-complex wildfires can be handled at the forest level using the resources we have on forest — like engines, hand crews and staff officers — large-scale incidents require us to order additional resources — sometimes even IMTs.
IMTs are fully staffed with every resource needed to manage the fire, according to what’s called the Incident Command System (ICS), and the National Incident Management System (NIMS) framework, which was developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
ICS and NIMS basically dictate who does what and how everyone works together.
If you’re truly interested in all this, you can take the FEMA ICS-100 class online for free (it’s a few hours long), which gives an overview of how incidents are staffed and managed.
Because some incidents get so complex, many different people from many different agencies, sectors, backgrounds and experience levels are used. NIMS and ICS were developed to ensure that all incidents are managed similarly, and that — regardless of someone’s job position — everyone is completely qualified in a standard way.
This leads us to…
INCIDENT QUALIFICATIONS (THE INCIDENT QUALIFICATION CARD, AKA, THE “RED CARD”)
Working in wildfire involves a lot of what we call “interagency collaboration.” Basically, when a large wildfire starts on city land, moves to Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, approaches Forest Service (USFS) land and threatens things like water reservoirs, utilities infrastructure, private homes and businesses? You’re going to have a lot of people from a lot of different agencies (and the private sector) stepping up to help. Even if National Park Service (NPS) land isn’t threatened, NPS employs a lot of perfectly capable people who — rather than idly sitting by and watching — can jump in and help.
This is why we have Incident Qualifications.
An Incident Qualification Card, also known as a “Red Card,” lists each and every job an individual is qualified to perform on an incident. This NPS page gives a great breakdown of what that means.
In the realm of wildfires, the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) sets those qualification requirements. Depending on what you want to do and what level you want to do it at, your requirements will be different. Some positions, like FFT2 (Firefighter Type 2) require fitness tests and classes. Other positions (like… mine, a PIO) require classes and tests. Some positions also require what are called “task books,” which are — quite literally — a list of tasks to complete while supervised for the experience.
Once you pass a class (and a test if it’s required), you get a certificate. We call them “certs” for short. All of these certs are entered into a database, called the Incident Qualifications and Certification System (IQCS) which tracks who is qualified for what job, and who is working toward qualifications for that job.
That way, no matter what agency you work for, you meet the same standards as everyone else. It’s just a way of standardizing training for incident management.
Here’s what my task book looks like, and here’s the list of all the qualifications I need to be a Type 3 PIO. I’m almost done with my task book and — as you can see above — I’m two classes away from meeting my PIOF(3) quals! I’ve written before about some of the classes I’ve taken, like S-203 and S-130/190.
So… this goes back to the previous section about resource types? This is how you obtain that.
I’m currently a PIO Technician and am a PIOF(3) Trainee. That means that once I’m qualified as a Type 3 PIO, I can be the lead PIO on Type 3 incidents. Then, I’ll have to take a few more classes and complete another task book, and I’ll be qualified as a PIO2 — a Type 2 PIO. That means I can serve as the lead PIO on Type 2 incidents. Does that make sense?
Even though I’m not fully qualified as a Type 3 PIO, I’m still able to work on larger incidents. I just can’t lead them.
…Yet.
BUT, RANDI! YOUR RECENT POST ABOUT THE TUNNEL FIRE SAID YOU WERE THE LEAD PIO FOR A TEAM OF EIGHT. IF YOU AREN’T QUALIFIED TO WORK AS A LEAD PIO, HOW DOES THAT WORK?
Aha, ya got me.
Some incidents stay so minor that we’re able to handle them on-unit (so, at a forest level) from start to finish. Some incidents, however, become complex enough that we need to “order” an IMT.
We “order” all the resources we need that aren’t available on-forest. We only have three full-time public affairs officers, so when a complex fire breaks out and we need more hands on deck? We go back to our forest’s dispatch center and put in an order for PIOs. Our dispatch center works with NIFC to get those resource orders filled. NIFC manages ALL the wildland firefighting resources in the country.
So, if we see a small fire blowing up into something of a higher complexity and we know that it’s beyond our capabilities as a forest-level team?
We’ll order a Type 1 team through NIFC.
But… because of the increasing severity of wildfires due to a slew of factors such as drought, climate change, prior forest management, development in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) — we don’t have nearly enough resources to meet the needs of our incidents.
I could write an entire dang blog post on that, don’t get me started.
Sometimes, we can’t get the Type 1 team we need because they’re staffing another wildfire. That means we do what we can with what we have.
Which is why I served as the lead PIO on the Tunnel Fire for several days — we didn’t have a local Southwest-area IMT available, so we had to wait for a Pacific Northwest-based team to travel down to the region. In the interim, I, as the home-unit (D)PAO, filled that role until the IMT’s PIO could come in and relieve me of my duty.
Got it?
THE ACRONYM GUIDE:
So, here are some of the initialisms and acronyms that I use frequently with my job.
If you’re really and truly interested, the NWCG has a really great glossary of wildland fire that’s incredibly useful for translating firefighter into English.
I’ll try to update this as often as I can think to!
(This is NOT in alphabetical order. It’s listed in a comprehensive way that groups agencies and governing bodies, job titles and other miscellaneous acronyms together in a cohesive way. I suggest using your computer’s search function here.)
AZ-COF/COF: The Coconino National Forest: This is my “home unit,” aka the forest I work for on a day-to-day basis. We are AZ-COF because the Coronado National Forest (based in Tucson) is AZ-CNF.
SO: Supervisor’s Office. This is the office I work out of. Each forest is broken down into separate districts, which are staffed individually. The forest’s SO, also staffed individually, works with the districts — led by district rangers — to manage the forest as a whole.
FRD: Flagstaff Ranger District. One of our three ranger districts. Also known informally as “Peaks,” it is based in Flagstaff.
MRRD: Mogollon Rim Ranger District. One of our three ranger districts. It is based in Happy Jack, and it is the region that Ryan’s crew works out of.
RRRD: Red Rock Ranger District. One of our three ranger districts. It is based in Sedona.
R3: Region 3. The Forest Service breaks down into several regions geographically. My forest is in Region 3.
RO: Regional Office. Ours is based in Albuquerque.
WO: Washington Office. The Washington Office oversees the Regional Offices, which oversee each Supervisor’s Office.
USDA: United States Department of Agriculture. I technically work for USDA — my email address ends in usda.gov — because Forest Service is housed under USDA.
USFS: United States Forest Service. This is the division of USDA that I work for. It’s housed under USDA, because working in forestry focuses more on land use and management rather than land preservation.
DOI: Department of Interior. This handles all the National Parks.
NPS: National Parks Service. This is housed under DOI, and is the agency most people mistakenly assume I work for.
BLM: Bureau of Land Management. Another land management agency.
NIMS: National Incident Management System. This is the framework for how large incidents —like wildfires — are handled logistically.
FEMA: Federal Emergency Management Agency. Exactly what it sounds like.
IMT: Incident Management Team. Teams are classified as Type 1, Type 2, Type 3, etc. based on the kind of capabilities they can handle. IMTs manage logistics, operations, planning, etc. on an incident. Basically, all of the overhead stuff.
IC: Incident Commander. This person leads the IMT.
ICS: Incident Command System. This is basically a standardized way that all agencies can work together on incident management. It’s a flow chart saying who does what.
C&G: Command and General Staff. Command Staff are Public Information Officers, Safety Officers and Liaison Officers. General Staff are Operations, Planning, Logistics and Finance/Administration Section Chiefs. Basically, this is most of the overhead personnel involved in incident management.
IQCS: Incident Qualifications and Certification System. This is the system that keeps track of all Red Card-certified individuals and what they’re qualified as and training for.
NWCG: National Wildfire Coordinating Group. This is a national organization that standardizes wildland firefighting training and resources across the country.
AZWIMA: Arizona Wildfire and Incident Management Academy. Our statewide training academy that runs for about a week every year before fire season. It offers NWCG-certified classes for those of us seeking certifications and credentials.
NIFC: National Interagency Fire Center. Pronounced “niff-see.” NIFC is based in Boise, and is the nation’s support center and hub for all wildfires. It coordinates and dispatches national resources to incidents.
GACC: Geographic Area Coordination Center. Various regions under NIFC.
SWCC: The Southwest Coordination Center. The GACC I live and work in.
PIO: Public Information Officer (PIOT: PIO Technician, PIOT/PIO3: Type 3 PIO, PIO2: Type 2 PIO, PIO1: Type 1 PIO). This is my job.
IHC: Interagency Hotshot Crew. Ryan’s hand crew, the Blue Ridge Hotshots, are an IHC. Type 1 hand crews are called Hotshot crews. There are also Type 2 and Type 2 IA (Initial Attack) crews. This webpage explains more.
IA: Initial Attack. The first response to a fire.
Pack Test: The Work Capacity Test, which determines physical capabilities as they related to certain wildland firefighting jobs. There’s “arduous,” “moderate” and “light.”
130/190: S-130, S-190 and L-180 is one class, and it’s the entry-level class every wildland firefighter needs to take to get started in this field.
WUI: Wildland-urban interface. Pronounced “wooo-eeeee!” This is the part of any city where it’s not exactly wildland, but not exactly city. These areas are high-risk when it comes to high-intensity wildfires.
・・・
Whew. Like I said, that’s a long one. But, hopefully it does somewhat of an OK job breaking down what I do and working as a handy little reference guide for all the wildland fire-related things I talk about over here!
