Chief Craig Encinas is the new president of the National Native American Fire Chiefs Association, a group founded in 1998 to address the special needs of leading fire departments on America's tribal nations. The association now has 67 members in 23 states, mostly in the Southwest.

Encinas leads the Tohono O'odham Nation Fire Department, which serves a 4,500-square-mile district on the southwest border of Arizona with 35 members. A firefighter since 1996, he was elected president of the association at the group's February meeting.

How many fire departments are on tribal soil in the United States, and what are some of their chief officers' special challenges?

Although we don't have an exact number, the NNAFCA continues to reach out to the 562 federally recognized tribes across the country to identify the levels of fire protection available to Native American communities. We've found that there are many different ways fire protection is provided. With the advent of gaming, many tribes have been able to fund full-time fire departments, while others rely on volunteers, intergovernmental agreements and the limited coverage that the Bureau of Indian Affairs provides for its own facilities. In many areas, fire protection doesn't even exist.

The challenges of fire service delivery on reservations are what you would expect in a rural setting: long response times, inadequate staffing and limited infrastructure. In addition, as economic development moves forward, we often find that we are expected to provide service to massive casinos and commercial facilities. Because many full-time departments are fairly new, our members may have to develop processes to meet the demands of growth, such as plan review and code enforcement, concepts that are still evolving in many communities. As with any other jurisdiction, tribal fire departments are in competition for funding with other programs. A common misconception about tribes that have gaming is that there is an endless stream of money, but the needs of our residents go far beyond that of public safety and typically exceed the revenue generated.

How is the NNAFCA helping to address these problems?

We provide a network for fire chiefs that provide service to Native American communities to assist in promoting fire prevention and improve the level of service we provide. As we move forward, we are learning more about fire service delivery in other areas of the country and continue to gain from each other's experiences.

We have developed a relationship with the International Association of Fire Chiefs, and partnerships have been created between our organization and others, such as the Amerind Risk Management Corp. and the National Congress of American Indians, to assist us in identifying the needs and capabilities of the fire departments serving tribal communities. This arrangement has made it possible for us to offer assistance to tribal fire educators in developing their prevention programs and assist tribal departments in reporting to the National Fire Incident Reporting System. This effort has led to the development of a NFIRS partition that tracks incidents specifically on Native American lands and will give us a better picture of the fire problem on tribal lands so that we can better address it.

We also maintain a database that we use to disseminate information on funding sources, training and offer technical assistance for our efforts with the IAFC. In addition, we provide a mechanism for the exchange of ideas and a platform for discussion of issues at the national level.

What are your goals for the organization?

Ultimately, I would like to see that all entities serving Native American communities are able to take advantage of all of the resources available, to give our communities the best possible service and reduce the occurrence of fire. To facilitate that, we hope to regionalize our organization as membership expands. I hope that this will make it easier for tribal fire chiefs to come forward with their challenges and share their experiences so that we can consolidate our issues. We want our members to develop and maintain relationships with neighboring jurisdictions, counties and states to ensure each other's capabilities and limitations are identified and work to fill the gaps together, particularly in regard to homeland security issues.

We will also work to promote training by analyzing the needs of our members and assist in identifying local resources, and eventually through an annual conference. Along those lines, we will study the feasibility of a Native American Fire Academy and work to improve tribal representation at the National Fire Academy and use those resources to deliver culturally appropriate programs to our communities.

For more on the NNAFCA, call Secretary/Treasurer Connie Carlin-Boys at 520-568-1317, Vice President Dave Bunce at 480-850-8244 or Encinas at 520-383-8276.