WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Secretary of the Department of Interior signed an agreement today with the International Association of Fire Chiefs, providing a framework for the organizations to work together to address issues related wildland-urban interface fires. The agreement also will provide $130,000 from DOI to the IAFC for new training initiatives.

Interior Secretary Gale Norton and IAFC President Ernest Mitchell signed the agreement today at the Department of Interior.

"Our agreement will enhance the ability of local fire departments to operate safely and in concert with state and federal agencies to combat forest and rangeland fires across the country," said Norton. "We must strive to create a seamless operation, so when the bell rings and the engines roll, the color of the fire engine will not matter."

"It's imperative that the federal government work closely with local and volunteer fire departments to protect our forests and rangeland areas from the ravages of wildland fire. Our partners in rural fire departments are our first responders–they are closest to the incident and our first line of defense,” said Norton.

Chief Mitchell, chief of the Pasadena (Calif.) Fire Department, said the wildland-interface problem is an issue that is facing many fire chiefs around the country. “This agreement is a key element of expanding our partnerships with federal agencies and developing a more coordinated and integrated response to fires in the wildland-urban interface zone,” Mitchell said.

According to Chief Thomas Kuntz of Red Lodge, Mo., chairman of the IAFC’s Wildland Fire Program, the agreement provides the IAFC with the ability to “coordinate and enhance the relationship between and the effectiveness of fire departments and state and federal agencies during wildland-urban interface fires.”

Kuntz said the IAFC plans to send representatives to meetings of the Interagency Wildland Fire Leadership Council, a new Cabinet-level council created last April to implement the National Fire Plan by coordinating firefighting activities under the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Interior. “We won’t have a seat at the table yet,” Kuntz said, “but we will be there to be a reference source for them, should they need it.”

The IAFC will also send representatives to meetings of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, “to be a resource and to keep up on the issues,” Kuntz said.

The agreement will enable the IAFC to stay current on what’s going on at the national level and to have input in meetings where national policy is made, said Kuntz. By the same token, fire chiefs at the local level can participate in this initiative by keeping their lines of communication open to the IAFC’s Wildland Fire Committee. “If they have issues or they have challenges (in working at wildland and wildland-urban interface fires), they need to communicate that to us so that we can address those issues,” said Kuntz.

The agreement provides nearly $130,000 in funding, spread over the remainder of fiscal year 2003 and FY 2004, for the IAFC to sponsor workshops and other training opportunities for fire departments and other personnel who operate in the wildland-urban interface. The funds complement federal assistance already provided through the National Fire Plan.

To alleviate organizational differences at joint operations, the IAFC and DOI also agreed to support broad adoption of the National Incident Management System standard being developed by the Department of Homeland Security.

The IAFC is a professional association for senior fire and emergency service leaders with an international membership of more than 12,000 fire chiefs and associated officials. Its Wildland Fire Program was created in 2001 and has been named as a key collaborator in the implementation of the National Fire Plan. The group is also involved in planning the upcoming Wildland Fire 2004 conference, which takes place in March in Reno, Nev. The International Association of Wildland Fire, the IAFC, the Department of Interior and the USDA Forest Service will jointly sponsor the conference.

For more information about the IAFC’s Wildland Fire Program, visit the IAFC’s Web site at www.iafc.org.