The Florida Forest Service is responsible for coordinating resource deployments (for non-federal agencies) from Florida to national wildland fire and emergency incidents.
The Florida Forest Service is the agency responsible for coordinating resource deployments (for non-federal agencies) from Florida to national wildland fire and emergency incidents. This responsibility is established through the Cooperative Fire Protection agreement between the Florida Forest Service and the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service.
It is the intent of the Florida Forest Service to allow out-of-state resource deployments only after the potential for an emergency response in Florida is assessed and it is determined that there are adequate resources to meet both potential in-state emergency response needs and the out-of-state deployment. The Florida Forest Service will also rotate personnel in assignments to give as many individuals as possible an opportunity to be dispatched to maintain currency and/or be trained in Incident Command System positions.
To be dispatched, individuals need to be qualified for the position which they are resource ordered, have their absence approved by their immediate supervisor and agency for the duration of the assignment, and make themselves available for dispatch via appropriate channels. Usually personnel dispatched for the first time to a federal assignment will go as a trainee working under a fully qualified and trained person.
As a National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) member agency, the Florida Forest Service follows the National Wildland and Prescribed Fire Qualification System Guide for minimum qualifications for each position.
Red Card Qualification training for cooperators can be obtained through the local Florida Forest Service office, at the Florida Forest Service Withlacoochee Training Center, through the Florida Fire Chiefs' Association under contract with the Florida Forest Service, funded by a training grant or through trained and qualified NWCG instructors under agreement with the Florida Forest Service.
The resource ordering system is a national system that identifies specific resource needs and uses availability lists at the state, regional and national levels to fill the resource needs.
The Florida Forest Service accepts availability lists from both the Florida Forest Service and cooperator personnel for wildfire and other emergency incident deployments nationally. Each Forestry District/Center office compiles this information for all cooperators within their geographic area of responsibility. These availability lists are forwarded by the Florida Forest Service's field units to the State Officer-In-Charge in the Forest Protection Bureau. Staff members in the bureau input this data in the Incident Resource Ordering Capability (IROC), a national resource status system overseen by the National Interagency Coordination Center in Boise, Idaho.
Please note that a person's availability should include a beginning and ending date. Being available means the person is ready, willing and able to be dispatched upon notice anytime between the beginning date and ending date of their availability period. It is important that those who make themselves available are actually available for a 14-day deployment. Therefore, a person should be available for dispatch on the last day of the availability period and be gone for a 16-day assignment (including travel). This information will be posted in the Incident Resource Ordering Capability (IROC) will be ordered using this system based on availability and the position requested. All resources qualified for fireline duty should have completed a fireline safety refresher session within the past year.
The Florida Forest Service maintains two sets of availability lists, one for overhead personnel and one for crew personnel. Personnel will be dispatched according to their approved NWCG qualifications as listed on their Incident Qualification (Red) Cards. If a person is qualified for more than one position, it is very possible that they will be requested for dispatch based on the position that is needed the most and not necessarily for the position they prefer.
Incident Qualification Cards will be updated once annually during January/February of each year. The work capacity test or pack test is required for most positions and is also completed in the winter months each year. Incident qualification information can, however, be entered into the person's record at any time during the year through the Districts/Centers as time permits.
Cooperator personnel are always dispatched as casual hires under the federal Administratively Determined (AD) Pay Plan. This means they are paid by the federal government and must be approved for a leave of absence from their normal work duties for the duration of the assignment. Typical assignments will be two weeks in length with a day of travel on each end of the assignment for mobilization and demobilization, making a normal total of 16 days. Hiring paperwork will be required to be completed (i.e., W-4, I-9 and AD Hire Form) prior to deployment. All paperwork will be processed through the Florida Interagency Coordination Center.
Once orders are filled the Forest Protection Bureau staff will contact the selected person(s) for deployment through the appropriate District/Center office. Confirmation is needed immediately (within one hour) as well as a proposed date and time of departure. The Florida Interagency Coordination Center will then prepare the necessary travel arrangements along with an itinerary, which will be forwarded to the selected person(s). Persons should travel to the incident with the appropriate tools and personal protective equipment to perform the assigned duties.
Forest Protection Bureau
Florida Forest Service
3125 Conner Blvd. H-281
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1650
(850) 681-5900
Jeremy Joseph, Fire Standards Administrator
Jeremy.Joseph@FDACS.gov