April 21, 2023
Federal Interagency Wildfire Response Framework
Wildfires are unplanned fires in vegetated landscapes.
area is responsible for responding to a wildfire within that
Where a wildfire begins determines jurisdiction for wildfire
area, regardless of jurisdiction.
response. Because wildfires often cross jurisdictional
boundaries and may impact nearby communities, there is an
Response Strategies and Phases
established framework for interagency coordination for
Federal wildfire policy is to evaluate the risks to firefighter
wildfire response activities. This framework also allows for
and public safety and welfare—and to natural, ecological,
resources to be deployed to areas of greatest critical need
and cultural values to be protected—to determine the
during periods of high wildfire activity.
appropriate response. Depending on the risk assessment, the
initial federal response, known as the initial attack, may
This CRS product summarizes the interagency and
range from monitoring to aggressive suppression tactics.
intergovernmental framework for responding to wildfires.
Wildfire suppression includes all the activities intended to
Specifically, it addresses wildfire response jurisdiction;
extinguish a fire, prevent or modify fire movement, or
response strategies; and type, deployment, and reporting of
manage a fire for resource management objectives (e.g.,
resources (i.e., Preparedness Levels). It also provides
habitat restoration), as supported by the area’s fire
references to additional resources. For information on the
management plan (FMP). FMPs identify values and
federal government’s emergency and disaster declaration
resources within the area that could be at risk and outline
process and resources, see CRS Report WMR10001, CRS
strategies, tactics, and alternatives for achieving resource
Guide to Federal Emergency Management.
management and protection objectives.
Jurisdiction
If the initial attack does not achieve the management
The federal government has the responsibility for wildfires
objective within the designated operational period
that begin on federal lands; states are generally responsible
(generally, the first 24 hours), or if the fire increases in
for wildfires that begin on nonfederal (state, local, and
complexity or severity, the fire enters an extended attack
private) lands, though state responsibility frameworks vary
phase. This phase of the fire may require different response
considerably and are beyond the scope of this product.
strategies and the mobilization of additional resources.
Where land ownership is comingled, response efforts may
During extended attack incidents, the responding agency
be managed jointly across multiple federal, state, tribal, or
coordinates with the relevant state and local agencies on
local agencies. At the federal level, the Department of the
emergency management matters, including public health,
Interior (DOI) manages wildfire response for more than 400
safety, and evacuation decisions and notifications.
million acres of national parks, wildlife refuges and
preserves, other public lands, and Indian reservations. The
Wildfire Suppression Resources
Forest Service (FS), within the U.S. Department of
The resources mobilized for wildfire suppression include
Agriculture, manages wildfire response across the 193
personnel (e.g., firefighters, incident command and support
million acres of the National Forest System. FS also is
staff), heavy equipment (e.g., fire engines, water scoopers),
designated as the lead agency for wildfire response under
aviation assets (e.g., helicopters, single engine air tankers,
the National Response Framework.
tactical planes), and miscellaneous equipment and support
resources (e.g., radios, weather equipment, food vendors,
Although wildfire origin determines jurisdictional
mobile showers). Incident management teams (IMTs)
responsibility, there are circumstances in which a different
consisting of specially trained personnel are assigned to
governmental entity may handle the on-the-ground response
more complex incidents to provide a centralized command
activities or provide resources and support. Various
structure and operational, logistical, and administrative
agreements, contracts, and compacts for mutual aid and
support. Resources may be federal, tribal, state, local, or, in
cooperative fire protection establish the parameters for
some cases, privately contracted.
sharing or exchanging resources and the applicable roles,
responsibilities, terms, and conditions, including cost
Resource Mobilization
reimbursement provisions. Some states or local entities
The mobilization of wildfire response resources is based on
have contracted with the federal government to provide
a tiered, bottom-up coordination system that proceeds from
direct wildfire protection services, essentially hiring the
local to regional and finally national coordination. Local
federal government to respond to state-responsibility
dispatch centers receive initial reports of wildfire incidents
wildfires. As another example, some areas have defined
within their defined geographical areas and deploy
protection areas that may not align with jurisdictional
resources, either under the principle of closest available
boundaries and may include a mix of land ownership types.
resource or according to pre-identified areas of
Under this model, the entity assigned to a certain protection
responsibility (as defined in the various agreements and
contracts), based on initial attack strategies.
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Federal Interagency Wildfire Response Framework
If a wildfire incident increases in complexity or if extended
personnel, equipment, and aviation assets. NMAC
attack requires additional resources, the local dispatch
coordinates these requests, sometimes in consultation with
center transfers resource requests to regional centers,
the U.S. Agency for International Development. In
known as Geographic Area Coordination Centers (GACCs,
particular, the United States operates under bilateral
see Figure 1). The GACCs coordinate resource allocation,
agreements or arrangements with Australia, Canada,
prioritization, and mobilization within their defined regions.
Mexico, and New Zealand.
Each GACC includes regional-level representatives from
the DOI bureaus, FS, and relevant state agencies. GACCs
Preparedness Levels
also provide regional-level fire information and forecasts.
Preparedness Levels (PLs), which range from 1 (lowest) to
5 (highest), indicate the commitment of wildfire resources
If all resources within one or more GACCs are assigned to
(but do not indicate fire danger or risk). Factors such as fuel
ongoing incidents and more resources are required, then
(i.e., wildland vegetation), weather conditions, and fire
resource prioritization and mobilization decisions move to
activity also contribute to the PL determination. The higher
the National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC),
PLs indicate significant commitment of shared resources
based at the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), in
among and between the GACCs. For example, PL5
Boise, ID. The NICC coordinates and mobilizes resources
indicates at least 80% of the country’s firefighting
from throughout the country to position resources in the
personnel are committed to an incident. NMAC reports the
areas of greatest critical need as determined by the National
level of resource use through the nationwide PL, and
Multi-Agency Coordinating Group (NMAC). NMAC
GACCs report regional PLs.
consists of national-level representatives from the relevant
DOI bureaus, FS, U.S. Fire Administration, Federal
Issues for Congress
Emergency Management Agency, and National Association
The federal interagency wildfire response framework may
of State Foresters. NMAC bases resource prioritization
raise several interrelated issues for Congress, including the
decisions on protecting human life; maintaining initial
sufficiency of coordination, resource availability, resource
attack capability across the GACCs; and protecting
allocation prioritization and decisions, and financial
communities, property, and natural and cultural resources.
considerations, among others. Of particular concern may be
NMAC also coordinates the request for surge resources
the extent that resource requests go unfulfilled, either at the
through the Department of Defense or international
regional level or the national level. For example, 23% of all
resources, as discussed below.
nationwide resource requests made to NICC in 2022 were
reported as unfilled (NICC, Wildland Fire Summary and
Figure 1. Geographic Area Coordination Centers
Statistics Annual Report, 2022). Unfulfilled resource
requests may impact the government’s ability to achieve the
stated fire management objectives.
For More Information
The information herein is largely drawn from two sources,
both of which are updated annually:
National Interagency Mobilization Guide, and
Interagency Standards for Fire and Fire Aviation
Operations, often referred to as the Red Book.
Information on ongoing fire incidents and resource
commitments is available from the following sources:
The National Incident Management Situation Report
Source: CRS, using data from the National Interagency Fire Center.
(IMSR, also referred to as the SIT Report) provides a
daily (or weekly, at PL1) summary of nationwide fire
Requesting and Activating Military Resources
activity, with more information on fires of national
NMAC may request military resources for additional, or
significance (e.g., fires exceeding more than 300 acres
surge, support when civilian resources are committed or not
and other criteria), and year-to-date statistics.
reasonably available. Military resources may include
personnel and/or aviation assets. For example, certain
Ongoing, incident-specific information, including
military aviation assets can be equipped with modular
evacuation orders and maps, is available from
airborne firefighting systems (MAFFs) and provide aerial
inciweb.nwcg.gov.
firefighting support upon request and activation. For more
information, see NIFC, Military Use Handbook, 2021, and
For an overview of nationwide fire activity over the
NIFC’s Military Support History website.
previous five years, see CRS In Focus IF10244, Wildfire
Statistics. For more general information on wildfire
International Resources
response, see CRS In Focus IF10732, Federal Assistance
Under specified conditions, the United States may provide
for Wildfire Response and Recovery.
and receive support from other countries, including
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Federal Interagency Wildfire Response Framework
IF12384
Katie Hoover, Specialist in Natural Resources Policy
Disclaimer
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congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress.
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