How some states are working to minimize wildfires and the damage they cause

South Carolina
Due to cuts in state funding and subsequent down-sizing of the state agency, wildfire fighting capacity has been diminished statewide. This factor, combined with a long-range weather forecasts predicting an active fire season in the southeast, has prompted the South Carolina Forestry Commission to ramp up prevention efforts.

Beginning in March 2011, Forestry Commission law enforcement officers were given a directive to aggressively enforce laws pertaining to debris burning violations. According to Chief David West of the South Carolina Forestry Commission Law Enforcement Division, more than half of the wildfires in state last year were preventable. Most began as a poorly-timed debris burns which escaped and became wildfires to which the Forestry Commission then had to respond. The Forestry Commission responds to more than 3,000 wildfires for more than 20,000 acres each year.

State Forester Gene Kodama asked all judges and magistrates in all counties to apply the stiffest penalties to violators of debris burning laws. According to a letter to the state Court Administration, Kodama hopes that this new stance will reduce wildfires resulting from outdoor burning.

Texas
The Texas Wildfire Protection Plan was first launched as a pilot program more than a decade ago is now considered a national model for state wildfire protection. During the 81st Texas Legislative Session, state lawmakers allocated $9 million per year to help Texas Forest Service implement the strategic approach to disaster response.

Predictive services
Recognizing the need for increased firefighting capacity is not enough. Texas Forest Service must be able to see wildfires coming before they occur. The agency runs a Predictive Services Department to study weather patterns, drought conditions and the status of vegetation (fuels) across the state. Department members monitor areas reporting high winds and low moisture levels, two of the key ingredients for dangerous wildfires across the state. They study changes in land use and the long term wildfire risks that accompany them. With cutting-edge technology and partnerships with the National Weather Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the USDA Forest Service and the Texas A&M AgriLife Spatial Service Lab, Texas Forest Service works to pinpoint when and where wildfires will could occur to help limit the amount of damage that results from one.
When the predictions are made, it is time to prepare the people we protect. Texas Forest Service does this in several ways.

Building the capacity of the state’s first line of defense
Texas uses a “tiered” approach to wildfire response and suppression. Local fire departments and counties are the first responders. State response is activated as wildfires or conditions exceed the local ability to control. 

VFD Assistance Program
VFDs respond to 90% of the wildfires in Texas - and they do it with little to no money and a staff made up almost completely of volunteers. Texas Forest Service, the Texas Legislature and the insurance industry have provided substantial opportunities and funding to support the safety and training of these first responders. Since the VFD Assistance Program began in 2002, TFS has provided 34,144 training tuitions, 44,221 sets of protective clothing and 1,265 fire engines.

TIFMAS
The Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System (TIFMAS) is a statewide agreement that allows communities to call upon each other during times of need. Administered by Texas Forest Service, the program presented eight new Type VI fire engines to Texas fire departments with the understanding that the state would call on those departments in time of need. Feb. 27 was a time of need.  Along with those new engines, the state deployed 10 additional strike teams to West Texas in preparation and response to devastating wildfires.
Prepositioning of resources
When Texas Forest Service and the National Weather Service began forecasting extreme fire weather danger for the end of February, TFS wasted no time activating preparedness measures and pre positioning firefighting personnel and equipment to high-risk areas. As it turns out, this preparation paid off.
The agency readied aerial resources such as single-engine air tankers and an air tanker, 25 bulldozers, four wildland fire strike teams, 27 fire line supervisors, a six-person fire prevention team and hundreds of additional firefighting personnel.

Prevention
The best wildfire is the one that never happens.
When Texas Forest Service sees a wildfire event developing, it is the agency’s responsibility to let people know.  Information officers and prevention specialists accelerated a public outreach efforts. Since people and their activities cause more than 90 percent of all wildfires in the state, TFS engaged in prevention education efforts to inform the public on how to avoid accidentally starting wildfires especially on high risk days. The most at-risk areas were alerted to the impending wildfire danger and referred county decision-makers to information on safety and evacuation procedures.
In addition, the following actions were taken to alert local governments and citizens:
• Governor’s Disaster Declaration
• Texas Firestorm DVD produced & distributed to all fire departments & county judges
• Joint Information Center (JIC) activated
• All major media markets are covering the weather event
• Texas Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (TLETS) Critical Wildfire Threat alert

Georgia

The number of wildfires in Georgia has steadily decreased in recent years – partially due to an aggressive Georgia Forestry Commission wildfire prevention program implemented by the law enforcement division. The two-part plan includes a more concentrated focus on residents who burn debris and on tougher penalties for woods arson.

 Armed with four investigators, the GFC program has investigated 450 cases, pressed charges in 70 cases and issued 1,164 unlawful burn notices in a two year period. 
Prevention is effective when wildfires are caused by people. There is nothing the state can do, however to control the weather.  The current wildfire season is producing above normal wildfire activity. This year, the state is on track to have a 10,000 plus wildland fires for an estimated number of burned acres possibly into the six digit figures.  The month of February was the busiest in Georgia since 1985, with 1,650 wildfires burning 14,647 acres.

With continued predictions for above normal wildfire activity, the Georgia Forestry Commission reached out to cooperators.
• GFC took an assessment of the state’s aviation resources
• A new agreement for the deployment of structural fire resources was introduced through the Georgia Association of Fire Chiefs
• Several meetings in and around the 2007 Georgia Bay Complex were held to solidify agreements, review after-action items and to reaffirm commitments to unified command and ICS
• A full wildfire prevention team was deployed in January to assist with town meetings and prevention strategy in the Greater Okefenokee Association of Landowners area
• GFC’s finance group briefed all field units on purchasing procedures and documentation for large fire support
• A review of the fire management grant process was conducted with FEMA
• Meetings were held with federal fire management partners in the Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service and Park Service
• GFC worked with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency to hold a state agency wildfire briefing for all state agency partners that coordinate for wildfire support
• A strategic public relations campaign was launched to distribute prevention messages throughout the state
• GFC field personnel were advised of fire danger, wind events and trends in fire occurrence as conditions warranted