Containing Wildland Fire Costs: Utilizing Local Firefighting Forces

After examining all the factors influencing the costs of wildfire suppression in its September 2002 report, Wildfire Suppression: Strategies for Containing Costs, the Academy’s Wildfire Panel found that one of the few opportunities to reduce suppression costs during a fire was to make better use of local firefighters.

When properly trained, these forces can be used more fully for initial action and extended attack, for mop-up and emergency rehabilitation, and for smoothing transitions between management teams.