Interagency Cooperative Fire Management

Federal agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, BIA and BLM maintain fire protection organizations for protection of Federal lands within Colorado, and the State provides for organized fire protection and technical fire assistance and coordination for State, County, tribal and privately-owned lands within Colorado through aiding and assisting county and local entities. However, it is to the advantage of both the State and Federal agencies to coordinate efforts for the prevention, mitigation of threat, readiness, detection and suppression of wildfires to meet management objectives in and adjacent to their areas of responsibility in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

Therefore, State and Federal resources are available to assist in the management and suppression of wildfires on all Federal and State lands. The details and responsibilities of this cooperation and coordination effort are outlined in the Cooperative Fire Management Agreement. A copy of “the Agreement” can be found at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/fire/fire_business/coop_co.pdf. The Agreement includes details on fire management methods and responsibilities, fire suppression, resource reimbursement, cost sharing agreements and billing procedures.

In order to oversee the terms of the Agreement and provide general oversight for interagency wildland fire activities within Colorado, State and Federal agencies maintain the Rocky Mountain Coordinating Group (RMCG). Counties and local fire service entities maintain agreements and annual operating plans with the State that outline the State’s responsibility as coordinator in this fire management effort. The Annual Operating Plan (AOP) outlines the details of implementing the Agreement for counties and other local geographical areas. The AOP is a working document compiled each year by wildfire participating agencies and shall be attached to the Interagency Cooperative Fire Management Agreement. An AOP Outline Guide is provided in Exhibit B, page 25, of the Agreement, and outlines the necessary information for establishing your own operating plan. Specific fire prevention plans should also be developed by local interagency fire management personnel.

Another document, the Agreement for Cooperative Wildfire Protection, establishes the roles between the State and County for providing the most effective protection efforts. This agreement addresses the responsibilities between State and County agencies in each of the following areas: organizing, equipping, and training; wildfire prevention, detection, and suppression; prescribed burning; and payment. This agreement is the current basic wildfire protection agreement between the County and the State, and serves as the foundation for other special cooperative service agreements between the County and the State. For example, as outlined in this agreement, during Wildfire Suppression, the County is responsible for the following:

1. Upon receiving notice of wildfire in the county from any source, the County will notify the appropriate agencies or dispatch necessary initial attack forces available within the county to suppress the incident.

2. The County will make, ensure and/or supervise initial attack resources on wildfires on lands of its jurisdictional responsibility, including any state or federal lands as shown on maps.

3. The County will notify the State as soon as practical of the existence of uncontrolled wildfires within the County.

4. The County will have the County Sheriff, or his designated representative, assume the command of all nonfederal wildfire incidents outside incorporated areas of the County.

5. The County will establish and/or participate in unified command post operations on wildfires within the County.

6. The County will request needed wildfire suppression assistance.

Each of these requirements would be accomplished in accordance with the Annual Fire Operating Plan developed between the State and County. Although these documents outline each party’s roles and responsibilities, the primary concern should be the extinguishing of wildfires and neither party should delay extinguishment efforts while deciding ultimate responsibility for such fires.

Reimbursement for Shared Resources
Definition of Responsibilities:

• Protecting Agency - The agency or county responsible for providing direct wildland fire protection to a given area pursuant to the Cooperative Fire Management Agreement.

• Supporting Agency - An agency or county providing fire suppression or other support and resources to the Protecting Agency.

• Jurisdictional Agency - The agency or county which has overall land and resource management and/or protection responsibility as provided by Federal or State law.

Each year agencies should agree upon wildfire protection responsibilities for lands within their respective jurisdictions. Protection areas and boundaries should be established, mapped and described, and attached to the Annual Operating Plan.

Reimbursable Assistance refers to those fire suppression resources that are to be paid by the Protecting Agency. Reimbursable Assistance resources must be requested by the Protecting Agency or supplied through automatic or mutual aid systems and must be recorded by the resource order process within the dispatching systems of both the Protecting Agency and Supporting Agencies or documented by the Incident Commander in the fire report. Resources not documented in this manner are not reimbursable. All costs incurred as the result of an incident and documented as stated above are generally reimbursable. An example of reimbursable expenses is listed in the Agreement under section Use of and Reimbursement for Shared Resources.

The Colorado State Forest Service provides specific guidelines to follow in order for agencies to be reimbursed for their cooperative efforts in fire suppression. The Cooperative Resource Rate form or CRRF is a document that lists those Cooperator resources which are available for interagency suppression needs, and which are supported by Colorado State Forest Service for interagency dispatch. The resources of the State and Counties of Colorado, identified in the CRRF are defined as cooperators, not contractors for the purposes of fire management activities. The CRRF is intended to show all department resources (personnel qualified as single resource and equipment) available for interagency dispatch. Rates established annually in the CRRF are accepted by all agencies and counties and will be used for reimbursement calculations for both in-state and out-of-state incidents. The CRRF should be completed prior to the fire season as part of the county’s Annual Operating Plan (AOP). A county’s CRRF is valid for two years. Emergency Equipment Rental Agreements are used to hire equipment that was not listed for availability prior to the incident, and reimbursement rates for the equipment will follow Regional Incident Business Management Handbook guidance. The complete reimbursement guideline provided by the Colorado State Forest Service addresses equipment, personnel, crew swap, travel expense claims, damage/loss claims, travel/per diem, and other miscellaneous expenses. The guide also includes a list of documentation needed for department reimbursements. A copy of the Guidelines for Cooperator Fire Reimbursement can be found on the web at: http://www.co.boulder.co.us/sheriff/pdf/crrf/coop_reimb_guide_2002.pdf.