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Fire Occurrence, NFDRS

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Fire occurrence data are required to conduct NFDRS2016 fire business analyses using FireFamilyPlus.

Fire occurrence is compared against calculated same-day fire danger values to find statistical relationships between fire activity and fire danger. This allows NFDRS2016 fire danger metrics to be used to help predict fire activity and related fire management business.

Fire occurrence data for federal agencies, and most states within the U.S., are available from multiple resources in a variety of file formats. There is no authoritative standard. There are also known data quality issues, which vary across the available corporate datasets. It can take an extensive amount of work to develop a fire occurrence dataset suitable for analysis.

For these reasons, it’s recommended that the Fire Program Analysis – Fire Occurrence Dataset (FPA FOD) be use for most historical fire business analyses. The FPA FOD is a national scale, quality controlled, consolidated dataset that draws from most of the available reporting systems. It is managed by Karen Short of the Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS), and is updated annually with an average of two years lag time. The current dataset contains data from 1996 through 2015, and has all the fields needed for a FireFamilyPlus fire business analysis.

The general process for using the FPA FOD in a FireFamilyPlus analysis is as follows:

  1. Obtain a FPA FOD dataset for 1992 thru 2015 for the entire United States.
  2. Use a spatial analysis tool or system (ArcGIS, AGOL, etc.) to import the QA/QC’d consolidated dataset and clip the data to the planning area or Fire Danger Rating Areas (FDRAs).
  3. In FireFamilyPlus, create custom agencies, units and sub-units as necessary to represent the planning area and/or any FDRAs.
  4. Organize the data by column identified by FireFamilyPlus in the data import function using Excel Spreadsheet, save as a .csv file.
  5. Import the final fire occurrence dataset into FireFamilyPlus, and associate the fires with one or more stations or SIGs.
Tech Tips for each of these steps AND for integrating more recent fire occurrence into an analysis will be posted here as they are updated, so please check back often for updates.

NWCG Latest Announcements

Updated NWCG Standards for Airtanker Base Operations, PMS 508

Date: March 31, 2025
Questions?  Please contact:
Airtanker Base Operations Unit

The updated NWCG Standards for Airtanker Base Operations (SABO), PMS 508 standardizes operations and procedures at interagency airtanker bases to ensure safe, efficient, and effective operations in support of interagency goals and objectives.

References:

NWCG Standards for Airtanker Base Operations, PMS 508

WFSTAR 2025 Core Component Module Package and 2024 Fire Year in Review Now Available

Date: March 14, 2025
Questions?  Please contact:
Joe Schindel at mschindel@blm.gov
 

The 2025 Core Component Module Package for RT-130, Wildland Fire Safety Training Annual Refresher (WFSTAR) and the 2024 Fire Year in Review are now available on the NWCG website. The 2025 Core Component Module Package provides all content needed to deliver RT-130.

References:

2025 Core Component Module Package

2024 Fire Year in Review Module

NEW! NWCG Wildland Urban Interface Mitigation Field Guide, PMS 053

Date: March 12, 2025
Contact: Wildland Urban Interface Mitigation Committee

The NWCG Wildland Urban Interface Mitigation Field Guide, PMS 053 provides mitigation practitioners at all experience levels with recommendations on the most effective and efficient ways to accomplish mitigation work in communities at risk to wildfire damage or destruction. The content in this guide was written in coordination with the NWCG Standards for Mitigation in the Wildland Urban Interface, PMS 052.

References:

NWCG Wildland Urban Interface Mitigation Field Guide, PMS 053 

Updated, NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Module Operations, PMS 430

Date: March 11, 2025
Contact: Fire Use Subcommittee
Wildland Fire Module Unit

The NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Module Operations, PMS 430 standardizes procedures and expectations for Wildland Fire Modules (WFMs). These standards are to be used by staff, supervisors, specialists, and technicians for planning, administering, and conducting WFM operations. These standards will also be used as a measure of WFM qualifications, capabilities, and expected performance, for both Type 1 and Type 2 WFMs.

References:

NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Module Operations, PMS 430