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RT-130, Wildland Fire Safety Training Annual Refresher (WFSTAR)

RT-130 Decorative banner. Group of photos depicting wildland firefighters performing various duties.

Smoke, Roads, and Safety

Smoke, Roads and Safety; Best practices for predicting and managing smoke over roadways.
Category: Hazards
Core Component(s):
Incident Reviews and Lessons Learned, Fire and Aviation Operational Safety
Estimated Delivery Time: 30 minutes
Video Length: 13:03
RT-300, Burn Boss Refresher

Intent

Identify the hazards associated with smoke impacts to roads that impact both the public and fire personnel. Examine procedures to decrease the impacts of smoke, and provide mitigation and response information to implement a Roadway Response Plan (RRP). Identify helpful tools that are available for predicting, accessing, and monitoring the risk.

Facilitator Preparation

  • Review the video and module tools.
  • Consider additional activities and discussion questions relevant to location and agency.
  • Review and share the Roadway Response Plan located under Resources.

Facilitating the Discussion

  • Show the video.
  • Consider whether one large group discussion or multiple smaller group discussions will best engage the participants. 
  • Facilitate the group discussion using the selected questions. Give the participants a chance to comment and reflect on each other’s answers.

Discussion Questions

Inform the participants:

This module focuses on the hazards associated with smoke on roads and will provide information on how to address the potential impacts. It will provide mitigation and response information and identify some helpful tools that are available to assess and monitor the risks associated with smoke on roads.

  1. How often have you encountered smoke on the road when driving to and from prescribed fires or wildfires? Do you consider the potential hazards to other fire personnel and the public?
  2. What are the five weather conditions that can worsen smoke impacts to roadways?
  3. What is the purpose of a Roadway Response Plan (RRP)? Have you responded to smoke impacting a roadway?
  4. Does your home unit utilize RRPs? Has your home unit had incidents of smoke impacting roadways? Has your unit pre-identified roadway areas that are susceptible to being impacted by smoke?
  5. How can RRPs be used in wildland fire planning and response?
  6. What are some of the tools shared in the video you can utilize at your home unit to predict the likelihood of smoke impacting roadways?

Resources

Video Information

  • This video is also available as a download (zip file, size 885 MB) with .srt file for closed captioning (you may need to right click and Save As). For information on how to add closed captioning to a video, see this how-to page.
  • Note: For Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, right click the word download and select Save Link As; for Internet Explorer (IE), right click and select Save Target As.

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NWCG Latest Announcements

2024 Week of Remembrance

Date: June 27, 2024
Contact: 6 Minutes for Safety Subcommittee 

As we approach the 2024 Week of Remembrance (WOR), June 30 to July 6, we dedicate this time to thoughtfully reviewing and recognizing the events of the 2018 Mendocino Complex. As such, this year’s theme of “Learning From the Mendocino Complex” embodies a longstanding hallmark of WOR, honoring through learning.

Throughout the week, our energy will be directed toward fostering generative conversations in briefing rooms and at tailgates.

References:

6 Minutes for Safety - 2024 Week of Remembrance

Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center

Updated NWCG Wildland Fire Risk and Complexity Assessment, PMS 236

Date: June 24, 2024
Contact: Incident and Position Standards Committee 

The June 2024 update of the NWCG Wildland Fire Risk and Complexity Assessment, PMS 236, is now available to meet the current needs for incident management typing.

The NWCG Wildland Fire Risk and Complexity Assessment should be used to evaluate firefighter safety issues, assess risk, and identify the appropriate incident management organization based on incident complexity. Assessing risk, determining incident complexity, and identifying an appropriate incident management organization is a subjective process based on examining a combination of indicators or factors, which can change over time.

References:

NWCG Wildland Fire Risk and Complexity Assessment, PMS 236

Operations Branch Director (OPBD) Next Gen PTB Available

Date: June 10, 2024
Contact: NWCG Feedback 

The NWCG Position Task Book for Operations Branch Director (OPBD), PMS 311-109 is now available for use within the OPBD position qualification pathway. As part of the transition to Complex Incident Management (CIM), the OPBD Next Gen PTB was developed and the position qualification pathway updated.

More information about the Next Gen PTB format can be found on the NWCG Position Task Book webpage.

References:

Operations Branch Director Position Page

Operations Branch Director Next Gen PTB

NWCG Position Task Books

Updated NWCG Standards for Interagency Incident Business Management, PMS 902

Date: June 5, 2024
Contact: NWCG Incident Business Committee 

The 2024 revision of the NWCG Standards for Interagency Incident Business Management, PMS 902 is now available. The uniform application of interagency incident business management standards is critical to interagency fire operations. PMS 902 assists NWCG agencies in constructively working together to provide effective execution of each agency's incident business management program.

References:

PMS 902