Fired Up: Scales of Safety and Federal Wildland Fire Management in the U.S.

Abstract

The wildland fire environment in the U.S. is becoming increasingly complex due to a century of fire suppression policies, development in wildland-urban interface areas, and an expected increase in fire activity due to climate change. As more attention is focused on wildfire management, the role of U.S. federal wildland firefighters is quickly changing. Unlike most structure fire departments, federal wildland firefighters do not have a standardized "medic" position on crews and are provided very little medical training, leaving them particularly vulnerable to medical emergencies when responding to remote incidents. The history of firefighter safety policy creation is marked by reactions to visceral accidents, yet there are examples of more proactive approaches to safety policy creation within individual agencies. This research explores injury rates at various scales, particularly smaller incidents (Types 4-5), prescribed fires, and daily project work where planning for medical emergencies is more difficult. A detailed policy analysis using a "Science and Technology Studies" (STS) framework will attempt to uncover how firefighter safety knowledge is produced and operationalized, what size fires these policies apply to, and at which levels of organizational management these policies are implemented. As a former Forest Service firefighter, I intend to investigate major safety issues faced by federal firefighters with the goal of producing research that will increase the availability of medical training and resources to these individuals.