Risk Management for Alternative Strategies and Tactics

AMR-Federal National Fire and Aviation Executive Board - Clarification of Appropriate Management Response AMR-Northern Rockies Appropriate Management Response Summary for the Northern Rockies Facilitator Discussion Plan Discussion Documentation Form

Things have really changed in wildland fire management since the 10 AM policy. It used to be fairly simple business dealing with wildland fires - it was, "fires are bad so get 'em under control by 1000 hours the next morning." To do that, in many cases, the primary method was anchor, flank, and pinch. Managing risk within this relatively simple perspective on fire was also less complex. The basics - the 10 Standard Firefighting Orders, the Watchout Situations, etc - were implemented in a fairly routine manner. Today, land managers' perspectives on wildland fire ranges from wholly desirable to wholly undesirable and all points in between. Appropriate Management Response (AMR) is the current term capturing all the fire management options reflecting this range of perspectives. Strategies and tactics have become more varied as well. Different kinds of strategies and tactics have caused many of us to pause and consider how to manage risk in some of these less familiar operations.

Appropriate Management Response (AMR) is the specific actions taken to implement protection and fire use objectives. For the last decade, the term was rarely used to define fire management options; however, the term AMR was used more frequently in 2006 and 2007. The range of options within AMR "is based on ecological, social, and legal consequences of the fire. The circumstances under which a fire occurs, the likely consequences on firefighter and public safety and welfare, natural and cultural resources, and values to be protected dictate the appropriate management response to the fire." (Interagency Standards for Fire and Aviation Operations, January 2006, p.10-1).

Public and firefighter safety is always the first priority in determining AMR and the strategies and tactics used to accomplish this response. This priority does not change for the protection of resources or to reduce cost. The range of strategies and tactics afforded by AMR my, in some cases, present different kinds of risk and require us to manage risk in ways different that we are accustomed to.

Firefighters must be prepared for all kinds of wildland fire assignments and know how to implement them safely. Some examples of strategies used within AMR are perimeter control (often utilized in a more conventional approach to wildfire), point protection, confinement, and monitoring.

There is no specific 10 and 18, Watchout Situations, or LCES for alternative strategy fires - and this may be good. Our contention is that the basics work for these fires just as well as for the more conventional ones. It may be, however, that the different circumstances do not allow us to be routine, but require more deliberate thought on managing risk.

We encourage safety refresher attendees to share experiences about types of strategies and tactics used in response to wildland fire incidents. In particular, we suggest a focus on alternative strategies and tactics that are different from our conventional approach to fire, the different kinds of risk management challenges presented in these situations, and effective methods of managing those risk management challenges. The Discussion Plan, included below, uses LCES our primary risk mitigation tool, as the focus for discussion on risk management. However, during discussion, it may be helpful to identify risks unique to alternative strategy fires that LCES mitigations alone will not be sufficient.

This portion of the refresher may be facilitated as a discussion to:
1. Share alternative strategies and tactics used on the fireline.
2. Discuss how to implement LCES on alternative strategies and tactics fires.
3. Record and contribute to a database of risk management methods utilized on alternative strategy fires housed at the Lessons Learned Center.

Documentation is a very important part to this safety refresher topic. Because of a lack of specific resources on these topics, by returning these discussions to the Lessons Learned Center, other firefighters will learn about these alternative strategies, tactics, and the application of risk mitigations and how they might be able to apply them in the future. This will provide broad knowledge of the application of appropriate management responses and ways to carry out the chosen response safely.

For a detailed Facilitator Discussion Plan, click here.

Please complete the attached Discussion Documentation Form and provide to:

dchristenson@fs.fed.us
(email with attachment preferred)

Or by snail mail to:
David A. Christenson, Center Assistant Manager
Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center
National Advanced Fire and Resource Institute
3265 East Universal Way, Tucson, AZ 85706