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North Dakota

North Dakota

Service Firefighters Assist in Flood Response

April 2009

Firefighters from the Service’s Mountain-Prairie and Midwest Regions are providing much needed support to the agencies and communities being affected by rising flood waters in North Dakota. Service fire personnel and law enforcement officers are trained in emergency response scenarios such as floods, hurricanes, and other national disasters. With specialized training in communications, safety, and organization these employees are providing a portion of the response effort supporting the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other rescue agencies.  Service employees are interfacing with local sheriff departments to rescue people primarily using airboats in conjunction with the U.S. Coast Guard.

Service employees involved in the flood response are relying on a standardized system for organization used by firefighters on the fireline to help ensure safety and efficiency during management of large incidents.  Many fire personnel are qualified to work in specific roles within this Incident Command System such as Incident Commander or Planning Section Chief.

Firefighters from the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in Montana have formed a taskforce to address impact of the flooding at refuges and waterfowl production areas the Service has scattered across the state. They have been called upon to do any number of tasks including taking preventative measures to reduce the likelihood of flood damage to Service facilities.

Flood response efforts are predicted to last for many weeks and the Service anticipates a need for clean up and restoration activities after the waters subside.

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages public land in every U.S. state and territory, including 547 national wildlife refuges and 69 national fish hatcheries.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages 75 million burnable acres, including 24 million acres of forest/brushland and 4 million acres of grassland.

More than 50% of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands in the continental U.S. (and more than 90% in Alaska) include fire-adapted ecosystems with vegetation dependent on periodic fire.

An average of 500 wildfires burn 260,000 acres each year on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands. The Service also burns about 300,000 acres a year using prescribed fire.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service annual fire program budget is approximately $80 million.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employs more than 530 permanent fire professionals, along with 270 seasonal and temporary fire employees during fire season.

More than 3,000 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees are qualified to assist with wildland fire management on an interagency basis.

The U.S. Fish and Wildland Service Fire Management Program protects more than 700 communities and wildland-urban interface areas.

Historically, an acre was the amount of land tillable by one man behind an ox in one day. This measures 90% of a football field. There are 640 acres in a square mile.

More than 90% of the hazardous fuels reduction by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is completed using prescribed fire.