FIRESCOPE'S FUTURE DRAFT 01/03/01

Transcription

1 .. FIRESCOPE'S FUTURE DRAFT 01/03/01

2 Executive Summary The future of the FIRESCOPE program is clearly established in the success of the program's basic tenets. It is also understood that emergency incidents will continue into the future due to natural and man-made causes and there remains a need for an all-risk organizational management system. The foundation of FIRESCOPE's success is based upon the following tenets that need to be maintained into the future: - decision making process - non-specific organization directive/tools - all risk incident management tool There are several outstanding items that need to be finished from the original FIRESCOPE project: - certs & quais system - fire modeling programs - communications links - funding sources - training programs - infrared tools - common statewide maps The future of FIRESCOPE is composed of these strategic initiatives: A. Creating a Common Voice within the California Fire Service Unite the California Fire Service into a common voice to achieve unified goals. Establish a network system to build upon the synergy of diverse organizations and individuals. B. Marketing FIRESCOPE and its Products Active marketing of FIRESCOPE and its products needs to occur to maintain its position as a leader in the emergency management arena and obtain funding. Marketing will cause technology to adapt to FIRESCOPE's needs rather than FIRESCOPE adapting to the ever-changing field of technology. C. Maintaining and Improving All Risk Management Systems Draft 1/4/01 FIRESCOPE should never rest on its laurels and should always seek improvement. The key area toward improvement is achieving the latest technology into all risk management systems, safety, and prevention activities.

3 Study Purpose The fundamental objective of this study is to assess and determine the direction of FIRESCOPE into the future and, create strategic initiatives to act as a roadmap. This study includes a revised/updated statement of needs and requirements, identification of corresponding program activities, and potential sources of funding. Study objectives include: Develop recommendations concerning future program sponsorship, organization, and management Determine FIRESCOPE accomplishments, with original program objectives Determine if the program objectives and requirements should be revised, particularly to support all-risk and all emergency management and to take advantage of technological advances Estimate resources required to accomplish these activities, and potential sources of funding Establish recommended schedules for accomplishing activities Prepare a program monitoring and evaluation plan Draft 1/4/01 ii

4 Table of Contents Page Executive Summary. Historical Review 1 Strategic Initiatives Objectives 3 6 Program Funding Proposal... 8 Draft 1/4/01

5 '. Historical Review Following the wildfires in 1970, Congress provided funding to the U.S. Forest Service in This funding was used to develop a system for improving the Southern California fire service coordination on multi-jurisdictional incidents. This effort became known as "FIRESCOPE" (firefighting Resources of Southern California Organized for fotential Emergencies). Federal, State, and local fire services (USFS, CDF, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Orange Counties, and Los Angeles City) joined together to design, develop, and implement the program to serve as a prototype for national application. The success of the system has resulted in its use for all types of emergency and non-emergency events nationally and internationally. Federal funding ended in 1981, leaving an estimated 40% of the system design incomplete and was put into a "maintenance mode" under the direction of OES. State OES assumed the program and has continued the system's design, development, and implementation with limited funding, but with large support of the fire service community. A key feature of the OES stewardship has been the maintenance of the FIRESCOPE decision-making process. In general, the continued development of FIRESCOPE components was significantly impacted by the loss of major funding in Future large-scale development has been limited and innovations have been fostered by individual agencies on an informal basis. For example, OES has continued with the operations and improvement of the interagency coordination system and facility; the USFS has continued development of the wildland firespread model; the Bureau of Land Management has continued the development of the Remote Automated Weather Stations (RAWS); and the California Department of Forestry (CDF) has continued development of the Initial Attack Assessment Model. The primary product of FIRESCOPE was the development of the Incident Command System (ICS) that consists of the following components: Common terminology Common organizational structure Modular basis for organizational development Written or oral action plans with objectives Integrated facilities Integrated communications Draft 1/4/01 1

6 Other products produced by FIRESCOPE include:.:. Multi-Agency Coordination System (MACS).:. Interagency communications.:. Map system.:. Infrared monitoring.:. Micro-weather monitoring.:. Fire spread modeling.:. Funding Since FIRESCOPE was initiated, there has been a formal decision-making organizational structure and procedures. This decision-making process has been a key factor in getting change implemented by involving all levels of the fire service. The organizational structure is composed of the following increments in descending order: Board of Directors Operations Team Task Force Specialist Groups In September 1986, the decision-making process and composure of FIRESCOPE was combined with the OES Fire and Rescue Service Advisory Committee. This action brought a statewide input into the FIRESCOPE products. There has been significant accomplishment of the original and revised FIRESCOPE objectives in terms of satisfying the original program objectives. The FIRESCOPE program has continued its mission with limited funding to now incorporate all-risk components of ICS. The primary area that remains in a dynamic state is the technology components and their inclusion into organizational and field use. Draft 1/4/01 2

7 Strategic Initiatives The key to planning FIRESCOPE's future is to understand its history and its successes. There were three reports studied that made prior recommendations for FIRESCOPE's future; the 1987 Ryland Research report "Needs Assessment and Study of the FIRESCOPE Program," the 1991 FIRESCOPE Operation's Team "Proposed Five Year FIRESCOPE Expansion and Implementation Plan" and the 1998 FIRESCOPE "Strategic Plan." The Mission Statement and Vision Statement were also reviewed. Mission Statement The mission of FIRESCOPE is to provide recommendations and technical assistance to the Office of Emergency Services (OES), to maintain the FIRESCOPE "decision process," and to continue the operation, development and maintenance of the FIRESCOPE Incident Command System (ICS) and the Multi Agency Coordination System (MACS) components. Vision Statement The FIRESCOPE vision is to lead the development of an all risk management and coordination systems, enhance and encourage participation in the statewide mutual Aid System for the Fire Services of California and the nation. A working group of FIRESCOPE members conducted several meetings to review prior documents and discussed FIRESCOPE's future. The following items were composed as strategic initiatives needed to guide the completion of past FIRESCOPE projects as well as direct the future of FIRESCOPE: A. Creating a Common Voice within the California Fire Service Unite the California Fire Service into a common voice to achieve unified goals. Establish a network system to build upon the synergy of diverse organizations and individuals. One of the foremost ingredients to FIRESCOPE's success was the networking of its originators. This informal network began to erode barriers to communications and established trust within this group. Personnel simply contacting each other could resolve everyday and emergency operational issues. This communications and the synergy of the mixed fire service agencies working collectively proved FIRESCOPE could accomplish daunting tasks. An example of this is the formation of ICS and its impact on national and international emergency response agencies. The future of FIRESCOPE needs to remind itself of this type achievement and its benefits. Draft 1/4/01 3

8 ., Creating a common voice of the fire service can harness the power of mixed agencies toward unified goals. Today, the California fire service is divided up between many organizations; Metro Fire Chiefs, Calif. Fire Chiefs, Cal Rural Fire Chiefs, Fire District's Association, SEMS, NWCG, Western Fire Chiefs, Calif. State Firefighter's Association, Calif, Professional Firefighters, League of Cities Fire Chiefs, Association of Contract Counties, local area fire chief groups, and Federal/State fire agencies. The same approach toward achieving goals can be accomplished using the basic tenets that created FIRESCOPE. B. Marketing FIRESCOPE and its Products FIRESCOPE needs to be marketed as a process and its products. Active marketing of FIRESCOPE and its products needs to occur to maintain its position as a leader in the emergency management arena and obtain funding. Marketing will cause technology to adapt to FIRESCOPE's needs rather than FIRESCOPE adapting to the ever-changing field of technology. The marketing success of FIRESCOPE has been remarkable considering it was performed via word of mouth and by actual demonstrations. The originators of FIRESCOPE professed its merits to obtain financial support and then directed their own agencies to use its tenets. Actual use of ICS on emergency incidents finally put the writing into action where the system was tested and refined for operational efficiency. The success of ICS and FIRESCOPE prove itself as a national model and is now the exclusive organizational management system being instructed at the National Fire Academy. While ICS has been implemented since 1981, there remains a large group of emergency management agencies that do not use a common management system and is impacted by the same issues that caused FIRESCOPE to be created. Marketing is essential to maintain the FIRESCOPE process and its products. Vendors and other fire service groups continue to modify ICS and unless maintained, ICS may fall victim to a dilution of its basic tenets. Marketing does not prevent ICS modifications; it only channels modifications through a decision-making process established by FIRESCOPE. C. Maintain and Improve All Risk Management Systems FIRESCOPE should never rest on its laurels and should always seek improvement. The key area toward improvement is achieving the latest technology into all risk management systems, safety, and prevention activities. Draft 1/4/01 4

9 It is paramount that FIRESCOPE dedicate energy toward the on-going maintenance and improvement of its all risk management systems. ICS, MACS and other FIRESCOPE products need to be constantly reviewed for system improvements to meet the needs of various emergency and nonemergency events. Technology is the key area that needs to be endorsed and utilized. All areas of FIRESCOPE can benefit from the latest technologies and sharing data, but the challenge is to try and keep up with changing technology. The thought then becomes if FIRESCOPE can drive the technology market by establishing standards and formats and let the technology market develop their products around them. This direction will allow those agencies that can afford to use the latest technology to still share basic data with other agencies. Mutual aid agreements within Califomia have proven themselves as a model for the nation. Mutual aid philosophies need to be reinforced as they create an actual regionalized fire service, which is cost effective for all taxpayers. The California fire service needs to also value the diversity of the people and organizations in the FIRESCOPE decision-making process and all risk management tool maintenance and development. Diversity has been proven by the 1986 inclusion ofthe OES Advisory Committee into FIRESCOPE and we should continue to seek other diverse interest in the future. Draft 1/4/01 5

10 Objectives A. Creating a Common Fire Service Voice Objectives: Improve and maintain emergency management leadership through interagency cooperation. Promote participation for all agencies within California in the Mutual Aid System and provide assistance to these agencies to prepare and participate in planned or unplanned events. Promote MACS training and exercises. Create common fire prevention strategies. B. Marketing FIRESCOPE and Its Products Objectives: Establish a FIRESCOPE Board of Directors group to develop mechanisms to promote awareness of the FIRESCOPE philosophy. Develop the Board of Directors as the focal point to identify other organizations that may influence FIRESCOPE. and promote FIRESCOPE philosophies with these organizations. Charge the Board of Directors to develop a business and financial plan to support the administrative support of FIRESCOPE. Utilize fire service public education as a marketing tool. C. Maintaining and Improving All Risk Management Systems Objectives: Support multi-agency training on FIRESCOPE developed components and products. Develop statewide certification and qualifications standards. Provide training regarding new technology. Continue to evaluate and refine FIRESCOPE products. Research potential and/or improved methods of forecasting fire behavior and weather patterns. Initiate a working group to research and participate in development of technologies to improve on prevention, safety, and on-scene incident command needs. Provide improved incident information and intelligence mechanisms for media and regional command purposes. Draft 1/4/01 6

11 .. Maintain and improve methods for coordinating multiagency resources for planned and unplanned events. Coordinate with Regional Emergency Operations Centers (REOC) for improving multi-agency coordination. Provide a system that assist Emergency Operations Centers and SEMS to interface. Improve methods of multi-agency communications by using new technologies. Promote the need to develop an interstate communications system. Maintain and explore new mutual aid options. Maintain the California Fire Service Mutual Aid Communications agreement. Implement a common statewide mapping system. Review and update standard terminology for improving incident management. Create common data standards and formats to drive new technology. Draft 1/4/01 7

12 Program Funding Proposal Draft 1/4/01 8

13 ICS Journal Article This article will take a close look at the FIESCOPE Program from three perspectives. First we will look back at the proud past of the program. Next, we will look at a snapshot of current activities and framework of the organization, and finally, we will look into the exciting future of FIRESCOPE. Past The fire season of 1970 proved to be one of the most destructive on record. During a 13-day period 16 lives were lost, 772 structures burned and over 500,000 acres of vegetation were consumed. Massive fire suppression forces had to be activated. This mobilization of forces from around the state demanded a level of interagency coordination never before seen in California. The fire suppression workload and stress on the fire rescue mutual aid system overwhelmed systems that were in-place at the time. Afteraction reports identified a number of issues that demanded attention prior to the next siege of fire that everyone knew would occur. To this end, the 92 nd United States Congress turned its attention to the Southern California fire problem. In 1971, Congress appropriated $900,000 to strengthen federal fire programs. This money was subsequently divided between program offices at Riverside, California and Fort Collins, Colorado. The Riverside Program was "Charted" as the "FIRECOPE" Project. Flrefighting REscources of ~outhern California Organized for Potential.Emergencies The Forest Service, Southwest Region, established a program office in Riverside and seven "partner agencies" were identified to provide support and technical advice to the program. These agencies were: 1. U.S. Forest Service (Program Office) 2. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection 3. California Office of Emergency Services 4. Los Angeles County Fire Department 5. Los Angeles City Fire Department 6. Santa Barbara County Fire Department 7. Ventura County Fire Department An intensive 5-year period of research and development was launched in By March of 1974, a major component of the FIRESCOPE Program, the "Field

14 Operations Concept Design Document", was completed. The Mission Research Corporation under contract to the Los Angeles County Fire Department produced this document for the FIRESCOPE Program. In 1977, a funding plan was developed from Federal funds to carry forward the implementation of Program developed products. This plan called for a 75/25 split of funding between Federal and State money. In 1978 the program transitioned into a period of continued development and an ever-increasing pace of implementation. During this period, the Operational Coordination Center (OCC) at Riverside was established and the Multi-Agency Coordination System was developed and implemented. Also during this period, a statement of intent from the California Office of Emergency Services, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection CDF, and the California State Fire Marshal was written to continue fiscal support of the program helped ensure the continued growth of the FIRESCOPE concept. In the early eighties, the activities of the FIRESCOPE Program began to draw nation-wide attention. This culminated in the adoption of the "Incident Command System" by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and its being taught by the National Fire Academy as the command system of choice. The "Nation Interagency Incident Management" or NIIMS was born and today represents the command option of choice for the nations emergency responders. The Program was awarded FEMA's "Exemplary Practice in Emergency Management" in Federal funding ended in 1982 with approximately 60% of the development and implementation of the program completed. But with the commitment of OES, CDF, SFM, regional federal agencies and the fire services of California, the program continued. In the mid-1980's the emphasis of the Program was expanded to include not only continued development of the system and the implementation of new products but also the required maintenance of the ICS and MACS. During this period, the FIRESCOPE Program and the California Fire Information and Resource Management System were merged to formally take FIRESCOPE development to all of California. The acronym "FIRESCOPE" was modified to stand for Flrefighting REScources of California Organized for Potential Emergencies. IN 1985, Orange County Fire Department joined the Board of Directors. In 1988, a 5-year expansion and implementation plan was prepared. On December 10, 1988, State Senate Bill 27 authored by Senators Campbell and Dolittle was passed. This legislation required the OES, CDF and SFM to jointly

15 establish and administer the FIRESCOPE Program and actively seek funding for the program via the state budget process. The seed originally planted and nurtured by federal money now became the charge of state and local government for its future. During the 1990's, the Program expanded to further encompass the "All-risk" nature of emergency management. This resulted in the development of Operational System Descriptions (OSD's) for hazardous materials incidents, urban search and rescue operations, responses to emergencies involving masscasualties and fires in high-rise buildings. The Program provided assistance to the National Wildlife Coordinating Group in the development of the National Training Curriculum for nation-wide standardization of training materials for ICS and multi-agency coordination. In 1992, Senate Bill 1841 (Petris) set forth regulations to establish a statewide "Standardized Emergency Management System" (SEMS) in California. This legislation recognized the ICS as the basis for field-level responses by all levels of government and by all public entities in California. Present Since FIRESCOPE was initiated, there has been a formal decision-making organizational structure with clearly defined procedures. This process remains intact today and is as strong as ever. This decision-making process has been a key factor in getting change implemented at all levels of the fire service. The organizational structure is composed of the following increments: Board of Directors (Chief Executive Level) Operations Team (Deputy/Assistant/Division Chief Level) Task Force (Battalion Chief/Manager Level) Specialist Groups (Standing Specialist work-group) Working Groups (Ad-Hoc Specialist work-group) The Board of Directors, Operations Team and Taskforce memberships are based on a standing list of participants as defined in the FIRESCOPE Document MACS and approved by the Board of Directors. Membership includes representatives from the following organizations and categories: Original FIRESCOPE partner agencies Federal Agencies with land management responsibilities County-wide Fire Agencies City Fire Agencies Volunteer Fire Agencies Fire Districts

16 Specialist and Working Groups are comprised of individuals with advanced knowledge and interest in technical areas and are appointed and managed by the Taskforce. Current Specialist Groups include: Communications Information Technology Hazardous Materials Weather Public Information and Education Training Current Ad-hoc Working groups include: Damage Inspection Urban-Intermix High-rise Firefighting GIS USAR Most recently, the FIRESCOPE program has worked to ensure the adaptation of technology to emergency management. The development and use Geographic Information System (GIS) Specialist positions on wildland fires and other emergencies and the rollout of the FIRECOPE website ( are examples of this effort. During the current period, position descriptions for Fireline EMT and Damage Inspection Technical Specialist were developed. In response to changes in regulations at the Federal and state levels, the Program was used as a pipeline to create and distribute statewide guidelines for the implementation of Fireground Accountability Systems. Future As the Fire Service enters the next millenium, the Firescope Board of Directors has set a course that includes research and development in many areas as well as a series of strategic initaitves. The future of the FIRESCOPE Program is clearly established in the success of the past and the Program's basic tenets. It is also understood that emergency incidents will continue into the future due to natural and manmade causes, and there remains a need for an all-risk organizational management system. The foundation of FIRESCOPE's success is based upon the following basic tenets that need to be maintained into the future: - defined decision making process

17 - non-agency specific organizational directive/tools - all-risk incident management tool - leadership in nationallcs application and revisions There are several outstanding items that still need to be finished from the original FIRESCOPE project and must be considered in planning the future of the Program. These tasks include: - certs & quais system - fire modeling programs - communications links - funding sources - training programs - infrared tools - common statewide maps These important issues are part of the contract FIRESOPE has with the emergency responders of California. FIRESCOPE should never rest on its laurels and should always seek improvement. The key area toward improvement is achieving the latest technology into all-risk management systems (SEMS), safety, and prevention activities. As stated before, the key to planning the future of FIRESCOPE is to understand its history and its successes. Over the years, three reports were issued that made recommendations pertinent to the future of FIRESCOPE. The 1987 Ryland Research Report - "Needs Assessment and Study of the FIRESCOPE Program," the 1991 FIRESCOPE Operation's Team - "Proposed Five Year FIRESCOPE Expansion and Implementation Plan" and the 1998 FIRESCOPE "Strategic Plan" all contained valuable and timely recommendations. In addition to past successes and thoughtful reports and studies, we must also look to the FIRESCOPE Mission Statement and Vision Statement and review them regularly for current and future applications. Mission Statement The Mission of FIRESCOPE is to provide recommendations and technical assistance to the Office of Emergency Services (OES), to maintain the FIRESCOPE "decision process," and to continue the operation, development and maintenance of the FIRESCOPE Incident Command System (ICS) and the Multi Agency Coordination System (MACS) components. Vision Statement The FIRESCOPE vision is to lead the development of an all-risk management and coordination system, enhance and encourage participation in the statewide mutual aid system for the Fire Services of California and the nation. A working group of FIRESCOPE members conducted several meetings to review prior documents and discuss the future. The following items were composed as

18 strategic initiatives needed to guide the completion of past FIRESCOPE projects as well as direct the future of FIRESCOPE activities: A. Creating a Common Voice Within the California Fire Service Use FIRESCOPE to unite the California fire service into a common voice to achieve unified goals. Establish a network system to build upon the synergy of diverse organizations and individuals. One of the foremost ingredients in the success of FIRESCOPE over the years was the networking started by its originators and carried on today. This informal network began to erode barriers to communications and established trust within this group. By individuals simply communicating with each other, complex issues of everyday operations and emergency management could be and were resolved quickly and easily. These open communications and the synergy of mixed fire service agencies collectively working on a daunting task, proved FIRESCOPE works. An example of this is the development of ICS as a standard, common command platform for the fire service in a place a diverse as California and its impact on national and international emergency response agencies. Those planning the future of FIRESCOPE need to remind themselves of this type of open, honest communication and its benefits. Creating a common voice of the fire service can harness the power of diverse agencies toward unified goals. Today, the California fire service is comprised of many organizations: Metro Fire Chiefs, California Fire Chiefs, Cal Rural Fire Chiefs, Fire Districts' Association, National Wildfire Coordinating Group, Western Fire Chiefs, California State Firefighters' Association, California Professional Firefighters, League of Cities Fire Chiefs, Association of Contract Counties, local area fire chief groups, and federal/state fire agencies. The same approach toward achieving goals can be accomplished using the basic tenets that created FIRESCOPE. B. Marketing FIRESCOPE and its Products FIRESCOPE processes and products need to be marketed to the emergency managers of the future. Active marketing of FIRESCOPE and its products needs to occur to maintain its position as a leader in the emergency management arena and obtain the funding necessary to complete the mission. Marketing will cause technology to be developed to adapt to needs identified by FIRESCOPE rather than FIRESCOPE attempting to catch up and adapting to the ever-changing field of technology. The early marketing success of FIRESCOPE was remarkable considering it was performed primarily via word of mouth and by actual system performance. The originators of FIRESCOPE professed its merits to obtain financial support and then directed their own agencies to use its tenets. Actual use of ICS on

19 ~emergency incidents finally put the writing into action where the system was tested and refined for operational efficiency. The success of ICS and FIRESCOPE proves itself as a national model and is now the exclusive organizational management system being instructed at the National Fire Academy. While ICS has been used since 1981, there still remains a relatively large group of emergency management agencies that do not use a common management system. The same issues that caused FIRESCOPE to be created many years ago still impact these agencies. Marketing the ICS and MACS concepts to these agencies will only make us all stronger and better service providers. Marketing is essential to maintain the FIRESCOPE process and its products. Vendors and other fire service groups continue to modify ICS and unless maintained, ICS may fall victim to a dilution of its basic tenets. Marketing does not prevent ICS modifications; it only channels modifications through a decisionmaking process established by FIRESCOPE. c. Maintain and Improve All-Risk Management Systems It is paramount that FIRESCOPE dedicate energy toward the on-going maintenance and improvement of its all-risk management systems. ICS, MACS and other FIRESCOPE products need to be constantly reviewed for system improvements to meet the needs of various responders to emergency incidents and non-emergency events and multi-disciplined agencies. Technology is the key area that needs to be endorsed and utilized. All areas of FIRESCOPE can benefit from the latest technologies and data sharing, but the challenge is to try and keep up with changing technology. The thought then becomes one of FIRESCOPE driving the technology market by establishing standards and formats and thus causing technology developers to create products to meet these needs. This direction will allow all agencies to use the latest technology while continuing to still share basic common data and systems with other agencies. Mutual aid agreements within California have proven themselves as a model for the nation. Mutual aid philosophies need to be reinforced as they create an actual regionalized fire service, which is quite cost effective for all taxpayers. ICS and MACS are vital parts of the coordination of agencies as required by an active mutual aid system. The California fire service needs to also value the diversity of the people and organizations in the FIRESCOPE decision-making process and the all-risk management tool maintenance and development. The power of diversity has been proven by the 1986 inclusion of the OES Advisory Committee into FIRESCOPE and the January 2001, "Swiftwater/Flood Search & Rescue, ICS

20 US&R 120-2, and the Law Enforcement Mutual Aid Plan (SAR) Annex." We should continue to work with other diverse interests within the fire service and to include the other emergency response disciplines in the future development of the Program and products. FIRESCOPE's proud past, dynamic present, and exciting future create a model for cooperative efforts regardless of the governmental level, response discipline, or geographic area. It is vital that tomorrow's caretakers of the system use the past and present as springboards to the future.

21 FOR YOUR NOTES

22 FOR YOUR NOTES