New USFS Type I Teams
The U.S. Forest Service has a new idea regarding incident management teams (from the San Diego Union-Tribune).
BILLINGS, Mont. – The U.S. Forest Service is looking for experienced wildland firefighters to fill two experimental teams that would be dedicated to tackling complex wildfires, hurricane relief or other large emergencies.The teams would share the same qualifications as the specialized incident management squads, known as Type 1 teams. Those teams manage the nation's biggest wildfires and also have been called upon to help coordinate the response to disasters such as the World Trade Center terror attacks and the Gulf Coast hurricanes.
But the new teams would be smaller – seven members, rather than about 30 – and they'd handle their duties full-time.
This is an innovative approach and they are starting with just two teams to see if it will work.
It looks like the career path for emergency management is becoming better defined. Back is September, 2005, I posted about college degree programs in emergency management. A student could graduate from one of those programs, get hired in a variety of emergency management positions, and eventually land a job on a Type I incident command team.
