Today, nearly a quarter of the contiguous United States is at moderate to very high risk from wildfire, and over half of this area is located in the West, according to the United States Forest Service’s new wildfire crisis strategy. The new strategy outlines how this risk will be mitigated over a 10-year period through significant increases in fuel and forest health treatments such as prescribed fire and thinning on up to 50 million acres of land.
Even as wildfire risk is mitigated in the long-term, the risks today are significant. Our vulnerability to destruction caused by wildfires can be exploited by criminals and terrorists. Because of the minimal resources required and the potential for widespread damage, foreign terrorist organizations encourage arson attacks in wildland-urban interface (WUI) areas, defined as areas where structures and other human development meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland.
The National Counterterrorism Center’s (NCTC’s) Joint Counterterrorism Assessment Team (JCAT) has just released a new First Responder’s Toolbox, Mitigating the Threat of Terrorist-Initiated Arson Attacks on Wildland-Urban Interface Areas. This product provides awareness of the threat of arson in the WUI, as well as planning and response considerations for first responders.
The new First Responder’s Toolbox covers an overview of observable tactics, techniques, and procedures likely to be employed by those preparing to conduct an arson attack; prevention and response considerations; historical criminal and terrorist activity related to arson in the WUI; and links to many additional resources.
You can access this First Responder’s Toolbox as well as all other publicly available Toolboxes in the series at JCAT’s website. The entire First Responder’s Toolbox series, including those designated For Official Use Only (FOUO), are available on the Emergency Services (ES) and Intelligence (Intel) Communities of Interest on the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN).
(Source: JCAT)
The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) has partnered with a consulting firm to bring a new free mobile app to the emergency response community. The new app, called Buxus, which is the Latin word for “pipe,” will help to make pre-planning and response to pipeline incidents more effective and convenient. This app is funded by pipeline operators and is completely free to emergency responders.
More than 3.3 million miles of buried pipelines throughout the United States are currently providing the most efficient and economical way to transport our energy resources; however, they also pose a risk to the health and safety of our communities. Pipeline incidents are infrequent, but when they do occur, they have a high impact.
The actions taken in the first 30 minutes of a response to a pipeline incident have a dramatic effect on the overall length and effectiveness of the response. Therefore, pre-planning between pipeline operators and the emergency services agencies in their area of responsibility is essential.
In fact, pipeline operators are required by federal and state laws to share essential information relevant to emergency responders with their local emergency officials.
To meet minimum legal requirements for information sharing, traditional collaborative community meetings between pipeline operators and emergency officials have been the method historically used. While these methods of communication have been convenient for pipeline operators, they have been less useful for the emergency responders themselves.
The new Buxus app promotes two-way communication between pipeline operators and emergency responders. It delivers on-demand information about individual pipeline operators who subscribe to the system, their assets, operational considerations, and most importantly, critical information needed when an emergency occurs, such as:
- Pipeline-specific information on the commodities transported by operator.
- Hazards posed by product type.
- Emergency response actions to be taken.
- Interactive maps.
- A portal to request specific information or resources from an operator.
The NVFC has worked closely with the Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to improve communication between emergency responders and pipeline operators nationwide, with a focus on rural and volunteer fire departments. Last year, NVFC worked with PHMSA’s Pipeline Emergency Responders Initiative (PERI) to create a Fire Department Pipeline Response Emergency Planning & Preparedness (FD PREPP) Toolkit, a free resource designed to help departments conduct pre-incident planning, increase preparedness, and improve response.
Those interested in learning more about the app can visit the Buxus app webpage to register for upcoming free information sessions, or contact Buxus with question at info@buxus.io or (844) 888-3318.
(Source: NVFC)
The duties of public safety telecommunicators have changed significantly since the first 911 call in 1968, and the role will continue to evolve as Next Generation 911 (NG911) is fully integrated across the nation. Together with the 911 community, the National 911 Program continues efforts to update national classification of the 911 Telecommunicator and recognize the work telecommunicators do every day to protect and save the lives of both first responders and the public.
The National 911 Program released a four-part Public Safety Telecommunicator Reclassification Toolkit in December 2021. The goal of this Toolkit is to provide public safety answering point (PSAP)/emergency communications center (ECC) leaders and decision-makers with a framework to help ensure job descriptions, training programs, and operational documents adequately reflect the evolving expectations of the public safety telecommunicator. This will in turn help ECCs address the changes the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) needs to see to reclassify the telecommunicator’s job.
This Toolkit provides actionable steps to help ECCs and the public safety community:
- Create or revise job descriptions.
- Establish and/or expand a public safety telecommunicator training program.
- Ensure operational integration of technologies and tools used in ECCs.
- Develop a legislative strategy for reclassification.
Several information sessions are planned this month to help the 911 community navigate and utilize the Telecommunicator Reclassification Toolkit. All sessions are virtual and led by members of the 911 profession who helped to create the toolkit. Sessions will be available for playback anytime. For more information and to register, please visit the registration page for each session at the links below:
- Session 1: Overview of the Four Toolkit Chapters - Monday, Feb. 7 at 10 a.m. EST. This session covered the history of reclassification efforts, why the reclassification toolkits were developed, and a high-level overview of each of the reclassification toolkits. Note: This date has already passed but a replay of this session is available here.
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Session 2: Job Descriptions and Training - Tuesday, Feb. 22 at noon EST. This session will cover the first two parts of the Reclassification Toolkit: Developing a Public Safety Telecommunicator Job Description and Establishing and Expanding a Public Safety Telecommunicator Training Program.
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Session 3: Technology Integration/SOPs and Legislative Strategy - Friday, Feb. 25 at 10 a.m. EST. This session will cover parts three and four of the Reclassification Toolkit: The Operational Integration of Technology and Tools (SOPs) and Developing a Legislative Strategy for Reclassification.
(Source: National 911 Program)
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