Fire Management 2022 Program Guide
CHAPTER 3 ADMINISTRATION FIRE INFORMATION MEDIA GUIDE PURPOSE As opportunities arise, FFSL fire personnel may be interviewed by print, radio or tv media. This guide is issued to ensure that DFFSL’s communications goals are met. Many reporters lack basic wildfire background knowledge which causes miscommunication, and often their own misperceptions find their way into news stories. In addition, social media and other electronic information created by division employees is fair game for news coverage. The concepts outlined in this document are aimed at helping you contribute to meeting Division communications goals and mitigating miscommunications.
THE “TYPICAL” WILDLAND FIRE IN UTAH What’s a newsworthy wildfire? – Any time a wildfire starts on state or private unincorporated land, the FMO or Warden should immediately assess the information needs of the fire. The following four factors should be considered: 1. Visibility – The public and therefore, the media will want information any time the fire is visible from a major population base. 2. Evacuations and Closures – These two events require media assistance for public safety reasons. In addition, either event will always attract media attention 3. Size/Rapid Growth – Large, fast-moving fires are almost always newsworthy. A 100acre fire in a remote area isn’t much of a story, but a 2,000 acre wind-driven fire in the same area is. 4. Relativity – Early and late-season fires are always more interesting, but every situation will be different. A 200-acre fire just outside a medium city could go either way, depending on what else is going on in the state and in your area. A 50-acre fire near a resort town will always draw more attention than a 2,500 acre fire in the wilderness. Each of these factors should weigh into your public information decisions and help you plan effectively.
COMMUNICATIONS OBJECTIVES, STRATEGIES AND TACTICS Objectives: Just as each wildland incident has Objectives, Strategies and Tactics, our communications operation does too. Public understanding of established key messages is considered the objective portion of our effort. All agencies have key messages, and each incident will have some that are unique. Key messages help keep our media efforts focused on what we want the public to know when the story hits the air. FFSL personnel may have specific key messages that you may deploy tactically in a news interview depending on your area and depending on what the situation is. Here are some examples:
104 – Chapter 3 Administration
