STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES

CHAPTER 7 SUPPRESSION

REFERENCE UCA 53-2a-204: Authority of governor – Federal assistance – Fraud or Willful Misstatement in Application for Financial Assistance – Penalty. UCA 53-2a-205: Authority of chief executive officers of political subdivisions – Ordering evacuations UCA 65A-3-2: Prohibited acts on State Lands UCA 65A-3-3: Enforcement of laws on State Lands UCA 65A-3-4: Liability for causing wildland fires UCA 65A-8-101: Division responsibilities for fire control and preservation of forest, watershed, and other lands. UCA 65A-8-103: Forestry and fire control funds UCA 65A-8-201: Uncontrolled fire is public nuisance UCA 65A-8-202: Fire control – County responsibilities UCA 65A-8-203: Cooperative fire protection agreements with counties UCA 65A-8-204: Wildland fire suppression fund created UCA 65A-8-205: Agreements for coverage by the wildland fire suppression fund UCA 65A-8-206: Disbursements from the wildland fire suppression fund UCA 65A-8-207: Division to administer wildland fire suppression fund UCA 65A-8-208: Pre-suppression costs – Disbursements from fund – Credit against assessment – Limited by appropriation UCA 65A-8-209: Responsibilities of county sheriffs and district fire wardens in controlling fires UCA 65A-8-210: Fire control on state owned lands UCA 65A-8-211: Closed fire season UCA 65A-8-212: Power of state forester to close hazardous areas UCA 76-6-102: Arson UCA 76-6-103: Aggravated arson UCA 76-6-104: Reckless burning UCA 76-6-104.5: Abandoned fire UCA 76-6-105: Causing a catastrophe

(https://le.utah.gov/xcode/code.html) - for QR code see 7.1 on page 192.

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES

GENERAL It is the intent that every incident managed by the Division is done so safely and efficiently. Providing for the safety of responders and the public will be paramount when implementing plans. A standard process for determining incident complexity and assigning the appropriate management organization will be used. Incident complexity will determine the level of engagement by Division fire staff.

DIRECTION The following set of Standard Operating Procedures have been developed to assist Division fire staff in the evaluation and documentation of wildland fire incidents. Follow these procedures to ensure that incident complexity is monitored, that the appropriate management organization is in place to manage and meet the complexity, that key decisions are documented, and that agency administrators are properly engaged.

FFSL FIRE SUPPRESSION STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES • A written Incident Organizer will be completed on EVERY fire. The incident organizer is a convenient way to document incident complexity, mitigation measures—including measures taken to address multiple communication systems, and the rationale behind critical decisions. • Re-evaluate incident complexity when there are significant changes in Relative Risk or

Organization. • Consider activating necessary ICS functions once Type 4 level of complexity. • Use NWCG forms

CRITERIA FOR UPWARD REPORTING OF LOCAL FIRES • Fire is escaping initial attack • Fire is 10 acres + • Aviation resources have been ordered • Any accident or personal injury has occurred • Multiple Jurisdictions are involved (cost share) • Fire is Cost Collectable • Any assistance to incorporated jurisdiction being requested or rendered • Fire has any political implications • Fire attracts media attention, particularly television news • Fire is of suspicious origin • There are multiple fires are occurring • Assistance from another warden is requested (coordination for coverage) • If you are not available or change in on-call status • The Area FMO/Duty Officer will be engaged in the decision making and management of every Type 3 fire within their Area.

UTAH SHARED STEWARDSHIP/SHARED RISK The Shared Stewardship Agreement that is referenced in this section can be found here: (https://ffsl.link/UtahSharedStewardship) - for QR code see 7.2 on page 192.

Utah’s Shared Stewardship Agreement between the State of Utah and the USDA Forest Service was signed by Governor Herbert and Secretary of Agriculture Perdue on May 22nd, 2019. According to the Agreement, “the State and the Forest Service have an unprecedented opportunity to work together to set landscape-scale priorities, implement projects at the appropriate scale, co-manage risks, share resources, and learn from each other, while

building long-term capacity to live with wildfire.” Our agreement specifically addresses working together in fire management in core element #3, using all available tools for active management, and in commitment #6, we are committed to co-managing wildfire risks and supporting each other in decisions that we have made together.

Co-managing wildfire risks means communication between Forestry, Fire and State Lands (State) and Forest Service managers and decision-makers in a much more structured and deliberate way, especially during fire season. We are however, we are committed to sharing information and decisions before, during and after fire season. Here’s what that looks like:

BEFORE Fire Season: • We will continue to plan with, prepare and train our firefighters together wherever the opportunities allow. • We will meet on a regular basis and work together on planning and conducting local spring fire coordination and scenario meetings with other agencies and partners, holding robust gatherings to enhance our relationships and interactions, and to discuss and plan cross-boundary fire response in our toughest locations. • We will continue to discuss the National Forest-generated Red/Green maps, which depict where fire is unwanted and will receive an aggressive initial attack response (Red areas) and other areas (Green) where, depending on conditions, lightning-caused fires may be considered to support fuel reduction and landscape scale restoration goals.

DURING Fire Season: State and Federal partners will regularly share information on all new, emerging and existing fires. Once a wildland fire is confirmed by a qualified Incident Commander, the field fire report has been completed and called into the Interagency Fire Center (dispatch), and the Agency Having Jurisdiction Duty Officer (AHJDO) has been notified, a determination will be made on the merits of each fire and which of the three IF-THEN statements below will be followed:

1. IF the wildland fire is: • Of low consequence “or” significance, • Small in nature “or” size, • Going to be fully contained or controlled within the first operational period;

THEN, the initial group text and notification calls from dispatch to all agency fire contacts for that run card zone will suffice in notifying each agency Duty Officer of the incident. If the Area Duty Officer (ADO)/Area FMO, County Fire Warden, or Forest

Service DO (FSDO)/FS FMO require any further information, it is each individual’s responsibility to contact the AHJDO/AHJFMO for further details about the incident. 2. IF the wildland fire or some portion thereof is: • Threatening values at risk; • Threatening another jurisdiction; • Requiring full suppression strategies but risk management dictates modified suppression tactics that are necessary for the safety of the fire responders;

• Not suitable or safe for direct perimeter control; • Having the potential for a larger fire footprint, potential for longer duration, any amount of monitoring, etc.; • Necessitating Agency Administrators (AAs) and Duty Officers (DOs) from State and Federal agencies come together, prior to a decision being made, to discuss trade-offs and opportunities to protect responders and the shared values at risk; THEN, the State and Federal AAs and DOs will discuss the rationale and incident details with their counterparts. DO/FMOs will use all of the tools available to gather the needed intelligence to support the strategy and tactics being proposed and we will decide together who will inform neighboring elected officials and other interested parties. In cases of high public interest consider the actions of category 3. i. In other words, if the fire is gaining or has the potential to gain wide public or media attention or if the State is receiving or likely would receive questions about it, AAs and DOs should strongly consider implementing statement 3 below.

3. IF the wildland fire or some portion thereof could likely be easily extinguished but could also be used to meet Land Management Plan and/or Shared Stewardship objectives, but; • Has high potential to be controversial; • Is easily visible to a large population; • Has potential to attract the attention of elected officials even if there are no values-at-risk; • Could negatively impact sensitive receptors via smoke; • Will be a long duration event or visible for several days in a row; • Has any appearance to our partners, public, or politicians as “less than full suppression;”

THEN, the State and Federal DOs and AAs should immediately discuss the details and potential tradeoffs of the incident. At this point we will decide together who will inform neighboring and otherwise affected elected officials as well as other interested parties.

It is the responsibility of the agency responsible for the land to ensure communications with partners are occurring at the appropriate level and the right time. If there are appearances of or actual disagreements occurring regarding the management of the incident, then State and Federal leadership need to immediately become involved in the conversation.

If any wildland fire has high potential to be controversial and/or political, the Forest Fire Staff Officer or Forest Duty Officer should be in regular communication with the Forest Service Regional Office and the affected State Area Manager(s) and FMO(s). The Regional Fire Director or Deputy Fire Director will be in contact the State of Utah FMO. Concurrently, the Forest Supervisor should contact the Deputy Regional Forester, who will discuss details with the State Forester.