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First Responders

Local fire departments and state and federal firefighters navigate the challenging and dangerous frontlines of wildfire suppression, and above all, are charged with public and personnel safety.

resources for you

If you are a seasoned wildfire professional, or new to community fire adaptation, here are a few resources to help build your skills and support your efforts to build community resilience.

INTRODUCTION TO FIRE ADAPTED COMMUNITIES

What are fire adapted communities?  What actions can fire districts and emergency responders take to help communities better live with wildfire?   

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Engage with your community before a wildfire to help encourage effective preparedness and evacuation. 

READY, SET, GO!
RESOURCES
ENGAGING LATINX COMMUNITIES
webinar
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN THE SHRUB-STEPPE
WEBINAR

COMMUNICATIONS 

Effectively Using Social Media

Before, during, and after an emergency, residents look toward emergency responders to provide them with current and up-to-date information.  Clear, actionable communications are essential.  

Here is a three-part virtual workshop series on how to use social media to effectively connect with your audience and convince them to adopt a desired behavior to take action.

IDENTIFYING & REACHING YOUR AUDIENCE
part 1
MAKING YOUR CONTENT STAND OUT
part 2
SOCIAL MEDIA & YOUR COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
part 3
RESOURCE GUIDE AND TIP SHEET

Communications After the Fire

Immediately after a fire, first responders continue to be a trusted source of information.  Yet, just because the fire is out, does not mean the risk subsides.  Post-fire flooding and debris flows are secondary disasters after a fire.  Emergency responders have the opportunity to help communities prepare for these post-fire risks.  The After the Fire Communications Toolkit inlcudes templates, messaging, and recommended mitigation actions to communicate with your community about post-fire risks. 

after the fire communications toolkit

WILDFIRE MITIGATION

We rely a lot on landowners to remove and dispose of vegetation from around their homes, but what happens if we begin to build workforce capacity to not only mitigate wildfire, but to steward our lands so that we can all better live with fire?

WILDFIRE MITIGATION CREWS
webinar

EQUITABLE MITIGATION PROGRAM

TOOLKIT

PRESCRIBED BURN ASSOCIATIONS

Learn to burn together.  Prescribed burn associations (PBA’s) provide opportunities for a group of landowners, interested citizens, fire districts, and organizational partners to form a partnership to conduct prescribed burns. 

prescribed burn associations
webinar

learning to burn together

resource guide
Mt. Adams Resource stewards
Cascadia conservation district

WAFAC members are leading efforts in Washington to build capacity through community-led burning programs, such as prescribed burn associations.  Check out their successes and lessons learned – and how you can get involved.

LEARN MORE

The national Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network has curated a database of resources to support emergency responders in their efforts to support community fire adaptation.  

more resources!

FIRST RESPONDERS PLAY A KEY ROLE

IN COMMUNITY FIRE ADAPTATION

Because first responders typically experience a high level of community trust, they have a unique opportunity to support their community not only during the fire, but before and after, as well.  
 

FACILITATION AND TRAINING RESOURCES FOR YOUR COMMUNITY

The following training toolkits were created to help you, emergency responders, get a quick start in preparing your community for wildfire. You can use the toolkits as part of your outreach and education efforts, to work with communities to plan for wildfire, to share resources, or generate discussions around specific topics.  

Each toolkit contains a 3-part video series, presentation template with facilitator’s notes and talking points, and sample meeting/workshop agenda, including links to additional resources.  

Remember, there is not a one-size-fits-all approach to preparedness, response, and recovery – and so the toolkits do not include a comprehensive set of actions to prepare your community for wildfire but will help to start the community on your journey to better live with wildfire.

When utilizing these toolkits, we encourage you to collaborate with local partners to facilitate community conversations and adopt a set of actions unique to your community.

Please feel free to download, use, and adapt the resources to fit your needs.

Before the Fire

During the Fire

After the Fire

from the field:

first responders

Click here for more!
WAFAC-affiliate-logos

This project was made possible through support provided by the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Department of Agriculture United State Forest Service (USFS), Washington State Conservation Commission through Cascadia Conservation District, and The Watershed and Research and Training Center (WTRC) to the Washington Resource Conservation and Development Council (WRCD).  The content and opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the USFS, BLM, DOI, WTRC, or the WRCD and no official endorsement should be inferred.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

ON A MISSION IN WASHINGTON

As handy as it might be, there is no road map or checklist for fire adaptation. The scale of our task and the geographically distinct regions of our state demand that smart people with different perspectives come together. Together, we’re making headway living with wildfire in Washington.

collaborate with us

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