Contrary to belief, world is flat
When I was the fire staff officer on the Ochoco National Forest in central Oregon, I had a regional fire director named David Jay. At many of our fire management meetings, Jay would start off by saying that he'd just read a good book. The books usually had nothing to do directly with wildfires, but they always helped us take an outside look at our world, and oftentimes we found new and innovative ways to look at our jobs.
Now I find myself in a position to tell others in the fire management world that I've just read a good book. It's The World is Flat: a Brief History of the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Friedman, the Pulitzer Prize — winning columnist for The New York Times. Not exactly the kind of background that lends itself to the wildland fire game, right? But Friedman looks at globalization, where the flattening of the world would allow us all to work in a common marketplace without regard to national borders.
So how does this relate to the world of wildland fire?
For many years, the border between Canada and the United States was relatively seamless when it came to wildfires: Any new ignition was attacked by the closest forces, without worrying about cost reimbursements or stamps on respective passports. In the mid-'80s, large fires in Canada resulted in requests for support from U.S. interagency Hot Shot crews; the interchange of personnel continued on throughout the 1990s and escalated to a higher level in 2000 when entire Canadian Incident Management Teams, as well as 90 fire managers from Australia and New Zealand, came to the United States to help out on the “mega-fires” burning in Montana and Idaho. Since then, the exchange of fire personnel has continued among Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States, and there's no end in sight.
Several factors that are critical to the continued international interchange of personnel are fire qualifications and personal protective equipment. Whenever folks cross borders, it's essential from both the safety and liability perspectives that everyone involved meets the appropriate levels of fire qualifications and uses PPE that meets the minimum wildfire protection needs.
Enter Friedman and his thoughts about “standardization” in a flat world. Some people — and agencies — believe that national and international standards can stifle their ability to innovate and meet their specific local needs. Friedman quotes the head of IBM's strategic planning unit, Joel Cawley, who says that “standards don't eliminate innovation, they just allow you to focus it.” The introduction of National Fire Protection Association standards for the U.S. wildland fire forces has moved cooperation and interoperability ahead during the past 15 years. The provinces and territories of Canada have experienced similar results through the Canadian General Standards Board, and now the entire international community is moving forward with the development of standards for PPE using the International Standards Organization as the platform. Everyone has a seat at the table, which will result in products that meet an acceptable minimum standard that allows for cross-border support.
As an international association with members around the world, the International Association of Wildland Fire strongly endorses standardization wherever and whenever feasible, be it at the local, provincial/state, regional, national or international level. Achieving a workable standard, such as ISO, CGSB or NFPA, requires the active participation of knowledgeable and capable individuals with strong organizational commitment and support. Here's your chance to make a difference — go for it!
International Assn. of Wildland Fire
P.O. Box 261
Hot Springs, S.D.
57747-0261
ph: 605-890-2348
fax: 206-600-5113
iawf@iawfonline.org
To join the IAWF, visit www.iawfonline.org
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Wildfire Magazine
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Attn: Lisa Allegretti
lallegretti@primediabusiness.com
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