MEMBER VOICES
COVER STORY FEEDBACK RE: COVER STORY, Q2 OUTTHINKING WILDFIRE, BY MICHELE STEINBERG
I was very disappointed in the 2nd quarter Outthinking Wildfire article. Surely Steinberg must know that fire is inevitable in fire adapted ecosystems and that appropriate fire is mandatory for the ecosystem/ plant community in question to be fully functional. RX fire should be the 1st tenet to Outthink Wildfire. What a lost opportunity that she does not even mention it in her article. Dale Wade
WRITER’S RESPONSE One of the five tenets of Outthink Wildfire™ is the need for landscape-scale fuel treatment. There are many ways to treat hazardous fuels, and in the broad statements under each tenet, there is plenty of room for specifics, including the promotion of more prescribed fire. NFPA is not a land management agency – it would not be appropriate for us to specify a technique for fuel treatment as a singular solution. Land managers know what treatments will work (and are acceptable and permissible) on what landscapes. The same goes for our tenets to promote policies to drive safer new construction and to retrofit and mitigate existing structures. NFPA is not going to specify the building materials or design techniques in our policy tenets – that will be driven by performance-based codes and the market. Outthink Wildfire is calling on policymakers to do things differently. There is ample space in the broad policy promoting hazardous fuel treatment to enable prescribed fire proponents to promote the reintroduction of fire to our landscapes. Of course, any such proposals must take into account the reality of the enormous growth of homes and communities in areas that will be impacted by fire and smoke whether the fire is planned or wild. Michele Steinberg Wildfire Division director National Fire Protection Association
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CONFERENCE MEETS THE MARK Some questions and responses to our participant survey following the 16th Wildland Fire Safety Summit | 6th Human Dimensions of Wildland Fire Conference, May 24-27 Q: W hat is your one takeaway from today’s session? • Volunteerism, and watching for “active exclusion'” by reinforced cultural promotion and cliques within brigade culture that inhibit diversity. • Great to see the global perspective with contributions from all over the world. Great content. Dekker’s keynote was excellent. • The research into trust between subordinates and supervisors was excellent. • How we deal with error is more meaningful than trying to stop it. • Integrating First Nations practice into fire management practice needs leaders willing to try to shift the paradigm and give First Nations power in fire decision making. • Covid could result in some positive benefits for fire fighting: smaller, closer camps; minimizing travel; and increasing sleep/rest. • Safety is more about what went right than what went wrong. • I learned to respect what people valued and to be mindful of making sure that mitigation measures completed in different communities are equitable. I loved the atmosphere of mutual respect in this wonderful conference.
Q: W hat can we do to make your experience better tomorrow? • Make the days longer so I can watch all the sessions you all have done such a fantastic job! • I really appreciate all the effort that must have gone on in the background to organise this and keep it running. • A ny way to do a digital icebreaker in the networking breaks? I'd like to meet new people but don't know where to start a conversation (other than about their work). • Perhaps have a few moderators chatting in the scheduled networking break sessions to start folks off – the breaks are great for bathroom runs, but there is less networking interaction than I thought we might get, except the chats in sessions, which is great!!
