Wildfires Spotlight Staff Shortages And Training Challenges

Wildfires swept through the Panhandle region of Texas earlier in 2024. The Smokehouse Creek Fire and the Windy Deuce Fire, both starting on Feb. 26, were the most significant outbreaks.

The Smokehouse Creek Fire went on to become the second largest in U.S. history, burning over a million acres across Texas and Oklahoma before it was contained in mid-March.

worst-ever wildfire

As Texas battled its worst-ever wildfire, firefighters worked to mitigate fire and smoke damage. Among the challenges were staffing shortages.

The United States is facing a serious firefighter shortage that makes fighting wildfires, including the Smokehouse Creek fire, even more difficult. Not unrelatedly, over half of all firefighters in the U.S. are volunteers. 

training in structural fires

Vector Solutions helps agencies train, prepare, and retain their employees to have a safer, better team

“We just know how demanding the wildfire season is and how fast these fires can grow,” says Robbi King, Solutions Engineer at Vector Solutions. “We want our people to be current on the expectations of what we are training, preventing our chance of getting hurt,” he says.

As fires increasingly occur at the wildland-urban interface (WUI), departments with training in structural fires should expand their training knowledge to prepare. Vector Solutions helps agencies train, prepare, and retain their employees to have a safer, better team.

online firefighting training

In addition to the availability of more than 450 hours of online firefighting training, the company also provides software platforms to ensure requisite knowledge and the ability to perform various skills. 

Ensuring preparation for wildfire season, Vector Solutions has courses that meet the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) requirements to renew certification.

shortage of volunteer firefighters

The shortage of volunteer firefighters is in part a reflection of the need for volunteers to hold full-time jobs to support their families, which limits their time for volunteering. Coverage of wildfire events, for example, is difficult during the day when more volunteers are at their paid jobs and unavailable. 

“It takes the sacrifice of vacation and other things you earn to be a volunteer,” says King. Firefighter staffing is short throughout the U.S., and agencies facing fire emergencies often call on the larger surrounding area for help.

Lack of resources in emergencies

Local volunteers can perform some of the duties, but outside aid generally comes in the form of paid firefighters

Resources are needed to perform search-and-rescue duties after the fire. “The problem is, when you call on all your assets, are there enough people to take care of medical needs and other emergencies?” says King.

Local volunteers can perform some of the duties, but outside aid generally comes in the form of paid firefighters. Volunteers cannot commit two weeks of unpaid time even in a fire emergency. 

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) can help to identify areas to search, but it takes human intervention to perform rescues and to facilitate recovery.

A decayed power pole sparking dry grass was determined as the cause of the Smokehouse Creek Fire in Texas, and several other fires were also traced back to faulty power equipment. The fires caused significant damage, including hundreds of homes destroyed, livestock deaths, and widespread destruction of crops and ranch infrastructure. 

Wildfire impact and concerns 

A huge concern during wildfire season is that individuals heed evacuation orders when they come in. “We don’t want people to be left behind,” says King. “There’s nothing there that is worth your life. Minding the evacuation orders gets you out of harm’s way.”

Residents in areas impacted by wildfire should also do their part to protect their homes; sometimes it’s as simple as mowing the grass.

role of the weather

Additional moisture can contribute to the rapid thickening of undergrowth, which contributes eventually

The weather plays a significant role in determining the course of the wildfire season. Additional moisture can contribute to the rapid thickening of undergrowth, which contributes eventually to a cycle of drying out and opening the door to wildfires. 

The location of residences near areas prone to wildfires can contribute to risks, especially along the wildland-urban interface. “Communities want to live near nature, so they work with builders, who are trying to appease what they want,” says King.

Vector Solutions Cloud

“We need to look at where we are placing these homes to make sure we are pushing the vegetation back far enough to prevent the spread of fires.”

Keeping firefighter skills current also makes a big difference. The Vector Solutions Cloud stores video of first responders performing skills and the video can be observed and critiqued later for better training. 

Scheduling and Check It

Vector also provides Vector Scheduling, a time-and-attendance tool. Vector Check It streamlines routine truck and equipment tracking and centralizes asset and inventory management.

Vector’s Guardian Tracking is a performance management and early intervention solution that equips first responders with a process for consistent feedback and positive recognition while identifying those in need of intervention before an adverse event takes place. 

Guardian Tracking Software

The system can also identify when people are performing below expectations or fail to meet standards

Vector Solutions can contribute to firefighter retention. The Guardian Tracking software can identify career milestone events and trace the negative impacts of a major fire event, including emotional stress.

The system can also identify when people are performing below expectations or fail to meet standards. “Most agencies have de-brief sessions after milestone events, but sometimes we need additional care,” says King.

impact due to COVID 

“We want to take care of people, but sometimes we need a reminder.” If departments can retain people, it becomes less of a recruitment effort. Four years after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact on the fire service is still being felt.

“We are still identifying the long-lasting COVID effects, and there are small segments of communities that have not fully recovered,” says King. ”When you expose them to wildland fire and smoke, it compounds the issues.” 

risk assessment

It will be some time before the full impact of COVID is understood, including the need for first responders to go inside residences at the height of the pandemic. 

“My work with the fire service and the military prepared me to always think about possibilities,” says King. “We do a risk assessment, which has allowed me to understand what the fire service needs and how we can apply our solutions to streamline and improve agencies’ processes. Having that knowledge has helped me find the right solution for firefighter needs.”