Register      Login
International Journal of Wildland Fire International Journal of Wildland Fire Society
Journal of the International Association of Wildland Fire
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Drivers of international fire management personnel deployed to the United States

Sunniva Bloem A , Alison C. Cullen https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2389-859X A * , John T. Abatzoglou B , Linda O. Mearns C and Erin Belval D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A University of Washington, Box 353055, Seattle, WA 98195-3055, USA.

B University of California Merced, Merced, California, USA.

C National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder Colorado, USA.

D USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, USA.

* Correspondence to: alison@uw.edu

International Journal of Wildland Fire 33, WF23093 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF23093
Submitted: 16 June 2023  Accepted: 22 February 2024  Published: 15 March 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of IAWF. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Background

The rising occurrence of simultaneous large wildfires has put strain on United States national fire management capacity leading to increasing reliance on assistance from partner nations abroad. However, limited analysis exists on international resource-sharing patterns and the factors influencing when resources are requested and deployed.

Aims

This study examines the drivers of international fire management ground and overhead personnel deployed to the United States.

Methods

Using descriptive statistics and case examples data from 2008 to 2020, this study investigates the conditions under which international personnel are deployed to the United States and their relationship to domestic resource strain. Factors such as fire weather, fire simultaneity, and the impact on people and structures are analysed as potential drivers of demand for international resources. Additionally, barriers to resource sharing, including overlapping fire seasons between countries are examined.

Key results

The findings indicate that international personnel sharing is more likely when the United States reaches higher preparedness levels, experiences larger area burned, and when fires pose a greater impact on people and structures. However, overlapping fire seasons can limit the ability to share resources with partner nations.

Conclusions and implications

Understanding the factors influencing resource sharing can help improve collaboration efforts and enhance preparedness for future wildfire seasons.

Keywords: fire management, International resource sharing, international cooperation, key drivers, personnel, resources, simultaneity, wildfire.

References

Abatzoglou JT, Williams AP, Boschetti L, Zubkova M, Kolden CA (2018) Global patterns of interannual climate–fire relationships. Global Change Biology 24, 5164-5175.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Abatzoglou JT, Juang CS, Williams AP, Kolden CA, Westerling AL (2021) Increasing Synchronous Fire Danger in Forests of the Western United States. Geophysical Research Letters 48, e2020GL091377.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Abatzoglou JT, Williams AP, Barbero R (2019) Global Emergence of Anthropogenic Climate Change in Fire Weather Indices. Geophysical Research Letters 46(1), 326-336.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

ABC (2020) 100 firefighters from Mexico coming to help fight SQF Complex Fires in Tulare County, ABC7 Eyewitness News (September 26, 2020).

Alesina A, Dollar D (2000) Who Gives Foreign Aid to Whom and Why? Journal of Economic Growth 5, 33-63.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Andone D (2018) The largest wildfire in California’s modern history is finally out, more than 6 months after it started. CNN (June 2, 2018).

Anguiano D (2020) California’s wildfire hell: how 2020 became the state’s worst ever fire season, The Guardian (December 30, 2020).

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2022) Regional population [WWW Document]. Available at https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/regional-population/latest-release#interactive-maps

Barbero R, Abatzoglou JT, Larkin NK, Kolden CA, Stocks B (2015) Climate change presents increased potential for very large fires in the contiguous United States. International Journal of Wildland Fire 24, 892-899.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Barreda V (2020) Crews from Canada join the Beachie Creek firefighting effort. Statesmen Journal (September 20, 2020).

Bayham J, Yoder JK (2020) Resource Allocation under Fire. Land Economics 96, 92-110.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Bayham J, Belval EJ, Thompson MP, Dunn C, Stonesifer CS, Calkin DE (2020) Weather, Risk, and Resource Orders on Large Wildland Fires in the Western US. Forests 11, 169.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Becerra O, Cavallo E, Noy I (2014) Foreign Aid in the Aftermath of Large Natural Disasters. Review Development Economics 18, 445-460.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Belval EJ, Wei Y, Calkin DE, et al. (2017) Studying interregional wildland fire engine assignments for large fire suppression. International Journal of Wildland Fire 26(7), 642-653.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Belval EJ, Short KC, Stonesifer CS, Calkin DE (2022) A Historical Perspective to Inform Strategic Planning for 2020 End-of-Year Wildland Fire Response Efforts. Fire 5, 35.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Bloem S, Cullen AC, Mearns LO, Abatzoglou JT (2022) The Role of International Resource Sharing Arrangements in Managing Fire in the Face of Climate Change. Fire 5, 88.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Bowman DMJS, Williamson GJ, Abatzoglou JT, Kolden CA, Cochrane MA, Smith AMS (2017) Human exposure and sensitivity to globally extreme wildfire events. Nature Ecology & Evolution 1, 0058.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

CAL FIRE (2022) Thomas Fire [WWW Document]. ca.gov. Available at https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2017/12/4/thomas-fire/

Central Oregon Fire Info (2020) Lionshead Fire Update. (Central Oregon Fire Info) https://centraloregonfire.org/2020/09/22/lionshead‐fire‐update‐september‐22‐2020/

Cheng C, Minhas S (2021) Keeping Friends Close, But Enemies Closer: Foreign Aid Responses to Natural Disasters. British Journal of Political Science 51, 940-962.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

CIFFC (2013) Canada Report 2013. (Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre: Winnipeg, MB)

CIFFC (2014) Canada Report 2014. (Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre: Winnipeg, MB)

CIFFC (2015) Canada Report 2015. (Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre: Winnipeg, MB)

CIFFC (2016) Canada Report 2016. (Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre: Winnipeg, MB)

CIFFC (2017) Canada Report 2017. (Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre: Winnipeg, MB)

CIFFC (2018) Canada Report 2018. (Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre: Winnipeg, MB)

CIFFC (2019) Canada Report 2019. (Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre: Winnipeg, MB)

CIFFC (2020) Canada Report 2020. (Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre: Winnipeg, MB)

CIFFC (2023) Archived Situation Reports. (Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre)

Cullen AC, Axe T, Podschwit H (2021) High-severity wildfire potential – associating meteorology, climate, resource demand and wildfire activity with preparedness levels. International Journal of Wildland Fire 30, 30-41.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Cullen AC, Prichard SJ, Abatzoglou JT, Dolk A, Kessenich L, Bloem S, Bukovsky MS, Humphrey R, Mcginnis S, Skinner H, Mearns LO (2023) Growing convergence research: coproducing climate projections to inform proactive decisions for managing simultaneous wildfire risk. Risk Analysis 43, 2262-2279.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Dennison PE, Brewer SC, Arnold JD, Moritz MA (2014) Large wildfire trends in the western United States, 1984–2011. Geophysical Research Letters 41, 2928-2933.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Dellmuth LM, Bender FA-M, Jönsson AR, Rosvold EL, von Uexkull N (2021) Humanitarian need drives multilateral disaster aid. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118(4),.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Donovan GH, Prestemon JP, Gebert K (2011) The Effect of Newspaper Coverage and Political Pressure on Wildfire Suppression Costs. Society & Natural Resources 24, 785-798.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Eisensee T, Strömberg D (2007) News Droughts, News Floods, and U. S. Disaster Relief. The Quarterly Journal of Economics 122, 693-728.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Flannigan M, Cantin AS, de Groot WJ, Wotton M, Newbery A, Gowman LM (2013) Global wildland fire season severity in the 21st century. Forest Ecology and Management 294, 54-61.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Gabbert B (2020) Firefighters from Canada arrive in the US. Wildfire Today. https://wildfiretoday.com/2020/09/03/firefighters‐from‐canada‐arrive‐in‐the‐us/

Gebert KM, Calkin DE, Yoder J (2007) Estimating Suppression Expenditures for Individual Large Wildland Fires. West J Apppl For 22, 188-196.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Goldammer JG (Ed.) (2013) Vegetation Fires and Global Change: Challenges for Concerted International Action, A White Paper directed to the United Nations and International Organizations. (Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC): Remagen-Oberwinter)

Gude PH, Jones K, Rasker R, Greenwood MC (2013) Evidence for the effect of homes on wildfire suppression costs. International Journal of Wildland Fire 22, 537-548.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Hand MS, Gebert KM, Liang J, Calkin DE, Thompson MP, Zhou M (2014) ‘Economics of wildfire management: the development and application of suppression expenditure models, Springer Briefs in fire.’ (Springer: NY)

Hand MS, Thompson MP, Calkin DE (2016) Examining heterogeneity and wildfire management expenditures using spatially and temporally descriptive data. JFE 22, 80-102.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Hand M, Katuwal H, Calkin DE, Thompson MP (2017) The influence of incident management teams on the deployment of wildfire suppression resources. International Journal of Wildland Fire 26, 615-629.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Higuera PE, Abatzoglou JT (2021) Record‐setting climate enabled the extraordinary 2020 fire season in the western United States. Global Change Biology 27, 1-2.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Hoeffler A, Outram V (2011) Need, Merit, or Self‐Interest—What Determines the Allocation of Aid? Review of Development Economics 15, 237-250.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

NIFC (2023) Incident Management Teams [WWW Document]. (National Interagency Fire Center) Available at https://www.nifc.gov/resources/firefighters/incident-management-teams [accessed 6 January 2023]

Iglesias V, Balch JK, Travis WR (2022) U.S. fires became larger, more frequent, and more widespread in the 2000s. Science Advances 8, eabc0020.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Ihaka R, Gentleman R (1996) R: A language for data analysis and graphics. Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics 5(3), 299-314.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Jain P, Castellanos-Acuna D, Coogan SCP, Abatzoglou JT, Flannigan MD (2022) Observed increases in extreme fire weather driven by atmospheric humidity and temperature. Nature Climate Change 12, 63-70.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Jolly WM, Cochrane MA, Freeborn PH, Holden ZA, Brown TJ, Williamson GJ, Bowman DMJS (2015) Climate-induced variations in global wildfire danger from 1979 to 2013. Nature Communications 6, 7537.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Magnussen S, Taylor SW (2012) Inter- and intra-annual profiles of fire regimes in the managed forests of Canada and implications for resource sharing. International Journal of Wildland Fire 21, 328-341.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

McGinnis S, Kessenich L, Mearns L, Cullen A, Podschwit H, Bukovsky M (2023) Future regional increases in simultaneous large Western USA wildfires. International Journal of Wildland Fire 32, 1304-1314.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Mogge L, McDonald M, Knoth C, Teickner H, Purevtseren M, Pebesma E, Kraehnert K (2023) Allocation of humanitarian aid after a weather disaster. World Development 166, 106204.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Nguyen D, Belval EJ, Wei Y (2024) Dataset of United States Incident Management Situation Reports from 2007 to 2021. Scientific Data 11, 23.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

NIFC (2008) National Interagency Coordiantion Center Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics Annual Report 2008. (National Interagency Coordination Center: Boise, ID)

NIFC (2009) National Interagency Coordiantion Center Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics Annual Report 2009. (National Interagency Coordination Center: Boise, ID)

NIFC (2010) National Interagency Coordiantion Center Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics Annual Report 2010. (National Interagency Coordination Center: Boise, ID)

NIFC (2011) National Interagency Coordiantion Center Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics Annual Report 2011. (National Interagency Coordination Center: Boise, ID)

NIFC (2012) National Interagency Coordiantion Center Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics Annual Report 2012. (National Interagency Coordination Center: Boise, ID)

NIFC (2013) National Interagency Coordination Center Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics Annual Report 2013. (National Interagency Coordination Center: Boise, ID)

NIFC (2014) National Interagency Coordiantion Center Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics Annual Report 2014. (National Interagency Coordination Center: Boise, ID)

NIFC (2015) National Interagency Coordiantion Center Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics Annual Report 2015. (National Interagency Coordination Center: Boise, ID)

NIFC (2016) National Interagency Coordiantion Center Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics Annual Report 2016. (National Interagency Coordination Center: Boise, ID)

NIFC (2017) National Interagency Coordination Center Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics Annual Report 2017 (Annual Report). (National Interagency Coordination Center)

NIFC (2018) National Interagency Coordiantion Center Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics Annual Report 2018. (National Interagency Coordination Center: Boise, ID)

NIFC (2019) National Interagency Coordiantion Center Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics Annual Report 2019. (National Interagency Coordination Center: Boise, ID)

NIFC (2020a) National Wildland Fire Preparedness Levels. (Washington, DC). https://www.nifc.gov/sites/default/files/PreparednessLevels/National_Preparedness_Levels.pdf

NIFC (2020b) National Interagency Coordiantion Center Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics Annual Report 2020. (National Interagency Coordination Center: Boise, ID)

OMB (Office of Management and Budget) (2022) White House Office of Management and Budget, Climate Risk Exposure: An Assessment of the Federal Government s Financial Risks to Climate Change, White Paper. (Executive Office of the President of the United States: WA)

Peterson TM (2017) US Disaster Aid and Bilateral Trade Growth. Foreign Policy Analysis 13, 93-111.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Podschwit H, Cullen A (2020) Patterns and trends in simultaneous wildfire activity in the United States from 1984 to 2015. International Journal of Wildland Fire 29, 1057-1071.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Podschwit H, Larkin N, Steel E, Cullen A, Alvarado E (2018) Multi-Model Forecasts of Very-Large Fire Occurences during the End of the 21st Century. Climate 6, 100.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Prichard SJ, Hessburg PF, Hagmann RK, Povak NA, Dobrowski SZ, Hurteau MD, Kane VR, Keane RE, Kobziar LN, Kolden CA, North M, Parks SA, Safford HD, Stevens JT, Yocom LL, Churchill DJ, Gray RW, Huffman DW, Lake FK, Khatri-Chhetri P (2021) Adapting western North American forests to climate change and wildfires: 10 common questions. Ecological Applications 31, e02433.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Sachdeva S, McCaffrey S (2022) Themes and patterns in print media coverage of wildfires in the USA, Canada and Australia: 1986–2016. International Journal of Wildland Fire 31, 1089-1102.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Stavros EN, Abatzoglou J, Larkin NK, McKenzie D, Steel EA (2014) Climate and very large wildland fires in the contiguous western USA. International Journal of Wildland Fire 23, 899-914.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

St. Denis LA, Short KC, McConnell K, Cook MC, Mietkiewicz NP, Buckland M, Balch JK (2023) All-hazards dataset mined from the US National Incident Management System 1999–2020. Scientific Data 10, 112.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Stocks BJ, Mason JA, Todd JB, et al. (2002) Large forest fires in Canada, 1959–1997. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 107(D1), 8149.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Tymstra C, Stocks BJ, Cai X, Flannigan MD (2020) Wildfire management in Canada: Review, challenges and opportunities. Progress in Disaster Science 5, 100045.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

USDA Forest Service Fire & Aviation (2022) ‘Fact Sheet: International Agreements for Fire Management Support.’ (USDA: WA)

Yoder J, Gebert K (2012) An econometric model for ex ante prediction of wildfire suppression costs. JFE 18, 76-89.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |