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National Fire Plan Success Story

Wildfire Drill at Refuge Sharpens Skills and Partnerships
Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina
National Fire Plan - Firefighting
August 2007

Picture of wildland and structural firefighters working together during a training exercise.
Wildland and structural firefighters work together during a training exercise.

"Fire!"

Well, not really, but 42 people from eight agencies did turn out with lights whirling for a wildland-urban interface fire drill on Lake Phelps at Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina. The drill lasted about three hours, and was funded by the Department of the Interior's Ready Reserves program.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) organized the drill with the help of the North Carolina Division of Forest Resources (NCDFR) and Washington County Emergency Management. Drill participants included firefighters from USFWS, NCDFR, five volunteer fire departments (VFDs); Washington County's fire marshal, and other emergency managers.

While USFWS and NCDFR controlled the "wildfire," the VFDs were assigned structure protection duties. Other role-played as spotter plane, tractor-plow operators, incident commander, and operations chief. Spot fires near houses were indicated by smoke bombs. Assigned observers threw simulated kinks into the drill, including a flat tire on an engine, a smoke-caused "car wreck" (with simulated injuries and a vehicle fire), and a mock heart attack suffered by a firefighter due to overexertion.

Participants used the standard Incident Command System to plan the response. An After Action Review, required on all actual incidents, revealed what participants learned about communication, response time and procedures. The Fish and Wildlife Service hopes to hold more drills at Pocosin Lakes and other refuges in the area to improve efficiency and integration between agencies when fighting wildland fires.