National Fire Plan Success Story
Everglades NP Hosts Media Workshop with Prescribed Burn
Everglades National Park, Florida
National Fire Plan - Accountability and Fuels Reduction
2010
Everglades National Park hosted its first ever Fire Media Workshop in conjunction with the Shark Valley Loop Prescribed Burn on December 16, 2009.
With the wildfire season rapidly approaching in south Florida, Everglades fire management conducted a 1,400 acre prescribed burn at the Shark Valley visitor use area. The primary objective of the burn was to reduce the risk of catastrophic fire in one of the most visited parts of the park. With nearly six million people adjacent to one of the most flammable landscapes in the National Park Service, public awareness of fire risk is essential. As a secondary objective, Everglades National Park offered local media the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the role of fire in the Everglades. Participants in the Fire Media Workshop were provided training on how to safely access and cover a prescribed fire or wildfire and were introduced to the Incident Command System (ICS) that firefighters use to manage wildfire events.
After a safety briefing, being issued personal protective equipment (PPE) and deploying practice fire shelters, media representatives were escorted on the fireline to observe demonstrations of fire equipment, tools, and operations. A tram tour around the burn offered participants an up-close view of the fire and opportunities to acquire footage and personal interviews with fire personnel. Media representatives attending the workshop were diverse, including both print and television networks such as the Miami Herald, Sun Sentinel, ABC, NBC, and the Associated Press.
Everglades fire management hopes to serve as a model for other NPS fire management programs to emulate.
Contact: Rick Anderson, Fire Management Officer, (305) 242-7853.