by the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center
Compiled by Jonetta T. Holt, PIO
Re-Formatted by Eric S. Neitzel PIO
“Simply put, trust means confidence. Take communication. In a high-trust relationship, you can say the wrong thing and people will still get your meaning. In a low-trust relationship, you can be very measured, even precise, and they’ll still misinterpret you.“
~ Stephen M.R. Covey, The Speed of Trust:
The One Thing That Changes Everything
Introduction
In S-203, Introduction to Information Officer, and S-403, Advanced Information Officer, we developed an understanding of our position as a Public Information Officer (PIO) for incident management and we were introduced to the responsibilities that position entails.
But, as anyone who has some experience with being an information officer during an incident knows, the role we play is evaluated by more than just the number of photos we have on our websites and how many fire updates we produce.
Frequently, it is the information officers who are the “face” of the fire to both the public and the media. For the public to have confidence in both the team and the home unit’s capacity to manage the incident for the best possible outcome, our communication must be knowledgeable, open, and demonstrative of our genuine concern. Some people say that communication is more of a behavior than it is an activity. Our responsibilities as PIOs are vested in activities, but our behavior should reflect our investment in people.
In the planning section of the “Communicator’s Guide for Federal, State, Regional and Local Communicators,” the distinction is made between risk communication and crisis communication. There are five types of crisis communication: facilities, community, employee, consumer and image. Most of the information that PIOs deliver lies in risk communication. The guide, in dealing with risk communication, directs us first to be interactive with our audience.
“What is Your Audience Concerned About? The key to communicating risk is to find out what your target audience is concerned about. Are they mainly concerned about management issues or are they concentrating on trying to understand the physical hazard? When people trust and respect the risk managers, they can start listening to information about physical hazards.”
This direction about our role fits with our responsibilities as listed in the S-403 course work:
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- Be the eyes and ears of the team
- Coordinate the information center
- Help shape the public perception of the incident and the agencies
- Disseminate information regarding the incident while looking for
a) emerging issues and
b) opportunities for positive coverage.
By delivering results in the areas we are charged with, we can build trust with the public, with home units and among all of our team members in the Wildland Fire Community.
This toolbox is offered in the spirit of encouraging each other to meet the highest standards conceivable. It is a reflection of your participation and is considered a dynamic platform where anyone can propose an idea to add to it, subtract from it or simply change it for the better.
Table of Contents
In the beginning, there is a briefing
‘Communication Plan’ vs. Incident Information Strategy
Community Information Meetings
Serious Accident Communication
Addressing training needs
Depending on agency affiliation, there is required training for Publication Information Officers. In addition to the requirements, also consider the free on-line training opportunities offered by www.fema.gov
Two courses recommended for PIOs are:
IS-702 National Incident Management Systems (NIMS) Public Information Systems
This course describes how agencies work together in Joint Information Systems and if needed Joint Information Centers to effectively manage public information at an incident regardless of the size and complexity.
And
IS-700 National Incident Management System; an Introduction
NIMS provides a consistent nationwide template to enable all government, private-sector, and nongovernmental organizations to work together during domestic incidents.
And it wouldn’t hurt to click around on the FEMA site just to see if there are other courses that are valuable.
Do not rely on your agency’s minimum training requirements to develop a personal training program. Be proactive about informing and training yourself. Professional development only begins with the minimum agency standards for qualification.
Professional affiliations
Sometimes joining an organization is cost or time prohibitive. But there are many professional organizations that offer updating resources free to those who visit. Being aware of and taking advantage of these opportunities can have profound professional impacts.
Some of the on-line sources that PIOs may want to look at include http://www.fcn.gov which is the web home for Federal Communicators Network, and http://www.centerforriskcommunication.com which is the web home for the Center for Risk Communication.
Also the U.S. Department of Agriculture research stations have web sites. The Northern Research Station, www.nrs.fs.fed.us, published
“The Public and Wildland Fire Management: Social Science Findings for Managers.”
This is an excellent publication and is available both at the research station web site and it is posted in the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned library.
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Getting a kit ready?
Home Unit Kit – This is a checklist of items most PIOs find a use for on field assignments. For those who are driving to an incident and expect to remain on assignment for several days to two weeks, this list provides the basic contents for a field assignment.
Travel Kit – Paring it down to what you really need is crucial for being a successfully mobile information officer. Some information officers have their whole kit down to a thumb-size drive, an email account, a 3 x 5 memo pad and two pens. This recommended travel kit has a few more items in it.
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Pre-season updating is vital
Whether or not you’ll be working in your home unit area during the fire season, some pre-season reading is called for. Since fire season severity is dramatically affected by local conditions, this toolbox will not have all of the preliminary outlooks and fire season forecasts that pertain to the area where you work. But be aware that the forecasting tools exist and go look for them prior to assignment.
- Get on the email list for news releases at your local unit. This is one of the most effective methods for staying informed about local issues and what the home unit management is experiencing. FIRE RESTRICTIONS in force on the local unit are regularly disseminated through the home unit’s media list. Being on this list means that as a PIO you will receive the information at least as quickly as the media does.
- Go to the Geographical Area Coordination Center web site and look for the “Fire Season Outlook” produced by Predictive Services for your area. These are summary documents that say whether fire managers are expecting below normal, normal or above normal fire activity and they contain maps and graphs.
- Monitor the National Interagency Fire Center web site for the annual “Wildland Fire Outlook” document that the Predictive Services Group produces. This document covers nationally, what the GACC’s cover regionally. From a national perspective, you will be able to compare regions and for those who travel widely during assignments, this perspective is one of the most valuable to have.
- Additionally, every Public Information Officer should have a copy of NIFC’s “Talking Points” or “Key Points.” The document is published annually in March. This year it was called, “2007 Interagency Fire Operations Key Points.” However, this annual publication is not posted on a public website. If you are not a full-time federal agency employee, obtaining a copy of it is best handled by working with a designated public affairs specialist at your home unit. Those who work in public information during fire season should pursue a personal copy of this document and read it prior to a first assignment if possible.
- The U.S. Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management office produced fact sheets on “2007 Fire Season,” a “Management Efficiencies” and “Appropriate Management Response.” They were widely shared, but you may need to go look for them and the home page for Fire and Aviation Management is a good place to start: http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/index.html
- In addition to the specific season’s outlook and talking points, here are eight more sources of information worth having.
- Three Kinds of Wildland Fire – this document very simply describes the Federal Wildland Fire Policy definitions for fire.
- Interagency Wildland Fire Key Messages – In April 2004, the NWCG approved these key messages to facilitate clear communications. The full scope of the document is available at http://www.nwcg.gov/teams/wfewt/message/key_message.pdf. This document, along with a number of other fire messaging documents is available at the Wildland Fire Education Working Team website at: http://www.nwcg.gov/teams/wfewt/wfewt.htm under: Products, Publications and Resources.
- Interagency Media Guidelines for Wildland Fires – describes the policy of federal and state agencies to provide news media safe access to incidents and outlines the personal protective equipment requirements that they will be expected to meet to gain access.
- A Guide to Successful Media Interviews – NIFC 2005 – this document contains helpful direction on working with the media. Even if you’ve read it before, reviewing it prior to fire season may give you the best-foot-forward edge in your professional demeanor.
- Doctrine Web Site – The most updated and comprehensive source on the current discussion concerning Doctrine is available at the website link on this page. Doctrine is being developed for the wildland fire community in a three-phase approach. It is best to stay informed on this subject by reviewing the website for developments.
- Appropriate Management Response PowerPoint – a short presentation that focuses on the discussion about AMR, may be what you need to reacquaint yourself with this topic before fire season. Although AMR has been around for years, this presentation and the accompanying file that clarifies its flexible application will provide a solid introduction.
- Appropriate Management Response Clarification – This memorandum from Fire and Aviation Management will help PIOs grasp the meaning of this term.
- Planning Level 5 Talking Points – this is an example of the assistance NIFC usually makes available for fire managers and PIOs who will be explaining how we plan to manage large scale and multiple fires throughout the country. As one of the talking points depicts, “This move was prompted by large fire activity occurring in multiple geographic areas and a heavy commitment of crews, aircraft, and equipment to these incidents, along with a forecast for continued hot, dry, windy conditions.”
In the beginning, there is a briefing…
The lifespan of an assignment has a fairly predictable schedule in terms of the products PIOs are expected to produce.
At the beginning of the assignment PIOs are expected to:
- Get a briefing from someone. If you’re team is the first to arrive on an incident you’ll be receiving an Agency Administrator’s In-briefing. At this meeting, no matter how formal or informal it is, what needs to be determined is what the local unit wants from the incident management team’s information function. The home unit’s needs, as they relate to information about the incident, are what should be identified.
At the Agency Administrator In-briefing – is a document that lists several items to ask about in order to determine how to proceed for the duration of the incident and what information will need to be relayed either to the hosting unit at a close-out meeting or to the information officers who will be assuming the role if the incident extends past the current team’s assignment. The information gathered here will assist in developing a sound incident information strategy.
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‘Comm Plan’ vs. Incident Information Strategy
There are at least two compelling reasons to rethink the classic communication plan and how it applies to on-scene information officers making sense out of a high-risk incident and sharing that information with the public.
- First, rethinking the model communication plan to make it fit an unfolding incident means that we must eliminate the amount of time it usually takes to build one. Incident PIOs are working within a collapsed time frame during a high-risk incident and sometimes the ‘goals and objectives’ can be moving targets. Incident PIOs are not engaged in building a public affairs plan for the construction of a district office, or in other words, for any predictable event. Additionally, an incident usually has an inherent complexity level. The Incident Information Strategy should be so straight forward as to be transparent.
- Second, the “Comm Plan,” as it is affectionately referred to on an incident, is something that the Communications Unit Leader compiles. They incorporate a lot of radio frequencies in it and this plan becomes a page in the daily Incident Action Plan.
- A sample of the classic model communication plan is probably readily available in the public affairs office of your local unit. What is offered in this toolbox includes 1) a very simple strategy guide that blends incident field operations with the essential elements of effective planning as listed by the Federal Communicators Network and 2) a 10-day training event plan that follows the classic model and contains a lot of information.
Incident Information Strategy – This is what we face and this is what we’re going to do and why. Incidents are inherently complex, but our information strategies should remain simple and straight forward. Try this guide to see if you like a faster method of planning.
Arizona Wildfire Academy Communication Plan – This detailed plan includes nearly all of the components you would want to capture. It is a thorough pre-event, during event and post-event set of steps with contact information and assignments.
Getting set up….who does what
Information officers preparing to support an incident need to consider the available accommodations and whether they will be adequate for current and predicted public and media needs and expectations.
Information Unit Pre-order Set-up – this checklist is one template that may help to organize an incoming information officer in thinking about what will be needed to support the function.
Responsibilities of PIO Roles – This document delineates the responsibilities of PIOs in the roles of Lead, Deputy, Community Relations Group, Field/Media Group and Base Camp Group leaders. On large incidents, having these roles defined is a huge organizational asset.
Getting it together…
During the lifespan of an assignment, PIOs are expected to produce:
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Bulletin boards for use in camp and posted with information that incident personnel will find relevant and useful;
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Daily or twice-daily incident updates disseminated to the media, members of the public who want to receive their information directly from the incident and internal audiences who are tracking on the progress of the incident;
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Community information centers that may be staff or not but which should feature maps, updates and photos that address local concerns such as protection applied at historic cabins or how a campground looks after the fire has passed through;
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A trapline that services both the local community and visitors to the area with pertinent information that may affect their activities such as road or area closures. Trapline locations should be in areas of high foot traffic and should feature small maps of the fire and written updates with contact numbers for more information;
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Information about the incident should be posted on Inciweb, the national fire database, and all audiences both internal and external should be reminded that the most updated information about the incident is posted there;
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Community Thank-Yous are also a product of the information function and can be accomplished using letters, certificates of appreciation or photo certificates;
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Lead PIOs and their designates will be expected to write a narrative for the executive summary listing the accomplishments and lessons learned by the information function;
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If the incident is on-going, the lead PIO is also expected to write a transition plan for the incoming lead PIO;
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A complete documentation package that meets the national direction and is turned into the documentation unit leader in a timely manner is also expected;
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And personnel evaluations for all members of the information function are very important for assigned personnel and especially trainees on the incident. For those who are trainees, training PIOs must also meet with the training officer and complete the required documentation for the trainee to receive the proper recognition.
As experienced information officers know, the preceding list presents only an overview of the work involved. For every product developed and delivered, there are multiple steps that must be completed successfully. So, here are some tools to help complete the steps.
Gathering the Group
On an incident that requires several information officers, it will become critical for the group to meet as a group and share information. Many people have said they dread the meetings information officers have because they share so MUCH.
Experienced lead information officers recommend that the group meet at least once a day, and optimally, twice a day. In once-daily meetings, daily tasks should be assigned and recorded on a large sheet of paper where progress on their completion can be tracked by everyone in the office. If the assigned individual can’t get to a designated task, someone can step in and complete it. Most lead PIOs elect the “volunteer” method of task assignment because of the simple psychology behind the method: people have an aptitude to do well at self-selected tasks.
In addition, the Federal Communicators Network offers these tips for more effective meetings:
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- Start and end meetings on time.
- Have an open agenda on a chalkboard or flip chart. Participants can add items to the agenda, but they must be prepared to lead the discussion if they put an item on the agenda. If an item isn’t on the open agenda, it can’t be discussed.
- Give each item on the agenda a time limit. Three minutes is a good amount of time. If action or discussion cannot be completed within the allotted time, it must be delayed until the end of the meeting.
- After all agenda items have been discussed, address the delayed items and estimate how long it will take to discuss them. Decide if the item can be discussed today or needs someone to perform an assignment or activity first. Maybe the item needs more research, details, data, or opinions.
- Any delayed item should be the first item on the next open agenda.
- Summarize and record action items before adjourning the meeting.
Public Information Officer Group Meeting Agenda – this resource is a one-page template for planning, preparing for and tracking the progress of PIO meetings. This may be a difficult format for information offices to adapt to, but after a few meetings the procedure usually makes sense.
A Guide for Information Officers Brochure – this tri-fold brochure was developed several years ago by lead information officers serving on the California Interagency Incident Management Team 2. It is included here with the idea that it provides a template that may be of use to those who want to build one for their teams or groups.
List of Assigned Information Officers – this table presents one idea for collecting basic information on the personnel assigned to the information function. On large incidents with a lot of personnel involved, this summary of contact information will be critical for staying together as a group.
Information Officers Data Sheet – this form, developed by the California Interagency Incident Management Team 2, helps supervising PIOs to track and assist the personnel assigned to the information function.
Information Demob Plan – Experienced information officers recommend this be one of the first tasks assigned to someone in the function. Tracking on this information throughout the incident will enable the lead PIO to make decisions concerning replacements.
Daily Task List Table – This table is a mini-version of what should have been developed at the daily information officers meeting. Sometimes it is helpful to fill in this table and make copies for everyone to have in their pockets.
PIO Daily Assignments – For the ultimate in organizing the information function, look at this one-sheet template for making assignments.
Blank Phone Log – This form is well-known among experienced PIOs and it’s very useful to have a template that can be changed to fit your needs. Phone logs will need to be kept next to each phone that is answered by a PIO during an incident. The logs become part of the final documentation package turned in at the end of the incident to the hosting unit.
Contact Log – Another version of a phone or contact log. This one was developed by a PIO who made notes about contacts and then transferred the notes to the table at the end of each day. This method was developed because of a specific request by the hosting unit’s PAO who wanted more detailed information about the contacts made during the incident. And typing it had the advantage of making it more legible.
Unit Log – Unit logs are completed individually by each member of the information function. It is important to remember that these logs are not to be used as diaries. The logs are an official reminder to document important developments. At the end of each day, individual logs should be compiled into a comprehensive unit log for the group, on a large fire, or the whole function on a smaller one. This serves two purposes: It meets the incident documentation standards and helps supervisory PIOs become aware of and track emerging issues.
Answering Machine Message – This is an example of an answering machine message that was recorded on an incident in Montana several years ago. This template is offered as an idea for how messages can be organized for the public’s use.
Designing a Daily Update
Incident updates are usually done on a daily or twice-daily basis. With the use of websites, PIOs can achieve near real-time updating with notification in the official updates that any significant events will be added to the website as they occur. Information officers who are writing updates should be aware that social science researchers have discovered that the public is far more tolerant of surprises in wildland fire management activities when the “why” is explained to them. Our updates should not only cover the activities on the incident, but also explain why certain strategies are being implemented or why a plume of smoke appeared.
A good example of explaining the “why” is found in a news release posted in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest “Newsroom” section. It reads as follows:
“The Lord Flat Trail and its access road in Hells Canyon National Recreation Area have been temporarily closed to public use because of wildfires. Forest Road 4240 begins at the town of Imnaha and ends at Warnock Corral where the Lord Flat Trail (Trail 1774) begins. This same road accesses Hat Point Lookout, but the road closure has been placed so that public access to the lookout is maintained. These closures are necessary for public safety if burnout operations are needed to control the spread of fires in the Tryon Complex.”
There are as many styles of updates as PIOs have the capability to imagine. Here are a few styles offered below including some innovative and visually-oriented examples from PIOs who work mainly with Wildland Fire Use Events.
KP Incident Update 2004 – This update was done by the information function of the Southwest Area Type II Incident Management Team. It is a simple narrative format that describes in detail where the fire is by using topographical land features. The language used is simple and fully descriptive.
Sunset Canyon Update 2006 – This format uses a fact sheet approach on the top half and a narrative style to explain fire behavior, details the public should be aware of and special notes.
Pack Trail WFU Update 2005 – This update is formatted in a fact sheet manner, but uses narrative style to explain objectives and fire activity.
Egley Complex Update 2007 – One of the newest formats, this one includes photos, tables and narrative in an eye-pleasing style that is both easy to read and quick to assimilate.
Freezeout-Mebee Complex Update 2004 – This format incorporates a table to organize a lot of information about several different fires into a readable form for the public. It provides an excellent example for delivering information about a widely affected area.
WFU-FUMT Poster – A poster like this may be an ambitious project to undertake during an incident, but if the information function is fully staffed and a creative individual wants to use this document to develop a product unique to your incident…well, just have a go at it!
Frank Church Wilderness WFU Poster – This poster-style update hasn’t been frequently used on suppression events. But we know that the public likes visuals. Why not try this format to see how your public reacts?
Timber Top Complex Handout 2003 – What about this format? It incorporates a marvelous picture at the top of the page and then delivers information about the WFU event in a narrative style.
Logos – this zip file contains JPG images of the logos of agencies commonly involved in wildland fire suppression or use events. Offered here for convenience.
Faulty Spark Arrestor Handout – One more style that is considered popular for handout materials includes clip art and other graphic styling to make it eye-pleasing. Try this format if you’re looking for a different type of style.
Clip Art – This zip file contains clip art that can be used for items like the handout above.
Now that the style of the update is well in hand, the next priority will certainly be Inciweb, the national incident database. National direction is that PIOs will use this website as the primary site for updating the public about the incident that you are working on. It is considered the site for All-Hazard events as well as fire. Information officers are advised to stay updated and practice working with it as often as possible.
Quick Tips on Inciweb – Information officers who work on teams where webmasters are not available or have other team duties will need to develop some level of competency with Inciweb, the national incident database. You may already know that a “Help” page exists on the website. This document reprints that page with quick tips from Webmaster Doug Parker who has found several items very important to remember when working with this site.
Inciweb Business Cards – This product was also developed by Webmaster Doug who tailors these business cards to the current assignment and prints them on standard blank business card stock. The zip file contains the templates to both the front and back sides for these cards.
Traplines are unique to each incident. Considerations to take into account include how close are the communities that will be affected, is smoke impacting one community more than another, and are there established points within the communities where locals and visitors go for information about the area.
Convenience stores and gas stations are nearly always places where PIOs can be certain of contacting large numbers of locals and visitors. Post offices, libraries, grocery stores, motels, restaurants and other businesses are also effective points of contact.
Occasionally, the hosting unit will already have established a regular trapline where they post information and that information will be valuable to PIOs who are responding to an incident.
Trapline Organization – Although traplines can be developed and documented any number of ways, this form was developed on an incident where community interest was high and nearly every business in the nearby town of 3,500 people received copies of daily updates.
Community Information Meetings
Many fire managers are beginning to use the community information meeting as an avenue for making contact with the area’s residents as soon as they arrive on an incident. It is a good strategy if fire managers think of this initial meeting as an opportunity to focus on the concerns voiced by the audience members. This will build confidence among area residents that the team is sincerely interested in meeting their needs.
It may seem counterintuitive to some fire managers, that a community meeting is needed even before they get started working on the incident. PIOs must gauge the needs of the community and stay alert to anxiety levels. It is much better to be pre-emptive with a community meeting than too late. By then, anxiety has gone too long and evolved into frustration which is expressed in angry outbursts.
Anatomy of a public meeting during an emergency – Read what Frank Mosbacher, PIO1, wrote about a community information meeting held during an incident in 2007. His insights may help you to prepare.
Community Information Meeting Checklist – Review this checklist if you are preparing for a community information meeting. Remember the term “public meeting” has legal connotations – “public meetings” must be legally posted three days in advance and are used by local governing bodies. Sharing incident information with the area’s residents does not fit those criteria.
Sample Community Information Meeting PowerPoint – This sample presentation offers information officers a quick and easy to use template to develop their own incident specific visual presentation. Note the photos included that show how some areas where the fire passed through were affected.
Coordinating a News Conference – If a community meeting is not practical, a news conference may be a tool that is more usable in the circumstances. Review these tips developed by the California Interagency Incident Management Team 2 for coordinating this type of event.
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Evacuations
Evacuations are a more common experience on wildland fire events today than they were many years ago. Acknowledging that we have a high potential for being assigned to an incident where evacuations are either ongoing when we arrive or began later in the incident, we should consider the appropriate role incident information officers will play as the incident progresses.
In a model for an “Evacuation Information Organization” it has been suggested that only one or two information officers should do intelligence gathering and then keep all of the other information officers apprised of the updates by the use of notes posted on the walls of the information or call center. Those answering the phones then have ready access to all of the updated intelligence.
A basic strategy to prepare for evacuation:
1. Ask the Incident Commander, the Operations Section Chief and the Liaison Officer what trigger points they have determined will begin the first step in an evacuation process – hopefully, that will be the pre-evacuation alert.
2. Closely monitor the proximity to those trigger points and explain to media and anyone else who asks that the possibility of evacuation has been considered and the fire managers will immediately notify the proper jurisdictional authorities (usually the Sheriff’s Office) if it becomes necessary.
3. By sharing that an evacuation is a possibility, you’ve opened the door for assisting the media and the public with the process of evacuating safely. You can now open up the drawer with all of your evacuation tools in it and help get everyone ready.
Wildfire Evacuation Plan is More Than You May Think – this is a document produced by the Florida Division of Forestry and outlines the elements of a complete evacuation plan. It’s an excellent resource to share with potential evacuees and it’s located at the following address: http://www.fl-dof.com/wildfire/safety_home_evacplan.html
Homeowner Preparations – is a plan that should be shared with media and the public if there is a potential for evacuations in areas where property owners may have enough time to make their homes more defensible before facing the evacuation process.
Be Prepared in Case of an Evacuation – is a brochure produced by the Northern Rockies Fire Prevention Team in Montana. This brochure answers some frequently asked questions. It’s at: http://www.keepgreen.org/assets/BePrepared.pdf
Preparedness Before the Disaster, Evacuation Essentials and After the Disaster – are downloadable brochures that specifically address how to relocate pets and livestock during evacuation. They are available at the home page of the American Veterinary Medical Association website listed at http://www.avma.org/disaster/saving_family.asp
Prepare, Plan, Stay Informed – is a good website source for people who want more detailed information. This website, located at http:///www.Ready.gov assists people with preparing for different kinds of events.
PopPro Kwik Chek – This one-page handout is a template for what information incident response teams should obtain as soon as they assume management. In many cases, this will be information that the team’s Liaison Officer will get, but the Information function will benefit from it too.
Population Protection Protocols – this document identifies individual responsibilities for all Command Staff positions, and Team interaction responsibilities between positions.
PopPro States Explained – The Missoula County Fire Protection Association and Missoula County Sheriff’s Department offer some basic tips to help determine what actions to take in the event a wildland fire initiates the stages of a population protection plan.
Protection, Pre-evacuation Warning Example – This template provides information officers with a one-page handout that clearly outlines what stage of a protection plan has been triggered and what actions the potential evacuee should take. This is a good resource for sharing with the Sheriff’s deputies who will be making contacts with potential evacuees.
Population Protection Pre-evacuation Contact Data Sheet – This one-page form is an excellent guide for homeowners who face evacuation. Having the information in advance of an evacuation would certainly assist jurisdictional authorities. But, as information officer, your job may be solely to get this sample form into the hands of the right people because it would be inappropriate for us to collect it.
Population Protection Plan Example – This plan contains samples of an evacuation authorization, threats, area and objectives, evacuation stages, an implementation plan, and anticipated resource requirements.
Southern California Firestorm 2003 Evacuations and Homeowners – This document is an excerpt from the full report but it describes the lessons learned about evacuations and homeowners during this incident.
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Joint Information Centers
If your incident does require multiple evacuations, it may trigger the need for a Joint Information Center. A JIC is a co-located group of representatives from agencies and organizations involved in an incident who are designated to manage public information needs.
A JIC provides the means for conducting incident communications during emergency responses and other situations in which several organizations need to collaborate to provide timely, useful and accurate information to the public and other stakeholders.
Joint Information Center (JIC) Guide (File of Documents) – is a zip file containing all of the documents published by the National Response Team in 2005 to support emergency response communications. This file contains a guide, a manual and several appendices. It should be noted here that there are some formatting errors in the manual, but the information is complete. Attempts to find another digital copy of this document have, so far, been unsuccessful. But we’ll keep trying. For those PIOs who have participated in a JIC or who think they might, this document is well worth reviewing.
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Serious Accident Communication
In the event of a serious accident or an incident within the incident, there are certain responsibilities that the lead PIO will assume. According to the Organization document for Serious Accidents, PIOs should follow these steps:
1. Delegate the Command Staff Information Officer duties to another qualified Information Officer for the Fire Incident.
2. During the Agency Administrator Briefing, set up the protocol to be used in releasing information with the local agency: A) The usual manner would be to have the local unit authorize the release of information, B) Set up who will be the accident contact with the local unit. This person might be the Public Affairs Officer or Administrative Officer.
3. Set up how the release of accident information will be handled with the Incident Commander.
4. Once an accident occurs, reconfirm what protocol will be followed with the local agency.
5. Make sure that no names are released to media until the official release is done by the local unit.
6. Restrict media from the accident scene until the Accident Operations Section Chief authorizes entry.
7. Work with the Security Manager to prevent accident survivors from being interviewed until authorized.
8. Work with the Safety Officer to gather correct information in preparing any news releases.
9. Set up a press conference and/or interviews with the IC or another assigned person (i.e. local unit representative) after the official release of information.
The official release of information regarding serious accidents or fatalities will nearly always be a responsibility of the local unit. If, as an incident PIO, you are asked to participate in the writing and dissemination of an official release, some examples of those releases are available below.
Sabine nf helicopter crash 2 – is a file that contains copies of the official release concerning the fatal crash of a helicopter, the 24-hour report and the 72-hour report. This file demonstrates how the correct release of information should occur on an incident of this type.
08 13 hc news release – This is an official release confirming four fatalities in a helicopter crash during the 2006 fire season on the Payette National Forest.
031604 SEAT crash – In this incident, the official release of this Single Engine Air Tanker crash did not name the individual who died because the victim’s next of kin had not been notified.
Helicopter News Release 101603.pdf – This official release concerns a non-fatal helicopter crash at the Grand Canyon National Park. The release acknowledges the seriousness of the accident and contains the names of the people involved.
In the event that a serious accident results in a fatality, information officers will be expected to meet the information needs of the other personnel assigned to the incident. This may mean that a bulletin board dedicated to the news concerning this incident alone is built and placed so that firefighters have easy access to it. If a separate board can’t be built, then clearly establish a section of the existing bulletin board dedicated to this event. Share as much information as it is possible to. In the void of real information, imagination will supply fiction.
As a member of the Incident Management Team it is also your role to remain mindful of the intensity of emotions that will surface immediately and to prepare those who will delay their grieving.
One of the best sources for helping to cope with a sudden loss within the wildland fire community is the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. Go to the website at http://www.wffoundation.org/resources.html and select “Family Liaison & LODD Tool Kit. On this page download “Family Liaison Role,” “Family Info Form” and “Line of Duty Death Information. Remember that firefighters are action-oriented individuals. They will want to do something. Assist in providing them with outlets. The Wildland Firefighter Organization website has several resources that will be appropriate in this type of event. Be guided not just by compassion, but also by a dedication to heal. Don’t assume that you know what people need: ask them.
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All-Hazard Events
All-Hazard events can open up a whole new world of PIO responsibilities. One thing is certain: a FEMA assignment will be different. The best possible sources for anticipating what we might be asked to accomplish are found in the documents written about FEMA assignments.
On a hurricane assignment in 2005, one information section reported that their main success was in providing detailed information to evacuees, being an “information clearing house” for them and being the basis for rumor control. This same group also reported that their counterparts in the state offices and relief organizations conveyed distrust of IMT PIOs and used this motivation to exclude IMT PIOs from information sharing activities between themselves.
Among the documents listed below, you’ll find that information officers can be asked to do something as simple as providing a “common language” information sheet for co-located agency personnel to developing a full-scale information bank for displaced evacuees.
Foundational Doctrine for All Hazard Response – This document is also available on the Doctrine Web Site listed in another section.
Foundational Doctrine Guiding All-Hazard Response in the U.S. Forest Service – A very good source to review if you are being dispatched to an all-hazard event.
Incident Communications – At the Exotic Newcastle Disease incident several years ago, a “Common Speak” lingo was needed to facilitate good communications among co-located agency personnel. The information function produced two documents that were helpful.
Lessons Learned 2003 Related to the Information Function – This document was produced by The Guidance Group and summarizes the experiences of information function personnel involved in all-risk incidents.
Orlando County Special Needs Shelter (September 2004) – The AAR rollup produced by this team includes a section of what information officers experienced while involved with this very unusual assignment of providing services to a group of evacuees.
Katrina Hurricane Support – Sandman’s Northern Rockies IMT AAR Rollup – One of the most notable successes this team experienced on an evacuee shelter assignment was that the information function was able to maintain good working relationships with public affairs staff from all levels of government and a variety of organizations.
Operation Good Neighbor Shelter Operations – Lessons Learned – The experiences of this IMT in working in a shelter operation are well documented. Read about the information function’s successes and disappointments for an idea of what you might expect.
Scratchline Issue 14 Special Edition on Hurricane Response 2005 – For a review of what you might expect on an all-risk assignment, this concise report details some of the successes and frustrations that result in FEMA mission assignments.
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WUI and Firewise
Residents in Wildland Interface communities have specific information needs during a wildfire event they believe is threatening or can threaten their homes. Even when the reality of the situation could be that the fire is several miles away and not coming in their direction, these residents need to feel that their concerns are being addressed by information officers. We need to look no further for validation on this than the USGS report “Communicating With Wildland Interface Communities During Wildfire” published in 2005. This report documents the frustrations residents in several fire incidents had and recorded recommendations for PIOs who may be involved in future events. For a copy of the report go to http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod
When smoke from a fire is visible to residents in an interface community, but not directly threatening their homes, may be a time when it is possible for information officers to present tools for homeowners to prepare their properties for a possible wildfire event. The following list of items will assist in preparing information officers to deliver messages that are designed to empower homeowners and interest them in becoming active in the protection of their communities.
Information Officer Self Learner – This PowerPoint presentation provides an orientation to wildland-urban interface mitigation for information officers.
Living With Fire – is a PowerPoint presentation that can be used during community information meetings or in any group setting where homeowners are interested in becoming acquainted with how they can protect their homes.
Are You Firewise – is a second PowerPoint presentation that can be used to help educate homeowners about their responsibilities in protecting their properties.
Organizational Characteristics Knotek Watson – The title of this PowerPoint presentation is actually: “Organizational Characteristics that Contribute to Success in Engaging the Public to Accomplish Fuels Management at the Wilderness/Non-Wilderness Interface.” The presentation was developed by researchers based at the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute.
Oregon State University published “A Practical Guide to Citizen-Agency Partnerships: Public Outreach Strategies for Fire and Fuel Management.” The publication is a companion to the video program also produced by OSU called, “Communication Strategies for Fire Management.” If your home unit has significant WUI acres, these resources may be useful to you. For copies, contact Dr. Bruce Shindler at Bruce.Shindler@oregonstate.edu or by writing to the department at Department of Forest Resources, Oregon State University, 280 Peavy Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331
A series of fact sheets was produced by the Rocky Mountain Research Station regarding the social issues in fuels planning. Many of these fact sheets have valuable tips for information officers. See the following list of files:
- Three Critical Topics to Cover When Talking About Hazards
- The Importance of Working Locally
- Important Considerations for Communicating About Hazards
- The “Laws” of Effective Public Education About Fire Hazards
- The “Golden Rule” and Other Lessons on Communicating About Hazards
Another resource for information officers assisting WUI residents is a publication called the “Southwest Community Wildfire Protection Plan Guide.” This booklet was produced by The Southwest Strategy which is a community development and natural resources conservation and management effort by federal, state, tribal and local governments. To obtain a copy of the booklet, see the organization’s website at http://www.swstrategy.org/ . Of course the Firewise website is also good choice for resources. Two of the resources from that organization are listed here:
Firewise Landscaping Checklist – When designing and installing a firewise landscape, property owners will want to consider the items listed here. This is a one-page resource that is easily shared with those interested in this information.
Firewise Construction Checklist – Another very useful tool for property owners who are considering implementing Firewise methods. Both of these checklists would be valuable handouts during community meetings or other gatherings.
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Camp Bulletin Boards
The usual locations for bulletin boards in camp are near the information officer’s tent and near the kitchen or caterer. Depending on the size of the camp you are serving, you may want to add another location or two. Try to place them in areas where a roof overhand may save them from a downpour and be aware that sudden winds can lift and tip them. Check in with supply about the availability of plastic sheeting in case of rain and remember that you need to cover the bulletin boards before the rain arrives.
Do you need to give someone instructions on the kind of bulletin board you want?
Bulletin Board Diagrams – Look at this document to see if the instructions and pictures on here are what you want to convey to someone who would be building your bulletin boards. This diagram, developed by a webmaster for a Pacific Northwest Team, gives clear instructions on how it’s supposed to work.
What to put on the boards:
Most fire crews will tell you that they want to see:
1) the front page of the newspaper
2) the sports section
3) weather and
4) comics, and then
5) the national fire situation report and
6) the situation 300 report (team and crew rotation schedule)
Also posted are:
1) Camp maps
2) Incident maps
3) Location or travel maps
3) A copy of the day’s Incident Action Plan
4) Human resource messages
5) Safety messages
6) Lists of resources who are demobing
7) Photos that have been taken on the incident
Some templates to make your bulletin board posting faster and easier were developed by team webmasters and are shared here:
Incident Website Address Tear-offs – this template formats a page where you can substitute your team logo then gives instructions and tear-offs for firefighters to access photos and news of the incident when they get back home.
ICP Mailing Address Tear-offs – this template formats a page where you can substitute all of your incident information for the information listed here and supplies tear-offs too.
Post Office in a Box – is a poster-like template that you can change to fit your own needs and add your own team logo.
You’ve Got Mail Notice – An easy way to tell a firefighter that he or she has mail, is to post a notice on the board. This template gives you easy access to getting that notice out.
Do You Like This Photo Notice – If you’ve been on an incident where some good photos have been generated, you’ll see how valuable this template is for notifying firefighters that they CAN get the photo that they like by going to the website. Be sure you change the information on the templates to fit your own needs.
If there is still room on the board – and most of the time there is – here are some suggestions for how to fill up the space with products that firefighters can use:
Safety Zone Newsletter – Issue 10 – June 2007 – If nothing else convinces you that firefighters find real value in bulletin board postings, this story about a career firefighter who led her crew out of potential blow-up situation because she read an innocuous notice about Buffelgrass will. This issue of the Safety Zone newsletter is worth sharing widely among information officers.
Leadership Development Professional Reading Program – The professional Reading Program is intended to provide a selection of readings outside of our standard training curriculum that can add depth and breadth to a firefighter’s development at any stage of their career. Placing this document on a board where people can consider its suggestion may have a profound impact on their career.
Scratchline Issue 16, Chainsaw Safety and Snag Falling, Part 1 of 2 – All of the Scratchline issues are worth posting on the bulletin board, but the topic that this one covers is an attention grabber among wildland firefighters. The succinct lessons learned depicted in the Scratchlines are pertinent and easy to digest.
http://www.sffoundation.org/52club/documents/WFFInfoSheet.pdf – This information sheet on The 52 Club of the Wildland Firefighter Foundation provides a summary of what the organization does and is formatted with web site tear-offs so that firefighters can take the information home with them. Information officers may also want to use some of the other resources of the Wildland Firefighter Foundation to introduce it in camp.
Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center Flyer – This printable poster is formatted for standard-size paper and colorfully represents the three web sites offered to the wildland fire community as resources for networking and professional development.
Germs Hand Wash 8.5×11.0 – A popular poster among safety officers, this colorful image re-enforces the necessity of hand washing in an environment where everyone is inclined to be a little more casual about hygiene. Cute – but scary – germs sit atop a hand and describe how they can “getcha.” This product is a natural selection for bulletin boards.
E Coli Bacteria Fact Sheet – Produced during the hurricane response of 2005, this memorandum clearly delineates fact from rumor concerning the possibility of becoming infected with the harmful type of bacteria. This may be just what you need to post if there are concerns about illness in your camp.
Cheatgrass is Extremely Flammable – Are You Prepared? – This colorful poster on standard-size paper is perfect for printing and laminating. The poster features pictures that show just how Cheatgrass is so flammable and why firefighters should remain on high alert for its presence in the field.
Poison Ivy, Oak and Sumac SafetyGram – Many of the SafetyGram publications are very good products for bulletin boards and this one is especially pertinent because many firefighters can be exposed to these plants. This message also includes instructions on what to do if you think you have been exposed.
West Nile Virus Fact Sheet – What is West Nile Virus and how to people get it? These are questions that are answered on this handout. If firefighters in your camp are working in an area that is experiencing publicly reported cases of this illness, it may be time to post this on the bulletin board.
How to Properly Refuse Risk – Taken directly from the Incident Response Pocket Guide, this one-page handout addresses the individual’s right an obligation to contribute ideas regarding their safety.
Avian Influenza Bulletin – published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, these bulletins are posted in the Lessons Learned Center library and are updated for the current situation, what the agency is doing in response and a list of several websites where more information can be obtained. For firefighters who are interested in this topic, this is one of the best sources of concise information.
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Camp Newsletters
On long incidents, camp newsletters can be a highlight of the day for line and support personnel as well. Consider some of these examples to find a style that fits your incident.
Sample Egley Complex Camp Newsletter – This newsletter was produced daily at an incident in the Pacific Northwest in 2007. It offers a colorful example of just what can be accomplished with the PowerPoint program. There’s nothing very complicated about it, but who could have imagined all of the twists and turns formatting could take on just one document?
Smoky Bottom Gazette Sample Newsletters – This is a pdf file containing several samples of camp newsletters that were probably built on a less technical scale.
Camp Newsletters from Hurricane Katrina – Done very simply with Microsoft Word, these newsletters highlighted stories from crew members who wanted to share their field experiences during this assignment.
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Thank-Yous
Incident Management Teams do not effectively function without the support of the area’s residents, business owners and civic officials. With this in mind, it has become customary for IMTs for acknowledge those individuals and businesses for their contributions.
Many methods are now being used to convey our gratitude. Letters, certificates of appreciation and photo-certificates all have their places. The following files present a package of ideas about how to collect information from team members who have someone they wish to recognize and samples of both letters and photo certificates.
Thank You Form – is a document that is shared with IMT members who wish to acknowledge an individual or a business. This form assists information officers in collecting the appropriate information in order to recognize the recipient in the manner selected.
Sample Thank You Letter – This simple thank you letter recognizes the individuals in this office for their contributions to the team’s effort to contain the fire. Although letters of appreciation can be and often are longer, it is important to remember that the letter should contain three items: a statement for why the individual is being recognized, why their contribution was important or how their contribution was used and a sincere expression of thanks.
Sample Photo Certificate – This photo certificate, done as a Microsoft Word document, takes advantage of a photo taken on the incident and features a locally-based aircraft that assisted in containing the fire.
Public Thank You Photo Certificate – This photo certificate is produced in Microsoft PowerPoint. The file is easily manipulated to produce several items of the same type.
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Writing a Narrative
A written narrative is generally expected from each function of an Incident Management Team. Commonly, the narratives are joined into an Executive Summary or a Summary of Management Activities that is packaged and presented to the hosting unit at the close out of the team’s assignment. Increasingly, though, when teams collect narratives for the summary the most commonly requested item is “Lessons Learned.”
Sunset Canyon Narrative 2006 – This one-page information unit summary covers the subjects of public relations and internal communications and what challenges the unit had in sustaining any of its services. The summary also includes facts like the miles of trapline covered, and feedback from the communities involved.
After Action Review Rollup – The most valuable lessons learned at an incident can be lost if they remain undocumented and unshared among our peers. That is why, in the effort to excel at being a learning organization, all members of the wildland fire community are encouraged to follow this simple format in conducting their unit reviews. Aside from the standard reporting, this technique allows us to discuss on an open, equal platform the most significant issues that can be extracted from our experiences and develop them into a form that will be shared widely.
AAR Tips & Tactics Sheet – If you have never conducted an after action review, this sheet will help to acquaint you with the process and terminology. This process is a natural for inclusion in the information unit function.
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Transitioning Responsibilities
Transitioning PIO responsibilities to an in-coming team is usually completed during a “shadowing” time when both teams are physically at the same location, but the incoming team has not assumed management activities yet. Still, there is a lot of information to share, so both shadowing and written documentation is important to a seamless transfer of command. Here are two samples of transition plans written to support an incoming team.
McNally Fire Transition Plan 2002 – Although the McNally Fire was a large and extended event, the unit’s transition plan provided a simple summary of the information the incoming lead PIO would need in order to function.
Egley Complex Transition 2007 – This is an example of a transition from a Type 1 to a large Type 3 organization. The written transition is more extensive because shadowing with the incoming team was not an option. Instead, the home unit re-assumed the information function responsibilities.
IMT Transition Plan Template 2003 – Type I and II Interagency Incident Management Teams (IMT) are encouraged to utilize this sample template when transitioning to another IMT. It can also be utilized to transition management back to the local unit.
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Documentation
One of the information officer’s final responsibilities at the conclusion of a fire assignment will be to collect and organize materials produced by the information function during the assignment and deliver them to the documentation unit leader in the planning section. There is national direction on completing this correctly. The information functions files are:
- Web Pages
- Thank You Letters
- Public Meetings/Briefings, Press Releases/Documents, Newspaper Clippings
- Media Log/Key Contacts
- Daily Fire Updates
- Closure Orders
- Community Relations/Public Service Announcements
That’s right, Closure Orders! Sometimes that is an overlooked item in documentation from the information function. For more detailed instructions on fire records management, it is recommended that you go to: http://www.nifc.gov/policies/records/index.html
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Some final notes
It should be noted that this is not the only PIO Toolbox available. The National Park Service hosts a marvelous site for information officers filled with excellent material on aerial equipment such as helicopters, infrared technology, the Module Airborne Firefighting System (MAFFS), and even “ping-pong balls.”
The toolbox also has tools for Burned Area Emergency Response, Prescribed Fire and Wildland Fire Use. Some of the tools available on that site are also in this one as well. Not all of the tools are available to everyone. Some of them are only available to those who can access the NPS intranet, but the great majority of files are there and should be reviewed. The NPS toolbox is at: http://www.nps.gov/fire/utility/uti_abo_iotoolbox.cfm
And finally, here are some useful websites for more assistance:
http://famweb.nwcg.gov/ (lots of stuff, including national direction, and forms)
http://www.nifc.gov/ (sit reports)
http://www.nifc.gov/firemaps.html (fire maps)
http://www.drought.unl.edu/index.htm (drought maps)
www.canada.com (Canadian news source)
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/afos/PDX/RFW/PDXRFWMFR (red flag warning)
http://newspaper-world.com/language/spanish.asp (Spanish newspapers)
http://geomac.usgs.gov/ (maps of fires)
http://www.osei.noaa.gov/iod.html and http://www.osei.noaa.gov/ (have images of the day, sometimes wildfires)
www.cnnsi.com (sports scores/news)
www.ambitweb.com (today in history)
