The events that occurred in Florida during June and July resulted in the nation’s largest deployment of wildland and structural fire fighting resources. More than 10,000 fire fighters were involved in the operations, which utilized almost all of the deployable wildland fire fighting resources in the United States. The air operation was the largest ever conducted. It is also believed to be the largest commitment of structural fire fighters to a wildland interface situation.
As the number of fires increased, the demand for resources also increased. With wildland fires burning in most Florida counties, the requests for both wildland and structural resources often exceeded the immediately available supply. On many occasions the requests had to be prioritized at the state level, as all of the requests could not be filled. This was a critical problem when the major flare-up occurred on July 1st, as the demand for resources during the next 72 hours greatly exceeded the supply.
Two parallel systems were used to obtain and deploy wildland and structural firefighting resources. During the early stages, wildland resources were requested by the DOF managers through their own organizations. As the situation escalated, the overall wildland command and resource allocation shifted to a multi-agency command that was established at the State EOC in Tallahassee. As the overhead teams established regional complex commands, the resource requests were initiated at this level and directed to the Area Command, which was also located at the State EOC.
Throughout June and into July, the established systems were used to mobilize additional wildland resources from across the United States as well as some foreign resources. All requests for out-of-state assistance were coordinated through the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, using the established national system for wildland fire fighting resources. Florida National Guard resources were also utilized to support and supplement the wildland forces.
Most of the structural fire department resources were requested by the county mutual aid coordinators through the Florida Fire Chiefs network. During most of June, these requests were filled by in-state resources, with some fire department units travelling long distances within Florida. Fire departments throughout the state were committed to this activity.
When the fires began to move toward the coast, several municipal fire departments, which had been providing mutual aid to the unincorporated rural areas for several weeks, had to prepared to defend their own interface zones. This created a sudden increase in the demand for structural fire fighting resources, as well as wildland resources, from the counties and municipalities that were in the path of the fires. Also, by this time hundreds of firefighters were at the point of exhaustion after weeks of strenuous duty. These factors prompted the huge mobilization of resources that occurred during the first week of July. The requests included all types of fire fighting and logistical resources, including both wildland and structural fire fighters and all types of apparatus and equipment.
On July 1st and 2nd, urgent requests for structural fire fighting resources went out from the State EOC, through the Division of Emergency Management, to federal agencies and to other states. Most of these requests went to the emergency management agencies in different states, which passed the requests on to local fire departments and fire service organizations. Within 24 hours fire department resources were being assembled in more than a dozen states and transportation was being arranged for hundreds of fire fighters who had volunteered to join the battle.
In addition to the official requests for assistance from the State EOC, several specific requests for assistance went out from individual fire departments in the endangered area to fire departments in other states. Many of these requests were based on previously established relationships, including informal personal relationships among individuals. Several fire departments quickly assembled contingents and responded to these requests. A significant number of individual fire fighters from other states also made their own way to Florida to volunteer on the spot.
As all of these resources arrived in Florida, the personnel and equipment had to be divided-up between the wildland forces and the structural forces, depending on their training and assigned to different areas. The assistance came in many forms from different sources. Some units arrived ready for action, while others arrived with minimal equipment or days ahead of their vehicles. All of the personnel had to be integrated into the system according to skills and qualifications and assigned where they could be used effectively.
Most of the wildland fire fighters arrived in organized crews, which were easily deployed to the various commands and integrated into the wildland organization. The largest contingent of wildland fire fighters were assigned to the Bunnel Complex in Flagler County and the Orlando Complex in Brevard County. These two complexes managed wildland operations in the seven counties that were experiencing the most critical situation from their base camps in Bunnell and Cocoa.
Hundreds of structural fire fighters, both career and volunteer, most of whom were not trained or equipped for wildland fire fighting, also arrived in the Jacksonville and Daytona Beach areas. The structural fire fighters had to be organized and deployed to either assist or relieve other structural fire fighters. Management systems had to be adapted quickly to log all of these fire fighters and resources into the operation and to deploy them where they were most needed. Some of these groups arrived in time to fight on the front lines as the fires encroached on populated communities. Many more arrived on the following days, as the crisis was waning, in time to provide needed relief for the exhausted fire fighters who had been on the front line for days or weeks.
The arrival of so many more structural fire fighters also created huge logistical challenges. Accommodations and support services had to be provided for hundreds of newly arrived fire fighters, in addition to the hundreds who were already there. A huge camp was established in the infield at the Daytona International Speedway as a base of operations for the structural fire fighters.
The decision to cancel the NASCAR race had a fortuitous side effect, as the hotels and restaurants in the Daytona Beach area suddenly had large stocks of excessive food and other supplies. Most of these provisions were donated to the fire fighting effort by a grateful community and many of the fire fighters were accommodated in beach front hotels, free of charge.
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