The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) has published new National Wildfire Evacuation Planning Guidance to help agencies develop and implement effective evacuation plans for wildfire incidents.
The guidance provides an adaptable framework for federal, state, local, tribal and territorial agencies, and includes a Wildfire Evacuation Plan Template that organizations can use to create, implement and refine comprehensive evacuation plans.
According to the USFA, lessons learned from recent wildfires affecting wildland-urban interface areas highlighted the need for a flexible planning framework. The document is intended to support fire departments, law enforcement agencies, emergency management agencies and other organizations involved in planning, executing and communicating evacuation operations.
The National Wildfire Evacuation Planning Guidance covers the full lifecycle of wildfire evacuation planning, including pre-evacuation preparation, decision-making and communications during an evacuation, and post-evacuation recovery.
The USFA said the guidance can serve as both a starting point and a reference throughout the development of wildfire evacuation plans. It can also be integrated with Emergency Operations Plans, Community Wildfire Preparedness Plans, community risk reduction plans and other relevant planning efforts.
Developed using research, post-incident after-action reviews and existing plans and templates, the document is designed to provide evidence-based strategies to support community wildfire evacuation planning.
The USFA said the resource is aimed at wildfire planners and agencies responsible for evacuation planning, operations and training.
