Preliminary Report Wildfire suppression costs are shared with other agencies, consistent with formal agreements. Wildfire Suppression Accurate and refined data collection is needed Funding and Costs to improve information about costs and characteristics. December 2017 Rebecca Connolly | Zane Kelly | Casey Radostitz 1 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
Study focused on answering Legislature’s questions about fire costs 1 2 3 Agencies Involved, Sharing Wildfire Collecting Amount Spent Suppression Costs Fire Data FY 2010-16 Agreements & practice Three recommendations 2 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
What state agencies are involved? Photo credit: IMT #10 DNR and the Fire Marshal have different roles and responsibilities for wildfire suppression 3 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
DNR Suppresses Wildfires • Direct fire fighting role • Fire suppression staff and equipment • Responsibility delegated to six regions 6,850 fires (FY 2010-16) Interactive map in report 4,002 false alarms and other incidents 4 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
Fire Marshal Coordinates Mobilization to h o help lp l loc ocal l fire re age gencies • No direct fire fighting role • Requested by local fire agencies, authorized by Chief of State Patrol 93 mobilizations (FY 2010-16) • State incurs costs Interactive map in report 5 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
$434 million spent on fire-related activities (DNR and Fire Marshal, FY 2010-16) Most spending is Fire Marshal $65 Contracted Goods & Services $369 DNR Fire 89% 11% Marshal DNR 79% 20% or Salaries & Benefits Dollars in millions Source: Agency Financial Reporting System (AFRS) 6 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
$72 million recouped by state (FY 2010-16) Source Amount Received Reimbursement $34.6 from federal and state agencies Fire Management Assistance Grants $34.5 from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) DNR Recoveries $2.9 from private parties that negligently start fires Dollars in millions Source: Reimbursement and recovery figures provided by DNR, FMAG data provided by the Emergency Management Division (EMD) 7 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
Sharing wildfire suppression costs Photo credit: IMT #10 Wildfire suppression costs are shared with other agencies, consistent with formal agreements 8 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
Initial Response St State, e, fed ederal, l, • Closest available force and l local • Mutual aid/reciprocal response agreement agen encie ies w wor ork together t to DNR l land & nd & resour urces es suppress f fires Federal l land nd & r & resour urces es Example: Mills Canyon Fire (2014). Photos from NWCG 9 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
Extended Attack St State, e, fed ederal, l, • DNR, U.S. Forest Service, Fire Marshal Mobilization and l local • Incident Management Team agen encie ies w wor ork together t to suppress f fires Example: Mills Canyon Fire (2014). Photos from NWCG 10 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
Preferred cost sharing approach based on benefit received • Master agreement between state & federal agencies Calculate daily: At the fire Day 2 Day 1 Total And so on Total cost of resources $400,000 $450,000 $8.3 M Benefit $240,000 $200,000 DNR $1.7 M received $0 $40,000 Fire Marshal $1.0 M (agency share) $160,000 $210,000 USFS $5.6 M Total Benefit Received Source: Mills Canyon Fire, 2014, Cost share worksheet 11 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
Preferred cost sharing approach based on benefit received Compare: After the fire Total Benefit Amount Difference Benefit received Received Paid • Amount paid • DNR $1.7 M $3.0 M - $1.3 M (directly to staff and contractors) Fire Marshal $1.0 M $0.8 M $0.2 M USFS $5.6 M $4.5 M $1.1 M Reimburse difference If benefit received exceeds amount paid Source: Mills Canyon Fire, 2014, Cost share worksheet 12 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
Fire Acres Cost Acres burned Haven Lake 183 $3.2 M $3.2 M Lone Mountain 1 2,770 2,770 $3.6 M $3.6 M may not be a Tucannon 2,630 2,630 $400,000 reliable method for sharing or Similar acreage understanding Different costs fire costs Different acreage Similar costs Source: Northwest Interagency Coordination Center Annual Reports 2014 and 2015. Data reflects acreage and estimated costs for all agencies before cost share or reconciliation. 13 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
What Influences Fire Cost? Many factors cited in national research Dev evelopmen ent – Ye Yes Housing D Density – Ye Yes Ownership – No No Pr Private Insurance ce – No No 14 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
Collecting fire data Photo credit: IMT #10 Accurate and refined data collection is needed to improve information about costs and characteristics 15 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
Fire Marshal has records of each of the 93 mobilizations (FY 2010-16) Basic information • Cost, location No system to compile or report details 16 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
Over a hundred fields, many incomplete or unused DNR’s data on fire • Land cover, structures damaged or destroyed • Some fields incomplete because DNR doesn’t use data characteristics is often Characteristic data can be unreliable incomplete, Tunk unk B Block Fi Fire unused, or NWCG Data: 165,918 acres DNR Data: 165,885 acres unreliable Paradise F Fire x NWCG Data: 2,796 acres DNR Data: 5 acres Source: DNR presentation, January 2016. DNR data from its fire database. 17 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
Legislative Auditor Recommendation #1 DNR should refine its collection of key data elements and seek input from the appropriate Legislative committees. • Identify the key data elements • Propose data elements to legislative committees • Review the list on an ongoing basis Due By: April 2019 18 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
Legislative Auditor Recommendation #2 DNR should improve the accuracy and reliability of the key data elements it collects. • Implement agency-wide policies and procedures for data entry and validation • Complete data refinement in Recommendation #1 first Due By: December 2019 19 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
A fire can have more than one code to track costs DNR lacks CSG CAI CPC an efficient way to The codes are in different identify the databases, spreadsheets, and cost of paper records of the fire individual fires All codes are needed to calculate cost Compiling them is a manual process 20 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
Legislative Auditor Recommendation #3 DNR should develop a systematic and verifiable way to identify the costs of individual fires. • Many possible approaches, simple to complex • Any approach should ensure that the list of codes is consistently maintained and updated throughout the fiscal year Due By: June 2018 21 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
Next Step Proposed Final Report January 2018 Full Report leg.wa.gov/jlarc/reports/2017/WildfireSuppression/p/default.html 22 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
Contact Us Rebecca Connolly Research Analysts (360) 786-5175 rebecca.connolly@leg.wa.gov Zane Kelly (360) 786-5193 zane.kelly@leg.wa.gov Casey Radostitz (360) 786-5176 casey.radostitz@leg.wa.gov Valerie Whitener Audit Coordinator (360) 786-5191 valerie.whitener@leg.wa.gov 23 December 2017 Preliminary Report: Wildfire Suppression Funding and Costs
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