National Incident Management Organization - Programs
NIMO team members work on incident response approximately 10% of the time, and when mobilized, it is usually under special circumstances such as:
Early or late season fires when many resources are not available.
Long-term fires, (often at the end of the season). NIMO personnel are available for mobilization full time, year-round, making them an ideal resource for long duration events.
Merging with a Type 2 or 3 team for a response to provide support/capacity/mentorship through a period of increased complexity.
Augmenting a Type 1 fire organization to provide additional overhead capability.
In addition to wildland fires, there are many other types of support that NIMO provides:
Types of Support
Incident Management Team (IMT) Support & Management of Fires
High Priority National level projects (Washington Office)
Regional Projects
Forest Support
Exercises & Simulations
NWCG, FEMA and Type 3 Training
Meeting Organization and Facilitation
Facilitated Learning Analyses (FLAs), Fire Reviews and Timelines
Line of Duty Death/ Memorial Planning
International Work
NIMO Focus Areas
Our objective is to continually decrease risks associated with managing wildland fires. NIMO works to meet this objective in a number of way, as described in the following areas of focus.
NIMO delivers risk management workshops across the nation. Priorities are set with involvement of the Senior Fire Leadership Group but considers requests by individual forests. The two-day workshop includes line officers, fire management personnel and firefighters, and may be open to cooperators and stakeholders. The workshop may be customized to fit particularly unique situations, such as a one-day workshop, or individual workshops for units.
Engagement and enrollment are activities best initiated prior to fire season, and constantly nurtured. Program managers encourage and assist forests in engagement of stakeholders, partners and the public to assure these efforts support the objectives and goals of the Cohesive Strategy.
Incident management support includes training and simulations, line officer consulting or mentoring, leadership coaching for Type III Incident Management Organizations (IMOs), building relationships with non-traditional partners and providing support to Geographic Area Coordination Centers (GACCs) and Multi-Agency Coordination System (MAC) Groups. Program managers work with leadership in each region to explore opportunities for this support.
Leadership development is a founding principle of the NIMO program. Each program manager seeks opportunities to develop leadership in themselves, their fellow NIMO employees and the incident management community. The organizational focus should be on regional priorities for leadership development in a manner that supports program priorities and implementation goals.
We provide personnel and support to the development of fire management program elements such as the Wildland Fire Decision Support System (WFDSS), Common Operating Picture (COP), and the Strategic Risk Analysis (SRA).
NIMO supports national and regional level program areas through details and special project support. NIMO program managers play an important role in filling requests for short term staffing of special projects as well as extended details into vacant positions.