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 Technology & Development Center |
Wildfire
Equipment Development Priority Needs:
A Comparison 1984 to 1998
The Missoula Technology and Development Center (MTDC) has played a central role in the development of equipment used in fire suppression throughout the United States and the world. As part of this broad effort, over the past 14 years the Fire and Aviation Program in the Center has sponsored three field-based surveys of firefighting equipment development priority needs. These surveys helped identify priority equipment needs of the interagency firefighting community in the United States. Findings from these surveys have provided input into decisions directing fire equipment and technology development.
Like previous wildfire equipment surveys done by the Center, the current survey is intended to help the work of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) and the Fire Equipment Working Team (FEWT). The mission of the NWCG is to coordinate programs and projects of mutual concern to the wildland fire protection community in the United States. In 1976, the Fire Equipment Working Team, a subcommittee of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, was established. This team supports the mission of the NWCG by working to implement use of new fire equipment and chemicals among Federal and State firefighting agencies. FEWT draws its membership from the General Services Administration, USDI agencies (the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service), and the USDA Forest Service.
This survey is designed specifically to assist FEWT to identify national interagency fire-equipment-related problems and to set priorities for equipment development needs. Two basic questions guided this recent survey:
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