Brief History: Wildfire Equipment Development Priority Needs, 0051-2856-MTDC

To help FEWT carry out its mission, in 1984 the first survey of fire equipment needs was conducted by MTDC. The purpose of the first survey was to identify common interagency fire-related equipment problems and identify priority development needs. This study analyzed 1,026 returned questionnaires from FEWT member agencies. Respondents represented a variety of fire-related work roles in these agencies. The survey identified and ranked the top-20 interagency fire equipment development priority needs in 1984 (Table 1). FEWT used findings from this survey to prioritize decisions about specific fire equipment development. Later in this report, the 1984 top-priority list will be compared with the 1998 top-priority list. This comparison will show what—if any—new fire equipment needs have emerged. It will also identify the needs that continue year after year.

Priority	Fire Equipment Item
1	Improve goggles with scratch-resistant lenses that do not fog and are comfortable.
2	Improve fire clothes.
3	Improved communication with the dozer operator.
4	Better weather-forecasting resources between agencies.
5	Improve compatibility of communication between agencies.
6	Reducing the dead spots in radio communications.
7	A new fire shelter training film to replace Your Way Out.
8	Improved headlamps.
9	Radios with up to 48 channels that can span frequencies used by Federal, State, and local agencies to aid in cooperative response to an incident.
10	Protection of the dozer operator from smoke and dust.
11	Better fire weather information dissemination.
12	Information on the significance of CO health hazards and how to reduce exposure.
13	An improved Smokey Bear suit with better ventilation and audio.
14	Antikickback chain.
15	Provision for command channels common to all agencies.
16	Development of a means of quickly determining what resources are on a fire and where they are located.
17	Improved fire shelters.
18	Reflective material for fire safety clothing for night operations.
19	Correct deficiencies in fusees, drip torches, and flame throwers by developing lightweight firing devices lasting 30 or more minutes.
20	Better remote equipment (communications) with long-range capabilities.

1993: Pacific Southwest Region’s (R-5) Fire Equipment Survey of Priority Needs

In 1993, a second fire equipment needs survey was conducted by MTDC. The questionnaire that was used in the 1984 survey had been updated. However, it preserved many of the original 20 equipment priority development items. Items that were deleted had become obsolete. For example, antikickback chains, an original high-priority item, have been developed on the commercial market. From extensive pretesting of the 1993 questionnaire, new fire equipment items and problems were identified from open-ended questions. The newly identified items were added to the 1993 questionnaire, and then it was used again for the 1998 survey. The 1993 survey was deliberately designed to identify fire equipment priority needs for Region 5. Therefore, findings from this survey did not identify the needs for interagency members of FEWT. To accomplish this goal, a new survey was conducted by MTDC in 1998.

Brief History of Wildfire Equipment Needs Surveys

1984: The First Interagency Fire Equipment Survey of Priority Needs

1993: Pacific Southwest Region’s (R-5) Fire Equipment Survey of Priority Needs