This is NIFC

The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) is the nation’s support center for wildland firefighting.

NIFC is a place, not an organization. It’s home to seven federal agencies, along with the National Association of State Foresters, that work cooperatively to support firefighting efforts and other natural disaster relief work across the country.

When wildland fires burn, the need for people, equipment and resources can overwhelm communities and even entire regions. There simply may not be enough of the basics to go around. That’s when NIFC is asked to step in.

NIFC makes sure the areas with the greatest needs are taken care of first – whether the need is for firefighters, aircraft, engines, sleeping bags, hand-held radios or whatever else is needed. NIFC can set up a support system for up to 10,000 firefighters in about 24 hours. The national support system for firefighting is based on helping the places that need the help the most.

Here’s another way to look at what NIFC does. People at NIFC don’t fight fires, but they make sure those who do have the food, water, tools and shelter needed to sustain them. NIFC employees may be hundreds of miles from a wildfire, but they make sure those who are on the lines have the handheld radios so that they can talk with each other. NIFC employees don’t draw up the plans to battle wildfires, but they make sure those who do have accurate, up-to-date weather forecasts in their hands.

The beneficiaries of NIFC’s work are local communities. NIFC is there to help in times of natural disaster – at no cost to the communities. It’s an example of how federal agencies cooperate well to provide what local governments and agencies cannot.

Much more than coordinating firefighting takes place at NIFC. For example, it’s home to the largest cache of handheld radios in the country. NIFC is also hosts a Bureau of Land Management smokejumper crew and a Forest Service retardant base.

The seven agencies at NIFC are the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Indian Affairs, all in the Department of the Interior; the Forest Service, in the Department of Agriculture; the National Weather Service in the Department of Commerce; and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security.

Natural disasters are a part of life on earth. Lacking the vital resources to cope with them doesn’t need to be. NIFC can often make the difference.

Top of Page