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NWCG Support to Wildland Fire Information and Technology (WFIT)

In support of Wildland Fire Information and Technology (WFIT) goals and objectives, NWCG committees, which represent the functional areas of wildland fire management on an interagency and intergovernmental basis, establish information and technology (IT) capability requirements in their mission areas. These IT capability requirements are communicated through the NWCG Executive Board to the WFIT program. The WFIT program then provides leadership and support in turning these requirements into actual IT capabilities (through applications, infrastructure, etc).

The established NWCG IT capability requirements are provided below.  Additional information is provided to ensure that NWCG committees use standardized processes to establish and communicate wildland fire IT capability requirements.  Information about the Wildland Fire Information and Technology program is available at: https://sites.google.com/a/firenet.gov/wfit/home

NWCG IT Capability Requirements (June 2018)

PDF version of this table

NWCG Committee
/Group		 IT Capability Requirement WFIT Application Lifecycle Stage
IBC Incident business management capabilities.  Efficient sharing and training of incident business standards.  Need to define requirements.

Content currently located in NWCG Standards for Interagency Incident Business Management and the supporting S-260 course.		 Idea
RMC Risk management capabilities, related to safety reporting.  Resolve overlaps, gaps, and inconsistencies.  Need to define requirements.

Current capabilities provided by Safenet, Safecom, and Safety Gram.		 Idea
NIMSIC Capability to track use, management, and alteration of National Incident Management System (NIMS), and related systems/components in order to troubleshoot and manage growth.

See supplemental information, October 2017		 Idea
IFPC Fire planning capabilities.

See 4 gaps defined, October 2017.		 Idea
ETC Radio use and management capabilities Idea
FENC National preparedness capabilities

Integrate NFDRS2016 with other fire management decision support tools into a single national wildland fire preparedness and response decision support capability		 Idea
FENC / NCSC Predictive services capabilities.

See Phase One report, June 2017.  FMB Tasking Phase Two is in progress. 		 Idea
FENC Fire weather information management capabilities.

See 18 gaps defined, May 2017.
  1. BigFire in Idea phase, pursuing NASA grant
  2. WIMS and WFMI collaboration
 (1) Idea
(2)Concept
ETC Supply chain and asset management capabilities

Requirements analysis for ICBS in progress		 Concept
OTC Incident Records Disposition Authority revision and update, to include electronic records.

OTC tasking to IPSC for requirements. 		 Concept
OTC / TDP Position management and training development and delivery capabilities to manage NWCG position standards, training curriculum, and associated position performance support products.

Identified by the NWCG System Improvement Project and NWCG Wildland Fire Learning Management System (LMS) Project.		 Concept (LMS)
IBC Acquisition capabilities.

Capability requirements identified in 2016 Departments of Agriculture and Interior legislative mandates known as Transforming Incident Procurement Project (TIPP).		 Concept
DMC Data integration services, with focus on a “data cache.”

See NWCG Data Management Strategy, WFIT Data Cache Requirements Document, IFDC Alternatives Analysis, and DMC Recommendations for Data Cache		 Concept
DMC: FRSC Fire reporting capability requirements to support FMB’s vision of one event/one report.

See 19 gaps defined, May 2017.		 (INFORM) Development
NCSC Resource mobilization capabilities.

Identified by the Interagency Dispatch Improvement Project		 (IROC) Development
FMC Fuels management capabilities.

See 6 gaps defined, October 2017.

See 38 applications evaluated, October 2017.		 (IFT-DSS) Development
CEPC Fire prevention planning capabilities

Currently provided by RAMS, which can no longer be supported.		 Development
NCSC "Single sign-on" functionality.

Identified by the Interagency Dispatch Improvement Project.		 Operations & Maintenance: Login.gov
All Intergovernmental collaborative workspace to message, schedule, share, review, develop, store among federal, tribal, state, local, and territorial stakeholders in support of all areas of national wildland fire management.

Firenet.gov is the current planned solution.		 Operations & Maintenance: Firenet
CEPC Public incident information management

Includes capabilities currently provided by Inciweb.		 Operations & Maintenance: A new Inciweb

NWCG Committees

  • Establish, maintain, and modify existing and desired IT capability requirements in respective mission areas.
  • Identify new or changing capabilities. These changes may require major alteration to an existing application or the replacement of one or more applications with a new approach to providing the capability.
  • Jointly with NWCG staff, consolidate and prioritize NWCG-wide IT capabilities as they arise.
  • Establish and maintain relationships with business leads responsible for applications currently serving the committee’s mission area. Coordinate capability requirements activities with business leads.
  • Identify potential changes to existing applications and coordinate with appropriate business leads to support their work with the project manager to request funding and make changes.
  • Bring new and emerging technology ideas to the WFIT Innovations and Capabilities Group for enterprise-wide collaboration, assessment, and proposal development.

NWCG Staff

  • Collect IT capability requirements from committees throughout the year.
  • Jointly with NWCG committees consolidate and prioritize IT capabilities as they arise.
  • Inform NWCG Executive Board of changes to IT capability priorities as appropriate.

NWCG Executive Board

  • Assess, revise as necessary, and forward NWCG prioritized IT capabilities to Fire Management Board as requested.

Data Management Committee

  • Provide support to committees in development of IT capability requirements.
  • Provide support to committees and WFIT for data standards and integration.

Assemble, as appropriate, committee representatives, a Data Management Committee representative, NWCG coordinator, relevant application business lead, and other primary stakeholders and address the following:

  • Purpose and Engagement
    • Develop, validate, modify or replace capability requirements.
    • Ensure the capability requirements are consistent with the committee(s)/subgroup(s) mission.
    • Identify related or associated capability requirements; seek opportunities to consolidate.

  • Process Management
    • Define roles and expectations for each individual involved.
    • Establish timelines, checkpoints, and completion due dates.
    • Identify and engage other NWCG committees/subgroups who must be involved in vetting the capability requirement.
    • Ensure development process and prioritization criteria are understood.

  • Resources Available
    • Recommended process and deliverables checklist [Coming soon, DMC is developing]
    • Data Management Committee. Primary contact: Roshelle Pederson, Chair, kimber_roshelle_pederson@ios.doi.gov (208) 407-6685
    • Requirements defined by other committees [NWCG Committee IT Capability Requirements below]

The NWCG develops standards of practice that enable seamless and coordinated interagency wildland fire operations.  Achieving NWCG standards is often enhanced, and sometimes accomplished altogether, by information and technology (IT) processes and applications.  IT capability requirements are statements that define the IT capability needed to achieve a particular standard of practice, product or service.   Effective IT capability requirements should address the following:

  • Relevance: Is the capability relevant to the NWCG mission? Is it relevant to the committee mission? How will it improve mission effectiveness? 
  • Scope: Does the capability benefit field level firefighters and fire managers? Will it improve national standardization? Will it enhance firefighter safety? Is it national, regional or local in scope? Is it interagency or agency specific?
  • Purview: Is the capability unique to wildland fire? Does it sensibly fall under the purview of the NWCG?
  • Sustainability: Will the capability have a long term impact? Will it address a significant and consequential issue or concern, even in the short term?
  • Impact: Is the capability new, a revision of an existing capability, or a replacement of one or more existing capabilities?  What problems does the capability solve?
  • Efficiency: Does the capability reduce data entry, leverage existing information and capabilities, address needs for multiple committees, or reduce costs?
  • Time to impact: When is this capability needed?  When is it likely to be delivered, if funded?
  • Existing workflow processes, if they remain relevant, or
  • Newly defined workflow processes that make existing systems obsolete.
  • What capabilities are needed to provide products or services essential to your mission?

NWCG Latest Announcements

RMC Safety Bulletin 26-001: Rhabdomyolysis in Wildland Firefighters

Date:  May 28, 2026
Questions? 
Please contact: Risk Management Committee

The Risk Management Committee (RMC) has issued Safety Bulletin 26-001: Rhabdomyolysis in Wildland Firefighters. Research from 2016 to 2025 shows that 88 cases of rhabdomyolysis (rhabdo) were reported. Analysis of reports from eSafety, the Safety Management Information System (SMIS), and the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center (LLC) indicates that rhabdo is common during this time of year due to Work Capacity Tests and contributing factors such as weather, hydration, nutrition, and medication or supplement use.

RMC issued this safety bulletin to raise awareness in the Wildland Fire Community, and to provide research findings and educational resources that support reducing future cases of rhabdo.

References:

NWCG Alerts

RMC Safety Bulletin 26-001: Rhabdomyolysis in Wildland Firefighters

NEW! D-110, Expanded Dispatch Recorder Course Available Now

Date:  May 15, 2026
Questions? 
Please contact: Dispatch Position and Curriculum Management Subcommittee

NWCG is pleased to announce the new D-110, Expanded Dispatch Recorder (Instructor-led) course is now available on the Wildland Fire Learning Portal (WFLP). Developed through the National Coordination System Committee, this course introduces the structure and function of expanded dispatch, the qualities of an effective dispatcher, and provides hands-on experience with the Interagency Resource Ordering Capability (IROC) system. 

The D-110, Expanded Dispatch Recorder course aligns with the competencies and duties outlined in the NWCG Incident Position Standards for Expanded Dispatch Recorder, PMS 350-59, and is designed for individuals with no prior experience who may be called upon to support dispatch operations.

References:

D-110, Expanded Dispatch Recorder (Instructor-Led)

Expanded Dispatch Recorder (EDRC), Position Page

NWCG Incident Position Standards for Expanded Dispatch Recorder, PMS 350-59

Wildland Fire Learning Portal

Leadership Committee IAP Flyer Now Available

Date:  May 8, 2026
Questions? 
Please contact: Leadership Committee

The NWCG Leadership Committee promotes and enables leadership development across the wildland fire service. The committee provides education, training opportunities, and support for leadership innovation and best practices throughout the community.

A new IAP flyer is now available on the committee website, offering an overview of the products, curriculum, and learning opportunities the Leadership Committee develops. This resource is ideal for posting in your office, sharing with new employees, or distributing through your incident management teams to engage new voices in the leadership journey and reinforce a culture of self‑reflection, development, and growth.

References:

Leadership Committee 2026 IAP Flyer

Incident Operations Subcommittee Updates the Next Generation Position Task Book for FFT1

Date:  May 7, 2026
Questions? 
Please contact: Incident Operations Subcommittee

The NWCG Incident Operations Subcommittee (IOSC) has updated the NWCG Position Task Book for Firefighter Type 1 (Squad Boss) (FFT1), PMS 311‑14. The FFT1 Position Task Book transitioned to the Next Generation (Next Gen PTB) format in June 2025 through the Incident Performance and Training Modernization effort. Since then, IOSC has received feedback from the wildland fire community regarding coding for one of the tasks. Task #13 has been updated to include the option of evaluation in a simulation.

See IOSC Memorandum 26‑01: Transition Plan for Implementation of Updates to the NWCG Position Task Book for Firefighter Type 1 (Squad Boss) (FFT1), PMS 311‑14 for more information.

References:

IOSC Memorandum 26-01: Transition Plan for Implementation of Updates to the NWCG Position Task Book for Firefighter Type 1

NWCG Firefighter Type 1 Squad Boss Position Page