Greening Fire Team - Sustainability and Fire
New Efforts are in Place to Reduce Plastic Waste at Fire Camps
The repurpose of expired or broken fire hose transformed into enriching wildlife habitat in zoos and animal sanctuaries.
On the Klamath National Forest, in northern California, a recycling program was implemented in fire camp to green fire.
Vision: Achieving net zero environmental impact on all large fire incidents by 2030.
Mission: Integration of sustainability best management practices on incidents and within the fire community.
Announcements and Webinars
Thank you for all those who attended the recent GFT Ambassador Quarterly Call held Monday, 17 June 2024. In attendance were over 160 ambassadors, leaders, and participants all learning about new greening fire techniques and resources available. The GFT wouldn't be successful without everyone's dedication and support.
Green vendors can update the availability information for their equipment and services (by geographic area) by completing the Green Vendor Availability Status form.
On April 26, the Sustainable Operations in Incident Management —2024 Fire Year Leader’s Intent letter was signed.
The Greening Fire Team is incredibly grateful for 200+ participants at the third annual Greening Fire Virtual Tech Expo held on April 2-4, 2024. Slides are available on the Green Procurement webpage.
'Red Book' References
Incident Management and Environmental Sustainability - Chapter 11, Page 267, Line 11 - 19
Every incident should seek opportunities to reduce unnecessary waste and limit impacts associated with management actions. This can be accomplished, for example, by implementing “greening fire” sustainability best management practices (e.g., energy and water conservation, alternative energy, sustainable acquisition, and waste prevention and recycling) as long as such efforts do not compromise operational or safety objectives. To the degree possible, prioritize the procurement of sustainable products and services whenever lifecycle cost-effective.
The White House:
Executive Order on Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability, December 08, 2021
How to Support the Greening Fire Team
Are you interested in becoming a Greening Fire Team Ambassador or you would like to participate in another capacity? To find out more information, review the Working Groups information on Ambassador Program page.
In Case You Missed It
Available: the Greening Fire Incident Recycling Dashboard, is a resource for the latest GFT accomplishments across the nation (This site requires ESRI/Arc GIS account to open).
The Greening Fire Team
How to Green Fire - Learn how the Greening Fire Team greens fire
Projects
Net Zero Waste Program (content coming soon)
Power and light in fire camps often come from diesel generators. Green alternatives provide reliable mobile power with reducing fuel, emissions, and noise.
Solar Light Towers and Mobile Solar Power
Photo: A Solar Powered Light Tower and Power Station from the Black Fire in New Mexico 2022.
Opportunities exist to reduce the water footprint tied to fire camp operations, while also reducing single-use plastic bottle waste.
Mobile Water Treatment Systems pilot program
If you are interested in providing green products or services in support of wildland fire operations, please provide your information in our GFT Green Procurement market research survey.
The GFT will host its second annual Green Procurement Tech Expo in early March 2023. If you are interested in participating, please email the GFT.
The GFT email address is listed at the bottom of this page.
"Greening Fire" is specifically mentioned in the Incident Management and Response section (Chapter 11, Page 269, Lines 23 - 31): In the 2022 Interagency Standards for Fire and Fire Aviation Operations (Red Book),
Executive Order 14057 directs all federal agencies to achieve sustainable operations
The GFT Library contains team bulletins, webinar recordings, marketing and promotional materials, news articles, and myth busters/fast facts.
Learn about past lessons learned and success stories, as well as promising partnership opportunities.
Learn how the "Red Book", the national Multi-Agency Coordinating Group and fire and aviation leaders call on incident and fire personnel to promote greening fire efforts.
Contact Us
Do you have questions, ideas, or simply want more information?
If so, contact the GFT at: Greening Fire Team