Resource mobilisation for firefighting asset acquisition and management
Seeking models of policy and governance for the efficient acquisition and management of relevant firefighting equipment to address EWE.
Problem
Effective firefighting in the face of Extreme Wildfire Events requires acquiring and managing appropriate firefighting assets, including equipment and resources. However, a persistent challenge exists in establishing robust policy and governance models to guide the acquisition, allocation, and management of firefighting assets. Inadequate policies and governance structures can hinder the timely and efficient deployment of resources, compromising the effectiveness of firefighting operations and exacerbating the impacts of wildfires.
Why the Problem exists?
The problem of inadequate policy and governance models for firefighting asset acquisition and management stems from various factors. These include outdated policies that do not account for the changing dynamics of wildfire behaviour, limited coordination and information sharing among different agencies and jurisdictions, and budgetary constraints that impede the acquisition of necessary firefighting assets. Additionally, the complex interplay between national and local governments and various stakeholders further complicates the establishment of effective policy and governance frameworks.
Looking for solutions that completely or partially solve the following:
- Develop Integrated Fire Management policies that consider the full spectrum of firefighting operations, including prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery.
- Foster resource sharing and mutual aid agreements among firefighting agencies at various levels, including national and local.
- Risk-based approaches to asset allocation, where firefighting assets are strategically distributed based on wildfire risk assessments.
- Embrace technological advancements to inform asset acquisition and management decisions.
Requirements
- Clear and comprehensive policy frameworks that address all stages of firefighting operations, from prevention to recovery, encompass asset acquisition and management.
- Collaboration and coordination among national and local agencies, as well as relevant stakeholders.
- Establish effective governance models and resource-sharing mechanisms.
- Considering the evolving nature of wildfire threats, adequate funding and resources to support the acquisition, maintenance, and upgrade of firefighting assets.
Limitation(s)
- Budgetary constraints and competing priorities.
- Diverse legal and jurisdictional frameworks across different regions.
- Effectiveness of policy and governance models may be influenced by political dynamics, stakeholder interests.
Fire Management Phase(s)
Prevention & Preparedness; Detection & Response
Living Labs
Bulgaria Living Lab; Chile Living Lab; Sardinia-Italy Living Lab.
Voice of the Living Lab(s)
“Purchasing, maintaining and training personnel to operate modern fire detection and response equipment is financially expensive. Now, in individual ministries – the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Agriculture – Forest enterprises, the Ministry of Defense and some private companies, there is equipment that is used and maintained to fight forest fires. There is no regulatory requirement for harmonisation between them. Budgetary, state departments are chronically experiencing difficulties in financing. There is no common, coordinating unit to unite efforts at the national and regional level to provide modern fire-fighting equipment. The available contacts are rather a personal initiative of individual executives“.
“The problem exists because of the lack of a clear policy. Decision makers do not act specifically and their actions are carried out only for the duration of the emergency. Therefore, it is not established as a long-term priority by the political and legislative world. Being temporary events, as the months of fires pass, the topic stops being discussed until the next season starts again. Added to this, fires occur mostly away from the capital city (Santiago) and the real impact caused by the fires from the economic, environmental and social aspects is not visible for the major policy makers (since there is no monetary value, the real impact is never measured, since they are intangibles“.
“Agricultural and forestry roads have different owners, their management and use are subject to different laws without the necessary harmonisation. The latter must be implemented through a General Development Plan and a Regional Plan for the Development of Forest Territories, but despite being laid down in the legislative framework, such plans are missing in most places. The reasons are lack of capacity and lack of funding for their creation.
The construction of a common monitoring system is not agreed between the owners“.
“Problem exists due to the lack of a human resource recruitment planning, coherent with needs of turnover employment. The origin could be found both in a lack of financial resources and political will. It seems voluntary will is far from the territory’s needs. Of course, lack of human resource management also hits administrative levels of institutions which suffer lack of personnel, devoted to – for example – intercept and manage wisely European funds to face regional day-to-day administration“.