FORT SILL, Okla., Feb. 21, 2019 -- What the Fort Sill Fire and Emergency Services does to keep the post and the community safe is really a multiple-pronged response, according to Fort Sill Fire Chief Clint Langford.

"The general public, when they think about keeping safe from wildfires, they think about firefighters and their response," he noted. "But what's critical is prevention. We want to prevent it before the fire happens.

"At Fort Sill, we have created what we call our Wildfire Mitigation Plan, which is a comprehensive and synchronized plan not only with the fire department, but also Range Operations and DPW (the Directorate of Public Works, particularly its Natural Resources division), and the military units themselves.

TRAINING PROTOCOLS

"Within this plan we have established protocols that can restrict training activities on the ranges during adverse weather conditions, in areas where there could be high fuel-loading (lots of vegetation).

"This process involves something the Army calls deliberate risk assessment that identifies hazards and risks that may present themselves during the unit's training event and measures that can be taken to limit or eliminate those risks -- in our case, wildfires.

"We work closely with Range Operations and the commanders in the field to identify steps that can be taken to eliminate wildfire propagation while allowing the military units to continue their critical mission.

PRESCRIBED FIRES

"The second part of the Wildfire Mitigation Plan specifically deals with prescribed fires on Fort Sill.

Prescribed fires are one of the most effective means of preventing wildfires from initiating, and they lessen the intensity of those that do actually start.

"The process is really simple. The reason it's so effective is because the prescribed fire eliminates the fuel.

"A lot of people think of these as controlled burns, but actually it's a prescribed burn. A prescribed burn is just like a medical prescription -- there are preset identified parameters that we use and they must be met before we conduct a prescribed fire.

"One, the reason to burn. Is there a valid reason for burning the land?"

Other factors to be considered include wind, weather, temperature, relative humidity, and smoke dispersion so the surrounding community won't be affected.

"All the parameters have to be met before we do the fire.

"There are three reasons we conduct prescribed fires on Fort Sill.

"Priority No. 1 is basically life, health, and safety.

"An example of this would be strip burning along our installation boundary. Usually, some of them would be 100 feet wide (so sparks from any wildfire can't jump the highway just outside the perimeter fence). It creates for us a buffer area, free from vegetation, that will typically stop an out-of-control wildfire from spreading outside the installation.

"Our second priority is for the Fort Sill mission requirement. Examples of this would be clearing an area, or a creation of a new training complex, or clearing the vegetation so the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (team) can come in and clear that land of unexploded ordnance.

"The third priority is for the habitat and the health of the environment. That could be anything from doing a prescribed fire to clear the invasive red cedar to prevent that species from taking over the native perennials and grasses, or clearing and reducing the overgrowth of vegetation to promote healthy growth of native trees and grasses as requested by our natural resources folk."

Langford said Fort Sill fire crews have executed eight prescribed burns so far this year.

The Wildfire Mitigation Plan identifies what prescribed fires need to be conducted over the next five years.

SCHEDULED BURNS

Some of these need to be carried out annually, others every two years, and still others once in five years. Annually, this equates to some 30 burns covering approximately 30,000 acres -- roughly one-third of the installation.

"However, Mother Nature doesn't always cooperate. As I said earlier, we will never light fires unless there's an exact right match to our minimum and maximum parameters of weather conditions.

That's a safety protocol. We do not want to create an out-of-control wildfire.

"In reality, we probably get 60 percent of our burns complete annually, and anyone who's lived in Oklahoma very long understands why. Oklahoma weather doesn't always cooperate."

MUTUAL AID

The Fort Sill Fire Department has three mutual aid agreements with other firefighting forces across Comanche County, to include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service firefighters on the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Lawton Fire Department, and all the fire departments that fall within Comanche County Emergency Management.

Langford said these agreements are not just for fire, but for all hazard response, to include hazardous materials, rescues, and anything citizens might dial 911 for.

The fire chief said Fort Sill has received help from Lawton Fire Department and various volunteer fire departments on prescribed fires in the past.

Fort Sill never calls on its mutual aid partners for help when a fire is in one of the impact zones, because Fort Sill's firefighters are specially trained on what to look for in the way of unexploded ordnance and safety protocols.

The Fort Sill Fire Department reciprocates by helping surrounding fire departments.

It sent an engine and a tanker to assist on a recent structure fire at the old American Legion Post just off the Medicine Park exit of I-44.

Firefighters established a tanker shuttle operation, with tankers being filled from Fort Sill fire hydrants, then going and dumping their water at the fire site.

"Our guys are very well-trained and proficient at wildland firefighting. Our Fort Sill leadership has provided us with the resources needed to protect our community. Just for wildfires, our wildland fleet consists of nine brush trucks and two tankers, one holding 1,800 gallons and the other 3,000.

"Training is a key component of that. We train together so we know how to fight together, which not only enhances our skills, it strengthens our relationships and trust, which makes us more resilient," Langford said.

"While working with risk mitigation with the units and doing prescribed fires are very effective, they still don't eliminate all wildfires, so that's when we as a firefighting force must be trained and ready to respond at any time."