Current Topics:
FPA System Reference
Links:FPA system helpdesk at fire_help@fs.fed.us or at: 1-800-253-5559.
Review the FPA White Papers. These papers describe how the model uses different resources, fuel treatments, or data.
FPA User Guide is available on the FPA web site. It walks the user through the system step by step.
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 Fiscal Year 2012 Analyses Due Date has been extended
The FPA Executive Oversight Group (EOG) met and agreed to extend the due date for this year’s analysis by six weeks. The new date by which all analyses and reviews must be completed and submitted to National is March 15, 2010.
Your suggestions make a difference! We’ve listened to you at the GA workshops, we’ve read your submission comments, and we’ve met with many of you face-to-face. Your suggestions during the first year were so good we moved forward with implementing several of them. Some of these improvements are:
- Ignitions in IRS are limited to those within preparedness staffing season instead of all 365 days of the year. Fire Season is calculated within the FPA system and covers 90% of an FPU’s historical fires.
- Global adjustments to LANDFIRE Fuel Models that were applied the first year have been removed from both IRS & the Large Fire Module.
- The Fire Planner can modify the rate of spread by fuel model within each FWA to more closely match what is observed in the field.
- IRS ignitions falling on “non-burnable” fuels are assigned to either a burnable fuel model or a default rate of spread based on various factors. Click here for more information.
- The Large Fire Module has been improved to ensure fires are contained at sizes more consistent with historical fires under the same circumstances. The program can now also contain fires based on days of no fire growth. These periods are defined as 3 consecutive days in grass fuel models, and 8 consecutive days in trees/shrubs where the fire does not grow.
- The costs of fires modeled in the Large Fire Module are now being calculated on a cost-per-acre basis, rather than cost-per-fire approach used last year. This will improve performance metric reporting.
- Large Fire Module improvements have been made to allow for more effective modeling of multiple objective fires (referred to as WFU in the FPA system). These fires were excluded from analysis in the previous year due to inconsistent outcomes.
- FPU planners now have more flexibility in choosing thresholds for weather and fuel conditions for those fires with multiple objectives (aka WFU fires). These break level choices now include Fire Intensity Level (FIL), Flame Length (FL), and Rate of Spread (ROS)in addition to Burn Index (BI).
Reviewing FPA “Phase 2” Continues.... This multi-faceted review will help us improve the FPA System. It will identify practices used in FPA Phase 2 that were effective and should be used for future phases of this and similar projects; practices that we can improve on; and suggested methods of improvement. So far one meeting with FPA team members and an on-line survey have been completed.
A Stakeholders workshop is scheduled for September 15 – 16th. This meeting includes representatives from the various interest groups (FPU planners, line officers, agency and regional fire planners, agency fire budget officers, GA leads, etc.). Each attendee will be representing their particular stakeholder’s interest. If you have comments to share with your stakeholder representative(s), click here for a list of attendees.
Geographic Area (GA) Workshops for this fall are being planned and hosted by the GAs to assist fire planners in updating and submitting their FY2012 analysis. While not all dates & locations are firm, here is what we know at this time:
Geographic Area |
Workshop Dates |
AK – Alaska |
Pending |
CA - California |
Week of Nov. 16th (tentative) |
EA - Eastern Area |
Pending |
GB - Great Basin - East |
Week of Oct. 13th |
GB - Great Basin - west |
Week of Oct. 19th |
NR - Northern Rockies |
Week of Oct. 5th |
NW - Northwest |
Week of Oct 19th |
RM – Rocky Mountains |
Week of Nov. 16th |
SA - Southern Area |
Week of Oct. 19th |
SW - Southwest |
Week of Nov. 16th |
Contact your Geographic Area Lead for details.
Web Updates
Updated chapters in the FPA User Guide for Planning Year 2012:
New LiveMeeting recordings now available:
NOTE: THESE ARE LARGE FILES SO ALLOW EXTRA TIME FOR DOWNLOADING.
Take a Break with the FPA Knowledge Puzzle #1
Eyes getting blurry from looking at the computer screen? Brain locked up from working with FWAs? Take a break and test your knowledge with the FPA crossword puzzle! Answers will be in next month’s newsletter.
Personnel Changes in FPA
- Bonnie Wood has accepted the Project Manager position with NWCG here in Boise. We will miss her and wish her the very best!
- Venetia Gempler has accepted the position of Communications Director with the Pacific Northwest Region of the Bureau of Reclamation, also here in Boise. Without her expertise and tenacity, this newsletter will never be the same!
- Joe Frost is on temporary detail into the US Forest Service Business Lead job vacated by Bonnie Wood. He will be with us until November 2009.
- Nikki Saleen and Howard Roose have both returned to the project on short term contracts. Their assistance with implementing the FY2012 planning year analysis is greatly appreciated.
- Kole Berrichoa has extended his time with the project.
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