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Knight Division TacticalWhat does a BAER team do after a wildfire?
Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Team Support
Yes.
KDT provides Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team support for wildfires: specialists for contracted ad hoc BAER teams, the hydrologists, soil scientists, geologists, biologists, foresters, botanists, cultural resource, GIS and documentation people who assess a burned area for post-fire threats and plan emergency stabilization.
Typical configuration
- National team (DOI)
- Team Leader, Deputy, Environmental, Documentation, GIS, Hydrologist, Soil Scientist, Geologist, Biologist, Forester, Cultural Resource, Botanist
- Less complex incidents
- Local, regional, interagency and contracted ad hoc BAER teams
- Federal ordering
- National team: IROC Overhead Group Request; ordering unit contacts its Regional/State BAER Coordinator first
- Forest Service
- BAER teams maintained and dispatched at the local units
Putting a fire out doesn't end the danger. With the vegetation gone, soil erodes, runoff can increase and cause flooding, and sediment can move downstream, damaging homes, filling reservoirs and putting community water supplies and endangered species at risk. Every wildland fire agency is responsible for taking immediate post-fire stabilization actions to protect life and property and prevent further damage to natural and cultural resources. BAER teams do the assessment and the plan; the Mob Guide calls them an integral part of wildland fire incidents.
How BAER is staffed depends on the agency and the complexity. The Department of the Interior keeps one National BAER Team, ordered in IROC as an Overhead Group Request, “BAER – Team, Burned Area Emergency Response,” for the most difficult incidents. Less complex incidents use local, regional, interagency and contracted ad hoc BAER teams, with bureau coordinators keeping rosters of BAER personnel. The Forest Service maintains BAER teams at its local units.
KDT supplies specialists for contracted ad hoc BAER teams in the same disciplines the national team uses, as many as the assessment needs, to work under the agency's BAER coordinator and handbook.
Available as
- BAER Hydrologist
- BAER Soil Scientist
- BAER Geologist
- BAER Biologist
- BAER Botanist
- BAER Forester
- BAER Cultural Resource Specialist
- BAER Environmental Specialist
- BAER Geographic Information Specialist (GIS)
- BAER Documentation Specialist
What's included
- Specialists for a contracted ad hoc BAER team
- Work under the agency's BAER coordinator and BAER handbook
Where it's used
- Assessing post-fire flood, mud and debris flow risk
- Protecting watersheds and municipal water supplies
- Burned areas in the wildland-urban interface
- Protecting critical natural and cultural resources
- Planning hazard tree abatement within the burned area
Questions, answered.
What does a BAER team do after a wildfire?
It assesses the burned area for post-fire threats such as flooding, erosion, and mud and debris flows, and plans emergency stabilization to protect life, property, water quality and critical natural and cultural resources.
Who is on a BAER team?
A BAER team draws on a Team Leader and Deputy, environmental and documentation specialists, GIS specialists, a hydrologist, soil scientist, geologist, biologist, forester, cultural resource specialist and botanist, and KDT supplies specialists in each of those disciplines.
Can BAER teams be contracted?
Yes. Under the Mob Guide, less complex incidents use local, regional, interagency and contracted ad hoc BAER teams. KDT supplies specialists for those teams.
How is the National BAER Team ordered?
In IROC as an Overhead Group Request, “BAER – Team, Burned Area Emergency Response,” after the ordering unit contacts its agency's Regional/State BAER Coordinator.
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