Fort Bidwell Fire Operation Areas

The Fort Bidwell Volunteer Fire Department normally operates within the Fort Bidwell Fire Protection District. The Fire Department responds to home, ranch, and wildland fires, as well as vehicle and health emergencies, and is dispatched by calls to 911.

The District contains Federal, State, and Local responsibility areas for wildland fires. The Department responds to all fires in our district but will turn over incident command to higher authority on their arrival (BLM,  BIA, USFS, Cal Fire).

Our Local Responsibility Area is generally East and South of County Road 1 (Main Street) and around the lake (white areas on the map). We are primary there, but can ask for mutual aid from other fire districts, BLM, and Cal Fire. For extended fires, such as the Lake Annie fire, we may also provide some water under contract.

Fort Bidwell Fire Responsibility Areas Click image for larger maps. White Local Responsibility Area Green Slashed Federal Responsibility Area Red State RA - Very High Hazard Orange State RA - High Hazard Yellow State RA - Moderate Hazard

Fort Bidwell Fire Protection District Click image for larger map. California Board of Equalization Map Warner Mountain ridge to the West, Oregon border, Nevada border, a line below the upper two sections of T45R16E and T45R17E.

State Responsibility Areas are the responsibility of Cal Fire (executed under contract by BLM in Surprise Valley) for wildland fire protection only (yellow, orange, and red on the map). Cal Fire (as BLM) does not fight structure fires in Surprise Valley, but Cal Fire in Alturas has structure fire training, and will respond from Alturas (1 hour) if called. Cal Fire (as BLM) will give basic medical assistance until other medical resources arrive.

Federal Responsibility Areas are split between the BLM and USFS both based in Cedarville (green slashed on map). BLM is responsible for wild land fires on Federal land, except for the National Forest or Reservation areas. Neither BLM or USFS will fight a residential fire except to the extent it threatens wildland. Both will give basic medical assistance until other medical resources arrive. The Reservation is the responsibility of the BIA but has no resources and is apparently covered by BLM. The Reservation pays no taxes to the District. However the Fire Department will respond as said above.

• BLM Lassen-Modoc-Plumas 2014 Strategic Fire Plan (pdf 2 MBytes)
• Proposed Realignment of Fire and Emergency Response Activities 2011 (pdf )
• Board of Forestry - Chapter 0340 - Fire Protection Policies 2003 (pdf)

Page modified: 24 Feb 2018 16:58:49 -0800

This site is maintained by the Fort Bidwell Fire Commissioner/Secretary, but has neither been reviewed nor approved officially.     For comments or information contact FBVFD@gsmall.us.
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