About Us
Conceived in the late 1980s, the separate function of fire management evolved from simple firefighting and marsh burning into its own division in the early 1990s. Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex (NWRC), headquartered in Tulelake, CA, is also the year-round headquarters of the Klamath Basin Fire Management Zone (FMZ). Our zone provides fire management services for Bear Valley, Clear Lake, Humboldt Bay, Klamath Marsh, Lower Klamath, Modoc, Tule Lake and Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuges, located in northern California and southern Oregon.
Over the years, Klamath Basin NWRC Fire Management has grown into the largest prescribed burning program in the state of California, averaging more than 18,700 treated acres per year. It is also one of the largest prescribed burning programs in the western United States, due in large part to its unique Leaseland Burning Program, and is the second largest fire management program in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Our location offers excellent interagency working opportunities with numerous federal, state and local cooperators in fire management. In California, we work closely with the Modoc National Forest and Lava Beds National Monument, and sometimes join forces with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and Tulelake Volunteer Fire Department during wildfire suppression.
The list of cooperators in Oregon is even larger. Our interactions and participation joins our efforts with those of the Winema National Forest, Klamath Falls Area Bureau of Land Management, Crater Lake National Park, Oregon Department of Forestry, Keno Rural Fire Protection District, Klamath Falls Fire Department and Chiloquin-Agency Lakes Rural Fire Protection District.
Fire management program staffing consists of a fire management officer, assistant fire management officer, prescribed fire specialist, fire clerk, prescribed fire/fuels technicians, engine crew supervisor, captains, engineers, operators and temporary/seasonal firefighters. The following provides a very brief overview of some of the position duties:
Fire Management Officer
Overall program management.
Policy and guidance.
Public affairs.
Training oversight.
Duty Officer.
Hiring and supervision.
Fire suppression and prescribed fire activities participant.
Assistant Fire Management Officer
Training and qualifications coordination.
Aviation program/operations management.
Safety Officer.
Duty officer.
Hiring and supervision.
Fire suppression and prescribed fire activities participant.
Prescribed Fire Specialist
Prescribed fire planning and implementation.
Hazardous fuels reduction planning and implementation.
Reporting.
Duty Officer.
Hiring and supervision.
Fire suppression and prescribed fire activities participant.
Fire Clerk
Time reporting and payroll.
Training and qualifications system data entry.
Budget analysis.
Office reception.
Prescribed Fire/Fuels Technicians
Fuels data inventorying.
Prescribed burn planning.
Geographic Information Systems management/coordination.
Public affairs/community outreach and education.
Systems data entry.
Fire Program Analysis.
Fire suppression and prescribed fire activities participant.
Engine Crew Supervisor
Hiring and supervision.
Project planning and implementation.
Fleet management.
Duty Officer.
Fire suppression and prescribed fire activities participant.
Engine Captain
Wildfire suppression module leader.
Prescribed fire activities participant.
Fleet maintenance.
Engine module training and proficiency.
Engineer
Wildfire suppression assistant module leader.
Prescribed fire activities participant.
Fire apparatus management.
Training assistant.
Operators
Wildfire suppression apparatus operations.
Prescribed fire activities participant.
Seasonal/Temporary Firefighters
Supervised wildfire suppression and prescribed fire activity participant.
Project work completion.