Staffing Rules

4.4.2 Minimum Staffing Requirements
The USAG-HI ARMY FIRE Directorate will staff a minimum 16-person Taskforce stationed on Oahu.
The daily schedule may vary to provide coverage and staffing at multiple areas, but in general,
there are 3 shifts. This maintains an average of 4 firefighters on duty with overlap to cover
employee leave and holidays.

a. A shift (Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday)
b. B shift (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday)
c. C shift (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday)

Each range has specific firefighter staffing requirements; however, the most common scenario is
having a minimum daily and overnight staffing at SBMR of 4 firefighters total consisting of 2 ICT4s
or ENGBs, and 2 firefighters (FFT2 minimum).

1. Initial attack crew consisting of an ICT4 or ENGB and 1 Firefighter to staff hot and occupied
ranges.
2. Contingency crew consisting of an ICT4 or ENGB and 1 Firefighter as a contingency or able to
respond to any additional fires.

There may be situations on an incident that require fire crews, firefighters, or single resource
personnel to work hours beyond what is considered normal for work/rest standards. This is
acceptable provided resources are given the appropriate hours off to mitigate the excess hours or
brought back into compliance at the earliest opportunity possible. In situations where the excess
hours are not mitigated immediately, supervisors and incident commanders need to assess the fatigue
level of the resource before making a decision on additional downtime.

ARMY FIRE personnel are expected to mitigate worker fatigue and adhere as close as possible to
the NWCG (Work-to-Rest Ratios) for wildland firefighters. Work to Rest ratio is an expression of
the amount of rest that is required for each hour an individual is in work status. Current NWCG
guidelines require one hour of rest for every two hours in work status. If an employee works 16
hours they would need 8 hours in a “Rest Status”. The Fire Chief, Wildland Fire Program Manager,
and Supervisor have the final say in staffing and overtime allocation.

There are some training events and training durations that are out of the control of management.
It is expected that firefighters will remain on shift until 0800 for any training going beyond
Midnight. This is to ensure that there is adequate firefighter coverage overnight and to provide
mitigation for firefighter safety and fatigue by reducing driving time to and from the duty station.

d. Fatigue Example: (Leaving at 0400 hrs. driving home and then returning at 0700 for their regular shift.)
e. Staffing Example: (Units ceased training at 0200 and a resulting fire was not detected until 0400. If firefighters had departed when training ceased there would have been no response available to fight the fire.)
f. Anytime Pyrotechnics, Tracers, Artillery, or Aerial Gunnery is taking place the firefighters must remain on shift for 1.5 hours after the range goes cold. This is to ensure there are no holdover fires resulting from training. It is not uncommon for fires to be detected several hours after training has stopped.

The Interagency Incident Business Handbook states in Chapter 11, Part 12.7-2:
“When filling incident assignments, individuals and their supervisors should consider when the requested individual’s last day off occurred, to ensure the individual’s readiness and capability for the assignment.”

12.7-4 of the Interagency Incident Business Handbook states:
“Supervisors, Fire Chief, and Wildland Fire Program Manager must manage work schedules for initial attack, dispatch, and incident support personnel during extended incident situations.”

Mission requirements of the ARMY make it difficult to always adhere to the “Work to Rest” ratio however, it is also expected that the supervisor will mitigate this issue as soon as possible. It is not uncommon for firefighters to be on shift for 48 to 72 hours during live fire training events. This would be considered “like“ an initial attack period. Once the training subsides the firefighter should be given his or her next scheduled off-duty period (scheduled Day Off) to have rest and rehabilitation.

At the discretion of the WFPM, staffing levels may be increased above minimum requirements due to drought or other circumstances see (Appendix 4 – Step-Up Staffing Plan). The WFPM will track long-term fire danger indices, such as drought indexes, 100 and 1000-hour fuel moisture, KBDI, or live herbaceous fuel moisture to help make these determinations. Shorter term indices, such as daily or hourly indices or weather reports will not drive staffing decisions. The WFPM may work with outside agencies and individuals to establish reasonable indices to use and decision points. Factors other than weather, including training load and types of training scheduled, may be considered in staffing decisions.