Administratively Determined Firefighters
Tradition and culture are threads that hold families and communities together. Becoming a member of a fire crew is part of a cultural heritage in many communities. The tradition started in 1933 with the creation of the Indian Division of the Citizen Conservation Corps program during the Great Depression. During its nine years, Native Americans and Alaskan Natives helped to build forest protection infrastructure such as roads, trails, telephone lines lookout towers and fire cabins.
Type 2 Crews
The mission of the Type 2 Crew program is to provide organized, skilled crews for wildland fire operations by instilling standards, funding and operational consistency throughout the BIA’s Wildland Fire Management Program.
In support of this mission, the BIA provides local, regional and national crew resources to support the greater wildland fire community. It works with tribes to enhance employment opportunities, and support the long-term traditions of Native American and Alaskan Native firefighters.
The BIA fire management program has a long history of contributing emergency firefighter crews to support the wildland fire community. Native Americans currently provide the largest Type 2 handcrew workforce in America today. When the nation is operating at a maximum capacity, nearly 50 percent of the Type 2 crews on the fireline are Native American emergency firefighters. From the Seminole reservation in Florida, to the Alaska Native Crew Program in Alaska, Native Americans are involved in all aspects of fire management and fire suppression activities.
Camp Crews
Camp crews are 10-person crews formed from emergency firefighters to support the invident. Their duties range from setting up the tents, equipment, and supplies needed to run a fire camp that may host 100 - 5,000 firefighters. These crews stay through the entire incident to help keep camps in good operation, organized and clean. At the end of the incident, camp crews disassemble, clean and leave the area with as little impact to the area as possible.