International Association of Wildland Fire

The International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF) is a non-profit, professional association created to facilitate communication and provide leadership for the wildland fire community. The IAWF's membership includes experts in all areas of wildland fire management, research, suppression and policy. Since the IAWF is an independent organization, and not affiliated with any private or public agencies, it offers a common and neutral ground for the discussion of important and often controversial wildland fire issues. The organization has a Board of Directors with 15 seats.

Publications
Two periodicals are official publications of the IAWF:


 * Wildfire Magazine is directed toward wildland firefighters, wildland managers, and chief officers. Wildfire addresses issues at the local, state and federal levels and provides an international perspective.


 * The International Journal of Wildland Fire publishes new and significant papers that advance basic and applied research concerning wildland fire. The Journal aims to publish quality papers on a broad range of wildland fire issues. The Journal has an international perspective, since wildland fire plays a major social, economic, and ecological role around the globe.

Conferences
The IAWF puts on conferences related to wildland fire.


 * Wildland Fire Safety Summits
 * Since 1997, the International Association of Wildland Fire has been putting on its International Wildland Fire Safety Summits. This conference, which has been held in Canada, Australia, Europe and the United States, brings together members of the wildland fire community. Through seminars, presentations and breakout sessions, the conference allows participants to exchange information about fireline safety, risk management, cultural changes, and wildland fire research.


 * Wildland Fire Policy Summits
 * In 2002 and 2006, the IAWF convened meetings of major U.S. wildland fire organizations in Washington, D.C. to discuss ways the organizations can work together more effectively to address the wildland fire problem.The meetings, entitled Wildland Fire Policy Summits,were attended by representatives from a wide variety of organizations, both governmental and non-governmental.


 * Fire Behavior and Fuels Conferences
 * In 2006 and 2007 the IAWF, with the National Wildfire Coordinating Group and other organizations, put on conferences covering the latest innovations in wildland fire management practices—success stories as well as lessons learned, collaboration opportunities, cutting edge advances in wildland fire sciences, current and potential future wildland fire policy.


 * Other Conferences
 * The IAWF has other conferences scheduled---in October, 2007, the "Human Dimensions of Wildland Fire" conference, and in September, 2008, "The '88 Fires: Yellowstone and Beyond".

Scholarships
The IAWF in 2007 awarded two scholarships to students in Canada and Australia. These scholarships, each worth $2,500 USD, were designated for Master of Science or PhD. students studying wildland fire or wildland fire-related topics. Two additional scholarships will be awarded in 2008. The IAWF is exploring ways to expand the scholarship program to also include students enrolled in undergraduate wildland fire programs.

FireNet
FireNet is a moderated email-based discussion and information distribution system, or listserv, specifically serving the wildland fire global community. This is a free service for subscribers who will receive monthly email reminders concerning their user name and password and how to modify their subscription if necessary – including unsubscribing if desired. Subscriber’s email boxes that are either full or otherwise no longer receiving messages eventually are deleted from the distribution list after a prescribed number of bounces.

Posted messages go out to the entire global network. Blatant advertisements for commercial products or messages with degrading language or images are not allowed. All posts are viewed and approved by a moderator before release to help eliminate unwanted intrusion to FireNet subscribers. All other reasonable messages relating to wildland fire, including requests for information, ideas, opinions and announcements are posted. All posts are maintained in a historical archive.

Survey of Wildland Firefighters
On July 10, 2001, The Thirtymile fire, started by an escaped campfire near Winthrop, Washington, claimed the lives of four U.S. Forest Service firefighters. On January 30, 2007 the U.S. Attorney in Spokane, Washington, charged the Incident Commander of the fire, Ellreese Daniels, with four counts of involuntary manslaughter and seven counts of making false statements.

On February 20, 2007, the IAWF released a survey of 3,362 firefighters which showed that 36% of the full-time wildland firefighters surveyed will make themselves less available to be assigned to wildland fires as a direct result of manslaughter charges filed against a firefighter in Washington state.

IAWF Awards
The IAWF WILDLAND FIRE SAFETY AWARD is given to someone in the wildland firefighting community who has made a significant contribution to wildland firefighter safety, either directly on the fireline, or indirectly through management or cultural changes. The purpose of the IAWF EMBER AWARD is to acknowledge sustained achievement in wildland fire science. The name 'Ember' was chosen to reflect the fact that research and science often move slowly, and their benefits or impacts may not be apparent for years or more.

Infamous World Fires
The International Association of Wildland Fire created a partial list, by date of the year, of some of the more famous, or infamous, multiple fatality wildland fires around the world over the last 150 years. It is not intended to be a complete list of every fatality fire. By having these wildland fires on a calendar, the lessons learned from even a 130 year old fire will be less likely to be forgotten. An unforgotten lesson learned may save the life of a current or future firefighter.

Wildland Fire Event Calendar
The IAWF maintains a Wildland Fire Event Calendar that displays planned meetings and conferences related to wildland fire, as well as anniversaries of historic events.

Membership
Information about joining the IAWF can be found on the organization's membership page.