Wyoming fire chiefs propose regional modular crews, recommend EFSA floor and mitigation pot

Campbell County Fire Warden JR Fox and Sublette County Fire Warden Shad Cooper presented a Wyoming Fire Service recommendation to the Joint Appropriations Committee proposing four regional “modules” of firefighting capacity, additional state fire management support staff and targeted mitigation funding.

The proposal seeks to add modular capacity available statewide in surge conditions rather than prescribing a single fixed resource type. Each regional module would include seasonal wildland firefighters supervised by crew supervisors and module leaders, with regional leadership and administrative support above them. Presenters said the modular approach allows resources to be combined into larger teams or split into smaller units for engines, hand crew or other assignments as conditions require.

Why it matters: Chiefs argued that increasing state‑level surge capacity and retaining mid‑level fire managers reduces the likelihood of multi‑week federal incident management responses and can lower total suppression costs by improving sustained response after the first 24–72 hours of an incident.

Staffing and logistics The Wyoming Fire Service’s initial design described roughly 10 seasonal wildland firefighters per region, supervised by a crew supervisor and module leader, with a regional manager overseeing each region and a small central support team for finance and administration. Committee discussion counted the proposal as roughly 14 new full‑time equivalent (FTE) supervisory/support roles and about 40 seasonal positions in the first pass; presenters emphasized that final staffing and locations should be determined by the state forester and program managers.

Funding recommendations and EFSA changes Chiefs and state fire leaders proposed two budgetary adjustments for committee consideration: a minimum balance (a ‘‘floor’’) for the Emergency Fire Suppression Account (EFSA) to ensure predictable suppression funding, and a larger cap/floor structure to limit volatility. During discussion, speakers suggested a floor around $40,000,000 and a cap or surge authority up to $60,000,000 as a conversation‑starting point; committee staff were asked to prepare scenarios using 10‑year averages and inflation adjustments.

Mitigation pot The chiefs also recommended creating a mitigation account (example figure discussed: up to $10,000,000) to fund pre‑fire risk reduction work — contracts, fuels treatments, private‑sector capacity building and use of inmate crews or contractors for year‑round projects.

Local government perspective Johnson County Commissioner Bill Novotny described the fiscal pressure counties face after large fires: his county received more than $12,000,000 from the state trust mitigation program but also incurred millions in firefighting and economic damage from the large Hausdroff (Elk) fire. He urged continued mitigation funding, Good Neighbor Authority projects to protect municipal watersheds, and recognition of county expenses that do not trigger state suppression assistance.

Quotes "If you look at how those costs were spread out over, the entities that were involved, We wouldn't be here, on sound financial footing if it had not been for the fire suppression account to come in and provide, that," Commissioner Bill Novotny said of the Hausdroff fire response.

Ending Committee members asked staff to prepare cost estimates, staffing scenarios and EFSA balance scenarios for future meetings. Jurisdictional and operational details (engine allocation, exact regional hubs) were left to state forestry to refine before any appropriation decision.