Legislative panel hears stateresponse review after historic wildfires; cost-sharing, mutual aid examined

State and federal emergency managers told the Emergency Response Services Committee on Oct. 26 that North Dakota—s multiagency response to recent wildfire outbreaks relied on preplanned roles, readiness calls and coordination between the Department of Emergency Services (DES), the North Dakota Forest Service (NDFS), the National Guard and local fire departments.

Darren Hansen, director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management at DES, said the state maintains a formal state emergency operations plan with a fire incident annex that identifies lead agencies and how mutual aid and federal support will be used. "The fire annex describes how we will organize a response to both wildland fire and urban fires," Hansen said.

The committee heard that the state—s Watch Center and daily readiness calls were central to managing the October wildfire incident that produced multiple fast-moving fires across several counties. DES officials said they pre-positioned National Guard helicopters and used a combination of state, federal and private aviation and ground assets when conditions allowed safe flight operations.

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