Wildland and Structural Firefighter Equivalency Crosswalk: Where is it today?
January 15, 2007 ne of the most anticipated and important operational initiatives in the recent past for local fire departments with wildland-urban interface responsibility is the firefighter crosswalk equivalency program now being developed. In August 2001, the National Association of State Foresters convened a group of local, state and national firefighting organizations, including the IAFC. The group’s tasks were to assess the training, equipment, safety awareness and services provided by rural, volunteer and other firefighters who work in the wildland-urban interface and to report their findings to Congress. The report was completed in June 2003 and titled The Changing Role and Needs of Local, Rural, and Volunteer Fire Departments in the Wildland-Urban Interface. One recommendation from the report was to develop performance-based wildland-fire training delivery packages that target volunteer and rural fire departments. Subsequently, the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG),
