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How Spatial Fire Planning differs from the FMU Planning Process
Spatial Fire Planning (SFP) offers a cleaner and simpler way to manage incidents and decision-making in WFDSS. It provides a visual representation of planning concerns for line officers, fire managers, or resource specialists assisting with incident decision-making. Spatial Fire Planning requires spatial data. The FMU planning process, in contrast, does not require spatial data, even to represent FMUs. Strategic Objectives and Management Requirements from an administrative unit’s planning documents are inherently spatial because they apply to an administrative unit or a part of it. When these spatial layers are loaded into WFDSS, fire managers can view guidance from the administrative unit’s planning documents in a map display without relying on the use of FMUs as a middle man. FMUs are typically developed with regards to fire response, and may not directly tie to an administrative unit’s planning documents.
Shifting to SFP provides greater control for fire managers, and eliminates particular challenges inherent to FMU planning. With FMU planning, an incident’s planning area may have included a small part of a particular FMU, but all of the Strategic Objectives and Management Requirements for that FMU were included in the decision and required consideration as a result. SFP eliminates this problem, as the planning area drawn for an incident only includes the Strategic Objectives and Management Requirements that it overlaps because these are now represented as shapes.
Whichever planning process an administrative unit chooses, Data Managers should not be overly concerned about the terms Strategic Objectives and Management Requirements. What’s most important is that an administrative unit utilizes shapes and text that make sense, and clearly communicate NEPA-approved planning direction for the unit.
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