Serving Professional Firefighters

                                                American Wildland Firefighting Association
                                     Dept. Of Social Science

Please note that this web-page is under construction and nothing is final!!!

     We are a professional organization that is just  for you.  If you are interested in firefighting and have a desire to be  part of a professional firefighting organization then we have just what you are looking for.
 
 
 

Dear Wildland Firefighting Community:

     Since 1994, a current of change has run through the wildland firefighting community.  As a wildland firefighter, or a member of the wildland firefighting community, you have been a witness to this change.  In this climate of change, the movement toward the professionalization of wildland firefighting has begun.  The jobs of lower, middle and upper level firefighters (including supervisory positions) continue their movement toward professionalization.  However, one feature of professionalism cannot be addressed by changes on the job. That is the establishment of a professional association of wildland firefighters.

     All professions, and most semi-professions, have established professional associations.  A professional association for wildland firefighting would support wildland firefighters in the same manner that the American Medical Association (AMA) or the American Bar Association (ABA) support their memberships.  It is in the spirit of professionalism that we invite you to join the American Wildland Firefighting Association (AWFA).  Like the AMA or the ABA, the AWFA would have executive, legislative, and judiciary influence over the profession of wildland firefighting.

     We invite you to join AWFA and help develop the strategic direction, mission, and goals of the American Wildland Firefighting Association (AWFA).  We hope to have a full range of participants including past and present firefighters, spouses of firefighters, people from related fields (urban firefighters, police, military, etc.), experts in the field, and others.  At this point, we envision AWFA as having four directions.

     First, AWFA shall have professional oversight.  AWFA shall propose changes which enhance the professionalization of wildland firefighting, oversee implementation of those changes, and rule on disputes.  Since 1994, there have been many initiatives in the wildland firefighting community including the South Canyon Fire Investigation, the Missoula Human Factors Workshop and the Tri-Data Study, to name a few.  The Tri-Data Study was commissioned by the federal government to survey over 1,000 firefighters in order to uncover the problems confronting the wildland firefighting community.  As a result of this survey, the Tri-Data Study proposes two hundred and twenty-seven implementation strategies for change.   There is no doubt that all these changes are needed.  AWFA believes that many of the implementation strategies concern issues for which the wildland firefighting community already has rules and regulations.  The problem is that the wildland firefighting community is failing to implement many of the rules and policies that are currently in place.  Thus, the wildland firefighting community is in non-compliance with many of its own rules and regulations.   AWFA shall be an independent voice of professional oversight, reviewing and evaluating the implementation of the two hundred and twenty-seven implementation strategies, ensuring compliance.  We hope to assist the government implement these changes.

     Second, AWFA shall be an independent voice for wildland firefighters.  One of the primary responsibilities of any professional association is to offer its membership a voice free of constraints that traditionally operate on people within the professional community.  While professional associations are independent, they are not adversarial.  They work in cooperation with the membership and the parent organization.  It is in this respect that AWFA will be a professional association, advising and guiding changes in wildland firefighting.  AWFA will be neither a lobbying organization nor a labor organization and thus will not lobby or negotiate wages and working conditions.

     Third, AWFA shall promote the recognition of the professional wildland firefighter.  Promoting professionalism in wildland firefighting must be seen as an end in itself.  The recognition of the complexity and depth required in wildland firefighting is long overdue.  To this end, AWFA proposes a system whereby firefighters are certified by AWFA.  The nature of certification must be determined by AWFA members.

     AWFA shall promote camaraderie among the wildland firefighting community.  The bond among wildland firefighters is one of professionalism, friendship and shared responsibility.  AWFA will serve as a voice for firefighters, a soap box for firefighters and a place where wildland firefighters can come together to serve their profession.
We are asking for your help on three fronts.  First, we are asking for your participation in AWFA.  If you have not done so, please return the membership form enclosed with this letter.  Second, we ask your help in distributing information about AWFA.  Feel free to copy and distribute the membership form and the AWFA overview to those whom might be interested.

     Finally and most importantly, we would like your input into the development and operation of AWFA.  There are many important questions that are, as yet, unanswered.  If you would like to be an active member, call, fax, email, or see us on the web, but please, give us your input about the development of AWFA.  We are asking all people concerned with the wildland firefighting community to help formulate the direction, mission, and goals of AWFA.  We know that you share some of the same feelings that we do when it comes to the subjects of better administration and communication among firefighters.
Currently, the AWFA is a fledgling organization with over 50 members.  AWFA is administered by Patrick Withen and Walter Simms.  Withen is a firefighter with district, helitak, hotshot experience, who is currently a smokejumper at McCall, ID, and a professor of sociology at the University of Virginia at Wise.  Simms is a pastor at Norton Church of God, a volunteer wildland firefighter, and interested in issues concerning firefighters in general.
Enclosed you will find a handout highlighting the main objectives of the AWFA, and a membership form.  Please feel free to copy and distribute these among your peers.
 
 

 Our mission

     As many of you know, since 1994 there have been numerous initiatives in the wildland firefighting community to professionalize itself in a way that would  bring about positive changes.  This need is a direct response of  tragedies that have taken place in fires such as the 1994 South Canyon Fire on Storm King Mountain in Colorado, where fourteen wildland firefighters lost their lives.   Out of this tragedy, rose the Tri-Data Study which recommend two hundred and twenty-seven changes concerning safety.  Even though these changes were recommended there has been little if any implementation of such changes.  That is where the AWFA comes in.

     We have four objectives, and they are:  First to serve as an independent voice of professional oversight, reviewing and evaluating the implementation of changes recommended by the Tri-Data Study.  This will be done in a harmonious way rather than one that is considered adversarial.  We very much want to work and cooperate with our parent organization. Second, we would like to serve as an
independent voice for wildland firefighters.  This  gives its membership a voice free of constraints that traditionally operate on people within the professional community. Next, the AWFA wants to promote the recognition of the professional wildland firefighter.  We believe  this is long overdue. Then  we would like to promote greater camaraderie among the firefighting community.
 
 

Our Goal

     Our goal is a simple one, and that is to  enlist you in our organization.  If you would   like    more
                        information about how you can become a member please contact us at:
 

Application for Membership

AWFA

       Dept. Of Social Science Clinch Valley College Wise, VA  24293

 Dr. Patrick Withen's Report

Return to Top of Page