11/24/16 So What Is An IMT?

What is the Blue Team, Gold Team or PNW1 Team? And what do they do? The extended fire season in the area has prompted the use of a number of organized teams to manage the fires. These teams are called in to assist when needs of the fire exceeds the capacity of local firefighters. They go by various

Southern Blue Type 1 IMT
a few years ago on the Rim Fire

monikers such as a color, geographic region or a person’s name.

Called incident management teams (IMTs), the groups are specially trained to organize people and
equipment to respond to an emergency. In the case of a wildfire, there are numerous firefighters with
various levels of training and experience.Others support the firefighters with food, shelter and medical care, administrative needs, safety, maps and work plans. Additional members of the team provide community members and the media with fire updates, and the entire operation is supervised by the incident commander. Each position is trained and qualified to national standards. This allows incident management teams to travel anywhere in the country and their capabilities and qualifications will be recognized.

IMTs are labeled according to their ability to manage complex incidents. Type 5 IMTs handle short term, relatively straightforward emergencies, while Type 1 teams work on long duration, very complex responses. Incident management teams are commonly used on wildfires but are also used to manage responses to hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and other emergencies.