(1) Protective
apparel and equipment for wildland firefighters must be designed to provide
thermal protection for the firefighters against external heat sources with
flame resistant clothing and equipment without creating high heat stress loads
due to the prolonged work periods they experience. Members performing
suppression on a wildland fire must wear a provided protective clothing
ensemble as directed by their employer. The combined protective clothing
ensemble includes:
(a)
Hardhat/helmet;
(b) Upper and lower
torso clothing;
(c) Gloves;
and
(d) Goggles.
The 2005 edition of NFPA 1977, Standard Protective Clothing and
Equipment for Wildland Firefighting, must serve as a guideline for determining
performance characteristics of this clothing.
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Note:
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This requirement does not apply to logging company
employees whose primary job duty is not fire suppression, but are called upon
to fight a wildland fire they discover.
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(2) As a minimum, members must wear provided
leather lace-up boots of sturdy construction which must extend upward a minimum
of eight inches above the top of the sole to the lowest point of the top of the
boot. The sole of the boot must be slip resistant.
(3) Additional personal protective equipment
to be provided and worn must include a fire shelter as directed by the incident
commander. Persons provided fire shelters must be trained in their use and must
receive refresher training at least annually.
(4) Wildland protective clothing must comply
with this standard.
(5) Personnel
operating Type 1 or Type 2 engines assigned to structural protection must carry
structural firefighting ensembles for each firefighter on their assigned
apparatus.
(6) Wildland personnel
protective clothing must not be used for interior structural
firefighting.
(7) Personnel wearing
full structural firefighting clothing while engaged in fighting wildland fires
must not expend more than one hour before rotating to rest and rehabilitation.
Agencies may rotate crews to avoid the one-hour benchmark when containing and
controlling wildland fires.
(8)
Fire departments must establish written procedures for the care, use,
maintenance, and retirement criteria for wildland firefighting protective
equipment in conjunction with the manufacturers' recommendations.
(9) Fire departments must establish written
procedures for the use of protective clothing and protective equipment while
performing wildland firefighting activities.
(10) All wildland fire shelters purchased
after the effective date of this rule must meet or exceed the United States
Forest Services' Missoula Technology and Development Center (MTDC) design
criteria and performance requirements for "new generation fire
shelters."
