Contract proposals for Western Alaska Village-based Type 2 wildland firefighting hand crews will be sought for the 2021 fire season by about March 26, 2021, according to a pre-solicitation notice published last week by the Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Service (BLM AFS).
Multiple contractors may be selected to base crews in communities in the Galena Fire Management Zone covering much of Western Alaska for quick response to fires. Last year, the BLM AFS awarded three contracts for Type 2 crews based in the Upper Yukon and Tanana Fire Management Zones for quick response to fires within BLM AFS protection areas covering the northern half of the state. The contract crew concept intends to meet the need for Type 2 wildland firefighting crews in Alaska and the Lower 48 in response to the changing complexity of managing federal emergency firefighter (EFF) crews, which are hired only as needed.