FIRESCOPE

It was developed after a bout of massive wildfires in southern California in 1970 that burned for days and involved multiple jurisdictions.

[1] Major wildland fires are a common annual occurrence in Southern California with its warm climate which typically gives the area four to six months of almost total drought.

In addition, the region is threatened with infrequent, but potentially disastrous, urban emergencies precipitated by flooding, earthquake, and fire.

A major component of the program was the design and development of the Incident Command System, which has been adopted by FEMA for the management of all that agency's emergency activities.

Funding for the five-year RD&A program was provided by a special appropriation from the United States Congress in response to concerns raised by disastrous southern California wildfires in 1970 which burned more than a half million acres, destroying 700 structures and taking 16 lives.