FY2012 Arlington Fire Department Annual Report FY 2012 | Page 33

Wild Land Fires and TIFMAS
This year the Arlington Fire
Department, in a partnership with the
Fort Worth Fire Department, joined the
Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid
System (TIFMAS).
The TIFMAS is a state-funded mutual
aid system that allows cities to
participate in a regional deployment
system when called upon by the state.
The last two years wildfire seasons
have provided an opportunity for the
Arlington Fire Department to
participate in a state mutual aid
system. The Arlington Fire Department has agreed to join forces with the Fort Worth Fire
Department and join the Tarrant County TIFMAS Deployment Group.
The 2011 wildfires have proven that
Texas depends on local fire
departments to provide mutual aid to
the state when battling these largescale and often out of control
wildfires. In the past, Arlington had
not participated in the TIFMAS
program because it had been less
formalized and reimbursement
expenditures had not been
guaranteed. Beginning July 1, 2011,
the state has made substantial
improvements in the organization of
TIFMAS regions, deployment
procedures and the reimbursement of
funds.
Within Tarrant County, there are currently three TIFMAS strike teams that have been developed,
combining a majority of cities in Tarrant County except for Arlington and Fort Worth. By joining
forces, Arlington and Fort Worth Fire Departments comprised the fourth strike team in the region
and were available immediately to assist the state. The Department has always engaged in
various emergency response networks within the region, including the web of mutual and
automatic aid agreements used on a daily basis.

DUTY

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HONOR

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COMPASSION
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EXCELLENCE

Working Together to Make Arlington Better.