MAY 20, 2016--The week of May 16, OR&R’s Emergency Response Division representatives toured the National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC) in Boise, Idaho as part of a Northwest Regional Response Team meeting. The mission of the NICC is the complex interagency coordination of wildland firefighting resources in the United States. The Incident Command System used during oil spill responses was initially developed for wildland firefighting. Agencies participating in the NICC include NOAA's National Weather Service, the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs. Although the NICC was founded to coordinate national wildland fire planning and operations throughout the western states, the center is now designated as an "all-risk" co-ordination center and thus provides support in response to other emergencies such as floods, hurricanes and earthquakes for the entire United States. For additional information, please contact Ruth.Yender@noaa.gov. Go back to OR&R Weekly Report.