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National Interagency Fire Cache Frequency
List
Rpt Out/ Rpt In
Simplex
168.050 Forest Service Tactical 1
168.200 Forest Service Tactical 2
168.600 Forest Service Tactical 3
166.725 Interior Tactical 1
166.775 Interior Tactical 2
168.250 Interior Tactical 3
168.700 170.975 Command 1
168.100 170.450 Command 2
168.075 170.425 Command 3
166.6125 168.400 Command 4
167.100 169.750 Command 5
168.475 173.8125 Command 6
168.025 Forest Svc Law Enforcement
163.100 Gov't Wide
168.350 Gov't Wide
168.550 ICS Call-Up
168.625 Air Guard
168.650 Standard Flight Following
166.675 Air Tactics 1 (Air to Air)
169.150 Air Tactics 2 (Air to Air)
169.200 Air Tactics 3 (Air to Air)
170.000 Air Tactics 4 (Air to Ground)
167.950 Air Tactics 5 (Air to Air)
169.350 FAA
UHF
414.650 410.775 Logistics 1
415.400 411.400 Logistics 2
415.500 411.500 Logistics 3
417.300 411.750 Logistics 4
417.350 411.925 Logistics 5
417.500 412.150 Logistics 6
417.800 412.200 Logistics 7
Aircraft
122.850 Air to Air, Air to Ground
122.975 Air to Air
123.025 Air to Air, Air to Ground
123.050 Air to Ground
123.075 Air to Air, Air to Ground
122.925 Air to Air, Air to Ground
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Discussion / Explanation
This list includes the entire STANDARD National Incident Radio Support Cache
frequencies. In most incidents (wildland fire or otherwise),
many of the local Land Management agency's frequencies will play a role
in the communications plan.
During extremely large incidents, additional frequencies may be specifically
assigned to that incident for thattime, but will vanish afterwards.
Many times these will result in names suchas command 8, etc.
The cache primarily contains frequency agile radios, which allow the
Communications Unit to add or change frequencies as needed.
In many instances there will be frequencies used that are not approved by the
Communications Unit, or even known to the Incident Command. These are mostly
used as "squad" or "crew" frequencies. These are usually frequencies used by
the unit at home.i.e.: A Hotshot crew from the Coconino National Forest, may
be using the Coconino National Forest simplex frequency amongst themselves,
even though they are on a fire in Utah. This can get interesting, as many
frequencies are re-used by completely different agencies in other areas.
e.g.: BLM units from Idaho use frequencies that are used by the FBI most
everywhere else in the nation!
King portable radios are the primary radios used in the cache. Some older
GE, & Motorola radios are still used and are configured similarly, or are
set up with only one group.
At first blush the order of the frequencies may not make sense. But there
is a reason behind the setup. (King radios do not scan between banks).
The groupings are set up so that most incidents, or divisions of incidents,
use the same group. i.e.: When a Command Channel 1 repeater is sent to the
incident, all of the tactical channels will be from Group 1, and likewise if
a Command 5 repeater is sent, all the channels will be out of group 3.
On very large, or complex incidents, they may use both groups, and divide
the incident in half, with one side or function operating on Group 1, and
the other half or another function on Group 3. In these incidents you may
see two Command Repeaters linked together (one out of each group).
The other MAJOR reason why one group or another may be used, is location.
The Interior frequencies are not cleared nationwide like the USFS
frequencies are, and even though they are mostly clear in the Western
U.S., they are still used in several metro areas by other agencies.
See the comment below about the Interior Command Channels and IRS.
Tactical Frequencies
168.050, 168.200, 168.600 are the three Forest Service tactical frequencies.
These have been cleared nationwide for incident use. You will see
only these used east of the Mississippi River.
166.725, 166.775, 168.250 are the Interior Tactical frequencies. These
are not cleared nationwide, and the duty communications officer at the
National Interagency Fire Center must approve use of these for any given
incident.
Command Frequencies
The Command Frequencies are the least likely to change once they are
used on an incident. The Command Repeaters are fixed frequency
(crystalled & duplexer tuning is not done in the field). So unless
they replace the entire repeater, it will be set for the duration of
the incident.
Once again the Forest Service Command Frequencies are cleared nationwide,
where as the Interior is not. As a matter of fact, you may notice that
Command 5 & 6 use frequencies also used by the Internal Revenue Service.
The other confusing item is the terminology used of C-1 "Monitor", this
is really operating simplex on the repeater output frequency, more
commonly called "talk around".
Most of the command repeaters are now equipped to allow CTCSS tone (PL)
operation, to allow closer spacing of the same command channels on
different incidents. They use the first four standard USFS tones.
[110.9 Hz, 123.0 Hz, 136.5 Hz, 141.3 Hz]
Forest Service Law Enforcement Frequency
168.025 was previously the input to what is now the Air Guard
Frequency. During the 80's all of the 168.625 repeaters were
phased out, and all are now remote base stations operated on
either wireline, or microwave control.
When this occurred, the 168.025 was dedicated as the common frequency
for Forest Service Law Enforcement Personnel. It is also available in
the NIRSC radios, and is available as a ground tactical frequency, if
needed. Many of the Forests that have large law enforcement programs,
(West Coast), also have dedicated Law Enforcement nets with repeaters
operating on other frequencies.
Itinerant Frequencies
163.100 and 168.350 are both federal nationwide common frequencies that
any federal agency can use. They have also been used in repeater
configurations. The land management agencies have started using them
more heavily in the past 5 years, and they have replaced local tactical
(work) channels in many cases (Several forests previously used the NIRSC
tactical channels locally). These two frequencies are available as
ground tactical frequencies, and in many cases you will also hear
communications between crews as they travel on this frequency.
Keep in mind that any other federal agency may also pop up on these.
Many agencies with little communications equipment, rely on these for
their operations. (USGS gage tech., etc.).
ICS Call Up
168.550 Mhz is the ICS Calling Frequency. SmokeJumpers are also
using it as the primary frequency for air-to-ground operations between the
spotter and the jumpers on the ground. If there is "silk in
the air" the jump operation will be operating on this frequency.
Note that other special air operations (aerial ignition, explosives)
may also utilize this frequency.
Air Guard
Taken from the GB Mob Guide: Air Guard is defined as
emergency communications for aviation. The national, interagency
Air Guard frequency is 168.625. The Air Guard channel provides
a continuous communications link to any aircraft and dispatch
unit with Air Guard capabilities.
1. Requirements.
All units dispatching aircraft, including dispatch centers and air tanker
bases, shall have the capability of transmitting and receiving the
interagency Air Guard frequency 168.625. Ground or ground-mobile
transmitters on this frequency should be equipped with a CTCSS Encoder
on 110.9 Hz. (Southern California suffers from interference from Mexico
on this frequency and the CTCSS is used to reduce the impact of that
interference.)
All aircraft assigned to an incident must have a radio configuration that
includes the interagency Air Guard frequency of 168.625. Also all
NIFC NIRSC Cache radios will always have the Air Guard Frequency as the
last channel in every mode. (Usually ch. 14, but may be in ch. 12 in older
12 channel per mode radios [GE's & Motorola's]).
Continuous monitoring of the Air Guard frequency is required by both aircraft
and dispatch. To meet this requirement, all Federal "carded"
aircraft used in incidents have dual receiver FM Radios, so that one receiver
is always tuned to the "Guard" frequency.
2. Limitations. Use of this frequency is limited to:
Emergency air-ground communications
Emergency air-air communications
Initial call, recall, and re-direction of aircraft when no other contact frequency is available
Air Guard is not to be used for tactical communications, local dispatching,
administrative, flight-following or logistical use, unless it
is the only way to communicate in order to identify another frequency for
communications.
Aircraft operations are considered high risk,
and have a very high priority when communications assets are assigned.
Flight Following
VHF-FM 168.650 has been assigned as the National Interagency Flight
Following frequency. This frequency should be used for flight following
and air-to-ground administrative radio traffic.
Air-Dispatch Communications. Communications between dispatch
and aircraft will be on the local unit frequency assigned at the time of
dispatch or as changed and relayed at the time of arrival. The national
flight following frequency may be used when local unit VHF-FM channel
is congested.
Air Tactical Frequencies
There are five (5) national VHF-FM air-to-air and air-to-ground
frequencies which are designated as Air Tactical frequencies for
large incidents.
The five (5) frequencies are:
* 166.675 * 167.950 (added in 1996) * 169.150 * 169.200 * 170.000
1. Restrictions. These frequencies are restricted to use West of
the Mississippi River (95W). 170.000 cannot be used in the Columbia River
Basin in WA. In CA, 166.675, 169.150 and 169.200 will be used as air-to-air
only, and 170.000 is used as Air-to-Ground.
AM - Aircraft Frequencies
| CHART 1 - NATIONAL VHF-AM FREQUENCIES | | Frequency | Air-to-Air | Air-to-Ground | Fixed Wing | Rotor Wing | | 122.925 | YES | YES | YES | YES | | 122.975 | YES | NO | NO | YES | | 122.850 | YES | YES | NO | YES | | 123.025 | YES | YES | NO | YES | | 123.050 | NO | YES | NO | YES | | 123.075 | YES | YES | NO | YES |
Note that 122.925 is the only authorized national air-air frequency
for fixed-wing use. It is a government "all call" frequency,
meaning that any governmental agency may use it. Its use as a standard
air-air frequency is therefore not recommended. It is best used
as a backup for immediate temporary use until another discrete frequency
can be obtained.
Many areas have pre-assigned AM frequencies for initial attack
operations. Additional
"Discrete" frequencies can be requested and assigned just for an incident.
After the incident is complete that frequency may or may not be used again.
(NIFC coordinates it with FAA, and they change regularly, not for any
security reason, but rather as the FAA changes, and adds frequencies
around the nation).
Airtanker Bases - National VHF-AM Frequency.
The national air-ground frequency for all Airtanker Bases is 135.975.
Note that 135.975 may be a change from the historic use of 122.925 at
airtanker bases. Also note that although not
official, 163.100 is commonly used as the ramp frequency for most
air tanker bases.
Logistics (UHF) Frequencies
Lots of confusion occurs when you see logistics frequencies lists. The
list above is accurate. However, it is important to note the "RX
Simplex" frequencies (Repeater Inputs).
The reason for the confusion, is that many times the UHF frequencies are
used to link remote equipment. Much of the time this is done simplex,
and by having the repeater input available on the portables, this doubles
the number of simplex frequencies available for that.
Most of the "kits" for both the aircraft bases, and VHF repeaters are set up
to allow a UHF radio to be plugged in, and allow it to be linked to another
site.
This may be used in a large (geographical) size incident to link two
VHF Command repeaters to cover the large area. This will mean that traffic
on one VHF input (i.e.: Command 6), will show up on another VHF Output
(i.e.: Command 2), and may lead to confusion about repeater pairing.
When in reality the two repeaters are linked together via a UHF
frequency. The Logistics (UHF) Repeater may also be used to extend the
distance between the command repeaters. There have been incidents where
three command repeaters were used to cover a very large area.
The other very common use of linking is to remote an AM aircraft frequency.
The AM Radio will be linked to a UHF radio, and then fed back down the UHF
frequency to the Helibase, or to Air Operations. The UHF Logistics
repeater may be used to remote it quite a distance from the control point.
Of course the UHF equipment is also used for it's stated purpose - Logistics.
Usually the UHF portables will be used as a "camp net" for coordination of
the personnel involved in the Camp operations, and logistics needs. If
there is a large area involved in the incident, and the UHF repeater is
not needed for other functions you may see it set up for coordination of
transportation units, or other logistics needs.
In the past, the lack of cell phones, Satellite phones, and just plain wired
telephones near the command post, required the use of extensive logistics
systems to create a path to the outside world. There is a telephone kit
available for the logistics kits, that remotes 1 telephone line via the
logistics repeaters to the camp. This is being used less and less, as
other communications are becoming more plentiful. The improved coverage
of most local forest, blm, nps, bia, and other systems also allows use of
those systems for ordering resources.
FAA Frequency
169.350 Mhz is an FAA frequency. It does appear in the NIRSC frequency
scheme, but can only be used after approval of the NIRSC Communications
duty officer.
Forest Service Region 5 (California)
Forest Service Region 5 (R5), has dedicated several frequencies for fire/
incident purposes. These are only used in California, and do not normally
appear in the NIFC NIRSC frequency list. However, R5 maintains a large
radio cache of their own, where these are used. There have been several
articles published that listed the R5 frequencies as National Cache
frequencies, which they are not. (see the note below about additional
channel assignments).
The R5 caches have all the standard NIRSC frequencies (listed at the top),
and also include the following:
VHF Radios have these additional frequencies:
173.9125 Tactical 4
173.9625 Tactical 5
173.9875 Tactical 6
Logistics (UHF) Radios have these additional frequencies:
418.050 A-13 Common User Simplex 1
418.575 A-14 Common User Simplex 1
418.075 B-13 Common User Simplex 1
408.400 B-14 Common User Simplex 1
Incident Specific Frequencies
During extreme fire seasons, or for other special longer term incidents,
the NIFC NIRSC has been known to acquire additional frequencies for that
specific incident. This occurs regularly for AM Aircraft frequencies, but
it also can be done to acquire additional Command and Tactical frequencies
if needed. This may also be done if on area of the country has a large
number of incidents, and the standard frequencies become congested, and
cannot support all of the needs. In the few cases where this happens, you
might sometimes see a frequency list that had a command 7, etc, on it, and
these will probably not be re-used elsewhere. In order to setup incident
specific frequencies, the NIRSC Communications Staff, will actually go through
the coordination process to get the frequencies assigned for that area.
There may also be cases where you will see a local special channel added
to the NIRSC frequency list. This will happen in locations where they
already have the frequencies authorized, and usually already have repeaters
in place (Yellowstone is one example), and will use those during an
incident in their area.
One other place that frequencies will appear from, is the region cache.
Each forest service region usually has a pair of frequencies assigned, and
you may see these in use at an incident. Some regions use them as portable
or tactical frequencies, others have region wide radio nets on them for
logistics ordering, or other support functions. It varies widely across
the nation.
Kits
The National Incident Radio Support Cache (NIRSC) packages everything as
a "kit". I.e.: a command repeater kit, includes the repeater, antenna,
batteries, mast, everything that will be needed to install and operate
the repeater.
Unless an incident starts as a large one (and some do), the first radio
order will usually be for a Starter System. This kit will
include: 3 Command/Tactical Radio Kits, 1 Command Repeater, 1 Ground
Aircraft Radio/Link Kit, 3 Remote Kits, 1 Logistics Repeater, and 1
Logistics Radio Kit.
Command/Tactical Radio Kits. Contains: 16 VHF Portable Radios
(48 for 3 kits), Extra Antennas, Mobile Antennas, 6 speaker microphones,
and other supplies.
Command Repeater. Contains all the equipment to set up and operate
one command channel.
Ground Aircraft Radio/Link Kit. Contains: Mast, and Base Antenna
for VHF-AM (108-138 Mhz), Batteries, UHF antenna and cable for using a
logistics radio for linking, and 5 ICOM aircraft portable Radios. One is
used in the base equipment, and the other 4 are used by air personnel at
the helibase, etc., and as a backup.
Remote Kits. Are used to remotely control a radio over wire.
These include the adapters to plug in any VHF or UHF portable radio from
the cache, and locate it up to a mile a way. Each kit contains a 1/2-mile
spool of wire (2 conductor, stainless steel), to connect the radio to
the remote control. This allow the separation of the radios to help
prevent interference, and allows it to be placed at a better location
than the camp or base may be located. The kit also contains the antenna
mast, and antennas needed.
Logistics Repeater. Is a UHF repeater with all the associated parts,
to install, and operate it.
Logistics Radio Kit. Contains 16 UHF portable radios, and assorted
accessories.
Other Radio Resources
The NIRSC contains lots of other equipment. They have L Band Satellite
phones (IMARSAT), Key Telephone Systems, Microwave systems, Military Low
Band Radios (for when military aircraft are involved), Public Address
systems, and several other specialized kits.
There is also one other kit of interest, this is a low-band (Narrow)
portable radio that can be used for linking of AM Aircraft frequencies
for flight following of non incident aircraft (press, VIP's, etc).
It is used very little, but may show up at a large incident (or one that
draws a lot of attention). There are 8 low band frequencies available.
36.65, 36.75, 36.95, 38.35, 38.55, 38.75, 38.85, and 41.35.
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