1

2

Understand how federal wildland fire agencies and NARA are collaborating to manage & preserve fire recordsBe able to sort wildland fire incident records using filing guidance

3

Be familiar with the forms and processes used to transfer

and retrieve records from Federal Records Centers (FRC’s)Understand how to initiate

research of historic fire records already permanently archived at NARA

4

New Fire Policy requires change

- Interagency collaboration

- Need for information

- fire history

- fire ecology

- Emphasis on safety

5

- Loss of Fire InformationPlanning Decisions

Fire History Research

Operational Decisions

- Discontinuity in Team Transition

- Post-Incident Business Use Difficult

Records Management Chaos

6

2005 Records Schedule

Standard Filing System for

IMT’s

NWCG Website

Fire Records Training

Legacy Records Strategy

7

What information do

these boxes contain?

8

What is a Federal Record?What is a Federal Record?

Created during conduct of Government business

Preserved because of value or constitutes evidence

Varies widely in physical form or characteristic

9

What qualifies as a What qualifies as a

Federal Record?Federal Record?

Official memos signed by home office Receipts for equipment Timesheets Fire Narratives Email documenting business process,

decisions Documentation requiring action by your office

10

Extra copies of documents Equipment Time Reports Firefighter/Crew Time Reports Training Documentation

Extra copies of directives used for reference Word processing files (if official version is printed & filed)

What does not What does not

qualify as a Record?qualify as a Record?

11

Record or Non-Record or Non-Records?Records?

Questions?

12

Records may be destroyed only with written approval of the Archivist

Non-record material may be destroyed at agency discretion

13

How long should I keep my records?

14

Incident and WFU Records:

PERMANENT:

To National Archives after 20 years

TEMPORARY:

Retain for 7 years, then destroy

NON-RECORD

COPIES:

Destroy when no longer needed for administrative purposes

15

IncidentHistory File(Permanent)

Home Unit3 Years

RecordsCenter

17 years

Archives

IncidentOperations

File (7 Years)

Home Unit3 Years

RecordsCenter4 years

Destroy

Constraints - Litigation Holds,Special Research Needs (Home Units, Fire Labs, Others)

Paperwork Flow - Incident Fire Packages

16

17

18

19

20

Final Progression

Map 21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

• It Must be Preserved

• Big Problems – Widely Dispersed– Lack Strategy

• Working with GIS Community, NWCG– Stop-Deletion Order– Inventory GIS Resources– Enterprise Architecture

30

…Doesn’t mean devoting more office space to additional filing cabinets! 31

… looks like this!

Here’s how to prepare your fire records for transfer

32

Review Project Plan

Assemble Supplies

Sort Boxes for a Single Fire

Sort Permanent Records

Sort Temporary Records

Segregate Confidential/Privacy Records

Sort Electronic Records33

Federal fire agencies will need to:

Prepare transfer paperwork

Transfer eligible records to

storage

Box up old records

34

• Separate Permanent from Temporary records

• Use box lists to create a concise inventory for easier reference/retrieval.

• Use FRC boxes only to ship records

• Folder labels must face the front

• When packed, leave at least 3” space in box

35

36

A complete SF 135 = easier records retrieval

RECORDS TRANSMITTAL AND RECEIPT Complete and send original and one copy of this form to the appropriate Federal RecordsCenter for approval prior to shipment of records. See specific instructions on reverse.

PAGE1

OF1 PAGES

(Complete the address for the records center serving your area as shown in 36CFR 1228.150.)

5 FROM (Enter the name and complete mailing address of the office retiring the records.The signed receipt of this form will be sent to this address.)

Federal Records Center

1 TO

1000 Commodore DriveSan Bruno, CA 94066

2 AGENCY

TRANSFERAUTHOR-IZATION

TRANSFERRING AGENCY OFFICIAL (signature and title) DATE

3AGENCY

CONTACT

TRANSFERRING AGENCY LIAISON OFFICIAL (Name, office and telephone No)

4 RECORDSCENTERRECEIPT

RECORDS RECEIVED BY (Signature and Title) DATE

Fold Line 6 RECORDS DATAACCESSION NUMBER COMPLETED BY RECORDS CENTER

RG FY NUMBERVOLUME(cu. ft.)

AGENCYBOX

NUMBERSSERIES DESCRIPTION

(with inclusive dates of records) RES

TR

IC-

TIO

N

DISPOSAL AUTHORITY(schedule and item number)

DISPOSALDATE LOCATION

SH

ELF

PLA

N

CO

NT.

TY

PE

AU

TO.

DIS

P.

(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (k) (l) (m)

NSN 7540-00-634-4093 135-107 Standard Form 135 (Rev. 7-85) FacsPrescribed by NARA

36 CFR 1228.152

Federal agencies use the SF-135 to retire records to FRC storage

37

AddressCity, State, Zip Code

John AdamsJohn Adams, Forest SupervisorXX/XX/XX

John Smith 213-981-1235

Forest Service, USDAAdministrative OfficeAddressCity, State, Zip Code

095 05 0012 5 1-5 Temporary Fire RecordsClosed 2003Old Fire July 2003

R N1-095-05-02, 10/25/04

TIL Freeze

(leave blank)

PLACE THIS

COPY

IN B

OX 1 OF T

HE

SHIP

MENT

BB002584R A N

See detail list attached

T&D Branch LeaderMichael Kretch

YY/YY/YY

38

39

40

Records retired to FRC’s still belong to you!

Use the SF-135 to provide precise info needed for records location

41

Reference requests are submitted using an Optional Form 11

Requests for files and boxes in 24-hrs or less

Mail, fax, deliver, phone or e-mail 42

Records in FRC’s are never destroyed without written permission from the agency (NA Form 13001)

43

Destruction of Records

44

Permanent fire records are transferred to NARA after 20 years

• Records transferred via SF-258

• 12 Regional Archives + 2 in Washington, DC

• Legal custody of records passes from agency to NARA 45

46

•Other site visits may be necessary

•Some fire history may be in the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

•Archives will provide up to 100 copy pages free

•In rare cases, original records may be returned to an agency on temporary loan

47

NARA, Pacific Region-Laguna Niguel 48

49

50