The 2026 wildfire season is straining the national firefighting resource pool, with Complex Incident Management Teams (CIMTs) deployed across multiple geographic areas as fire managers work to keep pace with escalating activity. According to the National Interagency Coordination Center's June 25 Incident Management Situation Report, four CIMTs are currently committed to incidents across the country.

What Is a Complex Incident Management Team?

Incident Management Teams (IMTs) are pre-organized groups of trained emergency management personnel assigned to large or complex wildfire incidents. They provide unified command, logistics, planning, finance, and operations support, allowing local agencies to hand off management of long-duration, high-complexity fires to a dedicated professional team.

  • Type 1 (National) IMTs: The highest level, deployed to the most complex incidents requiring nationwide resource mobilization
  • Type 2 (Regional) IMTs: Handle large fires requiring multi-agency coordination within a geographic region
  • Complex IMTs: Manage two or more geographically separate fires under unified coordination

The Northern Rockies Team 1 was assigned this week to the Shingle Creek Fire near Riggins, Idaho — one of the region's most significant active incidents.

Personnel Assignments by Region

More than 6,700 firefighters, support personnel, and overhead are currently assigned to wildfire incidents nationwide. This figure includes hand crews, engine crews, hotshot crews, helicopter crews, air tanker pilots and support staff, and incident management overhead. The Pacific Northwest geographic area is contributing personnel to both local incidents and out-of-region assignments as part of the national mutual aid system.

Aircraft Deployments

Air resources are a critical component of the suppression effort across the West. This week's activity has involved deployment of:

  • Large Air Tankers (LATs) for retardant drops on active fire fronts
  • Single Engine Air Tankers (SEATs) for initial attack and precision drops in complex terrain
  • Type 1 helicopters for crew transport, helitack operations, and water bucket work
  • Air Attack platforms for coordination and aerial supervision

Early Season Pressure on Fire Cache Supplies

With 2.9 million acres burned by late June — more than a month ahead of the typical peak fire season — fire cache supplies including hand tools, personal protective equipment, and shelter components are seeing elevated demand. The National Interagency Support Cache system, headquartered at the NIFC in Boise, Idaho, manages logistics for nationwide equipment distribution.

Agency administrators across the Northwest are monitoring resource availability closely. With the climatological peak of fire season still several weeks away, building and maintaining adequate resource availability will be a critical challenge for fire managers in July and August.

For the latest mobilization and resource information, visit nifc.gov or contact your local Forest Service, BLM, or state forestry agency dispatch center.