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Incident management team types, explained

Incident management teams come in tiers: Type 3 handles extended local incidents; the Complex Incident Management Team (CIMT) tier above it handles the big ones.

For years the ladder ran Type 3, Type 2, Type 1, with Type 1 reserved for the most complex fires. The federal system has since merged Type 1 and Type 2 into a single tier, the Complex Incident Management Team. You will still hear "Type 1" and "Type 2" on the radio and see them in older documents.

A Type 3 team sits below the CIMT tier: an organized command for fires that have outgrown initial attack but not yet demanded a full complex team. Type 3 teams are often the first real sign a fire is becoming an incident with a future.

The tier on a fire is a demand signal. Higher tier, bigger organization, bigger footprint on the ground.

For contractors

Read the tier as an order profile. Type 3: light, local resource requests, worth watching. CIMT: camp, catering, tenders, hauling, at scale. The move from one tier to the next is the moment demand changes shape.

In the briefing

Tier chips run CIMT, T3 TEAM, and T3 IC. An escalation from one tier to another is reported the day a source shows it.

Related terms

CIMT · Type 3 IC · Demobilization

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