FIRE MANAGEMENT POLICY MEMO NO. 18

Effective Monday, July 14, 1997,
the following procedures are in effect for:

Guidelines for Physical Fitness Testing for Firefighters

1.         Policy Statement: 

A.        The Arizona State Land Department, Fire Management Division has adopted the National Interagency Incident Management System (NIIMS) as defined by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) as the system under which wildfire and other emergency incidents are managed. The Wildland Fire Qualification Subsystem (WFQS) is the component of NIIMS that defines job standards and qualifications. In order to quantitatively define individual physical fitness which is one part of the qualifications system several different methods of testing have been developed over time.

B.        Effective January 1, 1998 the Fire Management Division will accept test results from any of the following:

1. The pack/field/walk test as described in various articles written by Dr. Brian J. Sharkey.
2. The one and one half mile run as described in Fit to Work?, NFES Publication #1595.
3. A treadmill test issued by a doctor and accompanied with a VO2 score.