TN wildfire dispatch center info

https://gacc.nifc.gov/sacc/resources/coopagr/TN_CFPA_25-FI-11080400-250_executed_2025_09_11.pdf

INTERAGENCY COOPERATION

1. Interagency Dispatch Centers:

Purpose and Overview

The Tennessee Interagency Coordination Center (TN-TNC) is located at
the Cherokee National Forest Supervisor's Office in Cleveland, TN.
TN-TNC will be the primary coordination center for agencies to this
agreement for wildfire, prescribed burning support and all-hazard
incident resource ordering requests. TN-TNC provides incident support
by coordinating the mobilization of resources and has initial attack
dispatching and national data integration responsibilities for the
following units:

1) Cherokee National Forest (TN-CNF)

2) Appalachian-Piedmont Costal Fire Management Zone Units - Great
Smoky Mountains National Park (TN-GSP), Chickamauga and Chattanooga
National Military Park (GA CHP)

3) Mississippi Rivers Fire Management Zone Units - Shiloh National
Military Park (TN SHP), Fort Donelson National Battlefield (TN-FDP),
Stones River National Battlefield (TN-STP), Andrew Johnson National
Historic Site (TN-ASP)

4) FWS Southeast Region Central Fire Management Zone Units - Tennessee
National Wildlife Refuge (TN-TNR), Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge
(TN-RLR), Chickasaw National Wildlife Refuge (TN-CHR), Cross Creeks
National Wildlife Refuge (TN-CRR), Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge
(TN-HTR), Lower Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge (TN-LHR), and Lake
Isom National Wildlife Refuge (TN-LIR )

5) Eastern Regional Office Bureau of Indian Affairs (TN-EAA)

The State of Tennessee, Department of Agriculture-Division of Forestry
(TN-TNS) is responsible for dispatch of its own resources across the
state on its own jurisdictional lands and will be supported as a 4th
Tier Dispatch Center by TN-TNC.

Dispatch Organization i. Staffing: Hours of operations will be 0800 to
1630 hours, Monday thru Friday. As activity increases, TN-TNC will
staff as needed, or upon request, adjust for activities such as
prescribed burning or other emergency incidents. There will be a
dispatcher on call seven days a week. The 24-hour contact number for
the on-call dispatcher is (423) 476-9775. The staff consists of a
Center Manager, two Assistant Center Managers, and two Initial Attack
Dispatchers. During periods of high fire danger or increased activity,
TN-TNC may temporarily increase staffing to meet the needs of the
situation.

Dispatch Services i. Initial and Extended Attack: TN-TNC (Cherokee
Dispatch) will provide initial and extended attack dispatching for all
units listed in this plan, under the Purpose and Overview section.
Currently there is no direct radio contact with NPS and FWS resources,
but TN-TNC shall create incidents as they occur in WildCAD, for all
Federal Units supported by TN-TNC. This includes creating unique fire
codes and ensures all data is correctly integrated with national
systems using Authoritative Data Sources (ADS) to reflect the unit
activity, reporting, and order/mobilize/demobilize applicable
resources as needed. The Center will provide expanded dispatch support
to all Cooperators as is practical; some expanded dispatch services
may be subject to cost share agreements. • Dispatching and resource
orders for events occurring on Big South Fork National River and
Recreation Area (TN-BSP) will be routed through the Kentucky
Interagency Coordination Center (KY-KIC). • Dispatching and resource
orders for events occurring on the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
in Tennessee and North Carolina will be routed through the TN-TNC.

Dispatching and resource orders for events occurring on the
Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park (GA-CHP) in Tennessee
and Georgia will be routed through the TN-TNC. • TN-CNF jurisdictional
lands located in Virginia (South Holston Lake)- Dispatching and
resource orders for events occurring in this response area will be
routed through TN-TNC. • TN-CNF jurisdictional lands located in North
Carolina (Cut Laurel)- Dispatching and resource orders for events
occurring in this response area will be routed through TN TNC. • lands
in NC (Cut Laurel) • GA-CHF lands in TN (Cohutta Wilderness)-
Dispatching and resource orders for events occurring in this response
area will be routed through the Georgia Interagency Coordination
Center (GA-GIC). ii. Mobilization, Demobilization and Support: All
TN-TNC Cooperators shall be mobilized and demobilized either through
TN-TNC or a 4th tier dispatch subordinate to TN-TNC for all incidents
between state and federal cooperators. State-to-State Compact
Agreement resources ordered and filled through the National
Association of State Foresters will not utilize TN-TNC for
mobilization and demobilization.