NIFC is at Preparedness Level 5

 NIFC is at Preparedness Level 5

what does this mean actually?

seems to me that at Prep Level 5 - they activate coordinating teams at
the GACCs (regional dispatch centers) - they set the prioritys for
assigning resources to fires

the Prep Level 5 guidelines also might set certain special 'draw down'
levels on a regional basis - instead of requiring a minimum of 1 helo
at each Natl Forest in Calif - they might require 6 helos to cover ALL
of the Natl Forests in Calif - same goes for airtankers and lead
planes and hand crews and engines etc

what does this mean in the real world? lets look at California fire
helos - there might be 30 exclusive use fire helos for the feds in
Calif this year - that means that 30 helos are funded to be staffed
each day during the peak of fire season - maybe the draw down level is
6 helos when at Prep Level 5 - if all 30 EU helos are in use, then the
GACC has to come up with 6 more helos from somewhere - so they call
Boise and request 6 helos - Boise can then activate some 'call when
needed helos" - if no CWN are available - they can try calling the
military or national guard or Canada

We can see that Prep Level 5 basically means that there is a certain
level of "skeleton" crews available at all times in case additional
fires break out - but obviously response times will not be as fast as
at Level 1 thru Level ?4?

Prep Levels 1 thru 5 all have their own requirements / goals - you can
dig up the info by reading thru the mobilization plans

We dont know where they come up with the drawdown levels - but they
are probably based on 100 years of field experience and some real
world knowledge - I could write a draw down level requirement of 50
helos for California - but if there is 0% chance of getting 50 helos -
then it probably is useless to write it down