AD Casual Hire

A wildland fire actively burning

The Administratively Determined Pay Plan for Emergency Workers (AD casual hire) allows individuals to be hired on an as-needed basis to supplement regular federal employees in responding to emergencies threatening life and property. The Casual Hire process is a way for qualified resources to be mobilized to an incident who would otherwise not be able to participate through their employer. Fire department members, retirees and other qualified individuals are able to use the AD casual hire process.

Casual hires must meet the same position qualifications and fitness standards as full-time firefighters. Casual hires must be sponsored by a wildland fire agency. The sponsoring agency processes the AD’s documentation; maintains training, experience and qualification records; and issues the annual Incident Qualification Card (Red Card). Becoming sponsored does not guarantee employment or assignments.

State fire supervisors have discretion in sponsoring ADs based on needs and administrative workload, and the casual's qualifications, experience and availability. Documentation is time sensitive and is completed months in advance of fire season. Contact the appropriate state fire supervisor to inquire about AD Casual Hire opportunities in your state.

EACC Incident Business Management

The Eastern Area Coordination Center (EACC) serves federal and state wildland fire agencies within the 20 states of the Eastern Area. EACC provides logistical and resource support, predictive services and intelligence for wildfire activity. EACC facilitates movement of resources (people, aircraft and equipment) among the Eastern Area member agencies and supports requests for resources from other geographic areas through the National Interagency Coordination Center in Boise. EACC’s Incident Business Management web page contains information and forms for the AD Casual Hire process.

Coordination Centers

Local coordination centers or dispatch centers are located throughout the Compact’s region to support the work of local wildland fire agencies and the EACC. In addition to providing local incident support, these dispatch centers are responsible for filling resource orders for all state and federal responders within their dispatch area for incidents outside the Eastern Area. These orders may range from hand crews and engines to single individuals to incident management teams. The dispatch center provides logistical support for mobilization and processes documentation at the end of the assignment.

Coordination centers in the Big Rivers Compact include: