Incident Action Plan (IAP) Map

Product Description

The Incident Action Plan (IAP) map is the primary map used by field operations personnel and it is an essential tool for firefighter safety. The IAP map effectively communicates incident management objectives in addition to geographic and incident features.

The IAP map is used by operations staff to display field assignments, crew instructions, and division safety concerns at operational briefings and breakout meetings. IAP maps are typically at 1:24,000 scale and either printed small enough to be carried into the field or produced digitally for use on a mobile device. An incident may fit on one page or tiled across multiple pages (Multi-Page IAP Map).

The IAP map is a required part of the Incident Action Plan.

Target Audience

Incident field personnel

Guidelines

Apply for digital or hard copy maps.

• Standard Incident Command System (ICS) symbology.
• Letter (8½” x 11”) or tabloid (11”x 17”) size.
• Mapped area should cover the incident area and predicted spread.
• Generally 1:24,000 scale; 1:63,360 scale in Alaska (Situation Unit Leader (SITL) may direct other scales). 
• Black-and-white to enable clear duplication if required.

Standard Elements

All map products produced should include the STANDL-SGD cartographic elements and an index page for multi-page products.

Data

• ICS line and point features (e.g., Drop Points, aviation features, Camps, Incident Command Post, Spot Fires, and Safety Zones).
• Division and Branch breaks and labels.
• Topography (raster topographic products with the green turned off usually produce the best topographic line quality).
• Other SITL-requested data.

Examples

These are examples from actual incidents and may include non-standard elements.

Also note that examples use the standard symbols at the time of their creation and may not reflect the current GeoOps symbology.

Map elements, incident features, and composition remain consistent across these visual changes.

1. 2022 Dodge Springs Fire
2. 2010 Wrangler Fire 
3. 2015 Sucker Creek Fire 
4. 2016 Buffalo Fire (a non-suppression fire) 
5. 2017 Sunrise Fire (Multi-Page IAP)
6. 2016 Beaver Creek Fire (Multi-Page IAP) 
7. 2017 Burro Fire (Multi-Page IAP)