(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department must use suppression funding to assist local fire departments with aerial fire response capabilities during the critical initial attack phase of fighting a wildland fire.

(2) The department must use suppression funding to assist local fire departments with initial attacks that meet the following requirements:

(a) The local fire department must have entered into a response agreement with the department;

(b) The local fire department must provide documentation to the department that personnel have received training regarding the use of aviation assets in initial attack and criteria to use for determining when to call for aviation assets;

(c) The aviation assets used in initial attack must come from a list of private contractors approved by the department on exclusive use or call-when-needed agreements based upon the annual review of aviation response and aviation needs required in RCW 76.04.192(2);

(d) Local fire departments must make direct requests to the appropriate coordination center, including the central Washington interagency coordination center, the northeast Washington interagency coordination center, the Blue Mountain interagency coordination center, or the department of natural resources coordination center, in order to ensure the safe coordination of all aircraft; and

(e) Upon receiving a request for aviation assets under this section, the coordinating agency must notify the director of fire protection or that individual's designee to ensure operational knowledge of a potential future request to invoke the fire service mobilization plan under RCW 43.43.960.

Intent—Expiration date—2023 c 457: See notes following RCW 76.04.192.