The Weather Bureau started doing fire forecasts in 1914. In 1916 the first mobile weather unit was deployed to a fire. This mobile unit consisted of a forecaster and a team of horses carrying his weather equipment to the field to support the firefighters in the field.
An IMET recieves specialized training in mesoscale and microscale meteorology. Once in the field, an incident meteorologist will report wind speed, direction, and radar statistics to the National Weather Service and the firefighting team.
The reports are used to help decision makers to decide when and where to evacuate communities. The reports are also used to help protect the lives of firefighters. An IMET may have wind reports that indicate danger zones for a firefighter. If he or she predicts the winds will change direction, firefighters are put on alert so that the position of the firefighting crew is not in a danger zone.
Since 1914, IMETs have worked closely with fire behavior analysts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service, the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management, and other federal, state, and local fire control agencies. There are currently over 70 incident meteorologists working for the National Weather Service. Each person is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Other duties of an Incident Meteorologist may include covering events such as a chemical spill or environmental disaster.