The Northern Arizona Type 2 Incident Management Team was formed in 1998. An incident management team may be called to a wide range of emergencies such as hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, hazardous materials spillage, civil disturbances such as riots, and other human-caused and natural incidents.

The primary purpose for the Northern Arizona Team is for wildfire response. Response to an incident, such as a wildland fire, is initially handled by local fire agencies or departments. If the complexity of the fire incident begins to overwhelm local emergency agencies or departments, extends into multiple operational periods, or requires additional resources to address the emergency, then advanced levels of incident management skills, knowledge, training, and experience become necessary.

An incident management team is dispatched or "mobilized" during complex incidents to provide a command and control infrastructure in order to manage the operational, logistical, informational, planning, fiscal, community, political, and safety issues associated with complex incidents.

The Northern Arizona Team is generally called to manage wildfires that may require up to 500 fire personnel. The Northern Arizona Team is a federally certified team comprised of fire and emergency professionals from various federal, state, and local land management and emergency agencies. The Northern Arizona Team is one of four Type 2 teams in the Southwest Area and is managed on a rotational basis through nine geographical regions throughout the United States.