Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Blog

An engine foreman for the U.S. Forest Service had a seizure out of the blue last year that led to the discovery of a brain tumor. With recent developments at the Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP), he was able to get his medical expenses covered.This coverage comes from the 2022 adoption of a list of “presumptive illnesses,” medical conditions which now OWCP presumes come from employment as a firefighter.

This article originally appeared in the 2023 Winter Issue of Two More Chains.AEDsCarry Them, Check Them, Mark Where They Are Located

This is Travis Dotson’s “Ground Truths” column from the 2023 Winter Issue of Two More Chains.

This article originally appeared in the 2023 Winter Issue of Two More Chains.Looking at 2022’s reported instances of chainsaw injuries, one number jumps out: More than twice as many cuts to swampers as sawyers.

This article originally appeared in the 2023 Winter Issue of Two More Chains.In 2022, the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center (LLC) recorded 12 different events that meet the NWCG definition of “Entrapment”. Of note this year were multiple instances of vehicles becoming stuck or disabled during initial attack, resulting in firefighters needing to retreat on foot as flame fronts overtook their vehicles.

This is the “One of Our Own” that was featured in the 2023 Winter Issue of Two More Chains.Check out all the learning and leadership insights and noteworthy career stories in this conversation with Kelly Woods, Director of the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center, and Ashleigh D’Antonio, today’s Fuels Assistant Fire Management Officer for the Santa Catalina Ranger District on the Coronado National Forest.

Many of you have noticed that our website, wildfirelessons.net, is no longer accessible. Our new site is under construction. We hope to have it operational soon.Although we don’t have a specific date when site visitors should expect to see it, the new site will have similar features with improved functionality and ease of navigation.The LLC staff remains available to help the field process learning documents. Despite our website being down, the LLC staff will share documents and lessons via our email list, blog, social media, and through our podcast.

The 2022 year-end infographic is out. This product is simply some totals and a handful of lessons from fire year 2022. The intent here is to highlight some topics that may influence training and dialogue. You could even take some action...maybe look at where your UTV fire extinguisher is stored or get an AED for your vehicle. Take a look: Download the full 2022 infographic here:

By Erik Apland, Field Operations Specialist Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center Now well into the second month of 2023, I have been thinking back on my New Year’s resolutions. Perhaps, like me, you reached back to last year’s resolutions and carried them forward with renewed motivation and attention. My examples are real and meaningful: read before going to sleep, decrease screen time, commit to more meditation and more yoga for my perpetually achy firefighter back. A month in, I can report some success and some... room for improvement.