Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Blog

[This is Travis Dotson's “Ground Truths” column that appeared in the 2022 Winter Issue of Two More Chains.] By Travis Dotson I have very little to say—although I never let that stop me from running my mouth. I am not the only one who suffers from this affliction. But there are folks who DO have important stuff to say—hard-won insight from real-life events. Let’s conside...

The Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center (LLC) staff reads lots of incident reports. In the 2022 Winter Issue of Two More Chains the LLC staff members shared their favorite incident reports from 2021. Here's what they recommended for you—and why: I Suggest: Koffman Road Fire LLR Why I Liked It:

[This article originally appeared as the “Two of Our Own” feature in the 2022 Winter Issue of Two More Chains.] By Travis Dotson Todd Pulvermacher and Andrew Gollnick are two “worker bees” who have taken the initiative to weave real-deal lessons into a class they teach. It’s a pretty simple process, but it makes a big difference for their students. We like hea...

The newly updated 2022 “A Preparedness Guide for Wildland Firefighters and Their Families” is now available. This thorough and super helpful 21-page guide, produced by the NWCG Mental Health Subcommittee, is intended to support everyone from entry-level firefighters starting this season for the first time, to those folks who are about to retire. The publication provides honest information, resources, and conversation-starters to give wildland firefighters—and their families and support networks—helpful tools for being better prepared for th...

We always want to make sure we are "on the same page." Having an up-to-date IRPG helps. The 2022 version of this super handy pocket guide is now available. There are some key changes. There are some great updates in this version, including a page on Firefighter Stress Management, a page dedicated to Night Operations, and a Firing Checklist. You can print a version of the new IRPG and find information on how to order them here:

By Travis Dotson The annual Incident Review Summary is now available. It's all of the incident reports from the past year summarized in ten pages. This document covers several themes based on what happened in 2021. Here is an example of what the pages look like. This is a great tool for generating conversation during your annual Wildland Fire Refresher. Download the annual Incident Review Summary here: Annual Incide...

A wildland firefighter reflects on two years of growth and evolution since a mental health crisis By Erik Apland It's been two full years since I wrote my blog post “Breaking Down the Walls that Isolate Us” in which I revealed my personal journey surrounding mental health and addiction in hopes that my story might help us all better understand each other and build a...

By Peter M. Leschak A mindless bad example—that’s what I provided during the field day portion of an S-130 Basic Firefighter course several years ago. We were on agency-managed ground with the opportunity to lay down live fire in short grass. The intent was to showcase real fire behavior—running, backing, flanking, etc.—then direct the students, most of whom had zero experience, in extinguishing, mopping, and cold-trailing the blaze. Good stuff. Problem was it turned out to be a marginal afternoon—high RH,...

By Travis Dotson What are some of the lessons from the 2021 fire year? Here are a few insights from the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center's 2021 Infographic. These lessons come directly from 2021 incidents. Bad things happen. It is prudent to put a layer of protection on to minimize impacts when the bad thing happens. Nobody is expecting the bad thing when it actually happens and it often happens very quickly. This me...

Many of you may already know Thom Taylor. For those that don’t, Thom is a regular contributor to the Lessons Learned Center blog. He has a storied career in wildland fire and is a Fire Operations Specialist on the Payette National Forest. He’s also an Operations Branch Director. But behind all the quals, boots, greens, and yellows, at his core Thom is a musician. An artist. In this blog post, Thom explores the similarities between music and fire, how band members come together in a moment in time and either create contemporary music or re-make an old classic....