Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Blog

By Nick Bohnstedt, Field Operations Specialist (Acting), Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center The Summer 2015 issue of Two More Chains explored the concept of "US and THEM" and the barriers this mindset creates to learning in the wildland fire service and beyond. Unfortunately, I’ve got a pile of “Us and Them” examples from my own fire career. You probably do, too. One particular memory stands out in my mind: The 4 of us stood there by the truck, absolutely filthy and tired after 4 shifts on a Type 3 fire in w...

[This article originally appeared as the introduction to the 2021 Spring Issue of Two More Chains.] By Kelly Woods, Director, Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center It has been a decade since the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center (LLC) set out to produce a quarterly publication to highlight thought-provoking topics from and for the field. This issue of ...

A Personal Decision on the Fireline - Are You Willing to Roll the Dice? By Dr. Jennifer Symonds Fire and Aviation Management Medical Officer U.S. Forest Service The decision on whether or not to get your COVID-19 vaccine is a personal one; we must all make our own choice. Clearly, we all have different motivators for where we land on this issue, but my intent here is to arm you with as much information as I can as you consider this important dec...

[This article originally appeared as the “One of Our Own” feature in the 2021 Spring Issue of Two More Chains.] --------------------------------------------- For this ten-year anniversary issue of Two More Chains, we thought it would be beneficial to get the perspective and insights from a wildland firefighter who’s been in the wildland fire service business for abou...

We had opportunities to make better decisions and we didn’t. How do we process and transfer these lessons? By Thomas R. Taylor Seven thousand three hundred and five days ago I learned how to fight fire. It occurred on one shift and it also took the lives of four young people, one who was a friend, two who were assigned to me on my Squad, and one who I sometimes dream about. So, when I tell people that I learned how to f...

By Dr. Jennifer Symonds Fire and Aviation Management Medical Officer U.S. Forest Service It’s 2021. You are vaccinated. Should you still wear a mask on assignments? How about those of you who have not been vaccinated. What are the rules on wearing masks for the unvaccinated? First, Let’s Quickly Recap Last Year COVID-19 was rampant and everyone in fire was instructed to wear a mask unless you were working on the fireline. The mitigations put in p...

[This is Travis Dotson's “Ground Truths” column that appeared in the 2021 Spring Issue of Two More Chains.] By Travis Dotson Have you recently been part of a who’s gonna get that job discussion? It amazes me how much we love this particular prattle. We spend many minutes gaming out the probable outcome of various vacancies and the double secret down-low that ...

By Peter M. Leschak Part 1 A decade ago I was dispatched as a Division Supervisor to a fire complex in Georgia. As I walked into a bustling ICP to check in, a deep male voice boomed over the hubbub: “Hey, y’all! There walks a Div Supt. I can spot ‘em a mile away.” He turned out to be an Ops Chief. I didn’t ask how he knew, but next morning eight Division Supervisors attended the morning briefing. Six of us were tallish white males with gray or graying hair. Coincidence or profile? (Three...

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-rb7n3-1066242 In a conversation with Travis Dotson, Chris Fry shares the powerful story of his entrapment and shelter deployment on the 2006 Mudd Fire. We learn several key details about what happened that day. Chris discusses the lessons he has gained during his healing process and how the post-deployment mental health aspects of his experience are what truly motivates Chris to share his story.   To see more doc...

By Dr. Jennifer Symonds Fire and Aviation Management Medical Officer U.S. Forest Service The onset of the global pandemic in the spring of 2020 necessitated the wildland fire community to rapidly adapt many historic processes in order to manage wildland fire while doing our best to prevent the spread of COVID-19 across our community and to the public at large. One of the most successful innovations introduced was the “Module as One” concept where crews stuck together in their ...