The third IAWF Fire Behavior and Fuels Conference was held in Spokane, Washington, October 25-29, 2010, and commemorated the 100th anniversary of the 1910 fires in the Northern Rocky Mountains. The theme of the conference was appropriately titled ‘Beyond Fire Behavior and Fuels: Learning from the Past to Help Guide Us in the Future’. The 1910 fires were a precedent setting event and have since had far-reaching implications on how the wildland fire community and society as a whole views and deals with wildland fires regionally, nationally and internationally. It seemed only fitting that on the 100th anniversary of this historic event that we reflect on lessons learned from the past as we implement innovative and contemporary best practices with managing wildland fires in the future.