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Comparing several well-known wildfires, Weick argues for a causal connection between firefighter tool retention and fatalities. To Weick, tools are an extension of firefighter identity and to drop one’s tools is to let go of one’s identity. He…
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Wildland fire operations are conducted in a high-risk environment. Individuals involved in all aspects of fire management are subject to the dangers of burnovers, vehicle and aircraft accidents, and medical emergencies. Between 1990 and 1998, 133…
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This Phase III report of the interagency "Wildland Firefighter Safety Awareness" project presents over 200 recommendations for improving the organizational culture, leadership, human factors and external influences that affect wildland firefighter…
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There are many characterizations of wildland firefighters and their work culture. These characterizations vary across all levels of organizations, jurisdictions and types of jobs. As closely held as these perceptions are, as confident as each of us…
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This report summarizes the results of Phase II of a four phase study to examine the Federal wildland firefighting community and to improve firefighter safety. The first phase described the strengths and problem areas of the current organizational…
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One of the critical mistakes made by wildland firefighters during both the Mann Gulch and South Canyon fires was their unwillingness to drop heavy tools and packs as they attempted to outrun the flames. Weick points to 10 possible reasons for their…
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Atwood notes that while managers must adopt a passion for safety, the true test is on the fire line. Supervisors are in charge of making decisions that ultimately put safety first, or not. Atwood argues that improvement will not come from the top…
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Programs aimed at enhancing safety by addressing the proximate cause of an accident only consider a small portion of the safety picture. Merely addressing the proximate cause fails to consider that the system either directly or indirectly trains,…
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This document is a letter to Jack Ward Thomas, Chief of Forest Service, from Joseph A. Dear, Assistant Secretary OSHA, outlining the findings of the Occupational Safety and Health Adminstration's investigation of the South Canyon fire, February 8,…
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I was disappointed with the OSHA report of the South Canyon Fire. My feelings are not the result of any need to defend my agency (USDA Forest Service). In another time and place, I thought the OSHA report following the death of Bill Martin (a…
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Stress, fear, and panic predictably lead to the collapse of clear thinking and organizational structure. While these psychological and social processes have been well studied by the military and the aircraft industry (Cockpit Resource Management) (…
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This article is a detailed reconstruction of firefighter behavior and personal protective equipment use on the South Canyon Fire. Putnam reveals two failures that contributed to the deaths of 14 firefighters. First, many firefighters held onto…
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It has become increasingly clear that wildland firefighters are experiencing collapses in decisionmaking and organizational structure when conditions on the fireline become life-threatening. Since 1990 wildland fire agencies have lost 23 people who…
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The death of 13 men in the Mann Gulch fire disaster, made famous in Norman Maclean's Young Men and Fire, is analyzed as the interactive disintegration of role structure and sensemaking in a minimal organization. Four potential sources of resilience…
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The Mann Gulch fire, which over ran 16 firefighters in 1949, is analyzed to show its probable movement with respect to the crew. The firefighters were smokejumpers who had parachuted near the fire on August 5, 1949. While they were moving to a…
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During the afternoon of August 29, 1985, the Butte Fire made a high-intensity crown fire run, covering a distance of 2.22 km in one hour and 40 minutes, and forcing 73 fire fighters to deploy their protective fire shelters. This paper presents a…
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In a presentation to the USDA Forest Service's national Fire and Aviation Staff, Gleason provides a clear overview of his proposed Lookouts, Communication, Escape Routes, Safety Zones (LCES) method of training firefighters for greater safety. After…
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On August 21, 1937, the tragic Blackwater Fire caused the death of 15 firefighters, burning approximately 1,700 acres of National Forest System lands on the Shoshone National Forest, near Cody, Wyoming. An electrical storm occurred in the general…
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The LLC is a cutting-edge knowledge resource center for the entire wildland fire community. The LLC provides innovative strategies, processes and tools to assist the entire wildland fire community in performing more safely and effectively—using both…
Firefighter and public safety is the highest priority of fire management activities. The National Park Service incorporates risk management principles into all aspects of our wildland fire program, from planning documents to operational tactics.