2022 Week of Remembrance Day 6

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7

South Canyon Fire (Colorado) – July 6, 1994

Today’s topic is dedicated to all fallen firefighters.

Perspective by the Redding Interagency Hotshot Crew (IHC)

A canyon shows heavy, billowing smoke from wildland fire and a rugged rock outcropping with pine trees in the foreground.

Lightning ignites a fire in piñon/juniper on a ridge at the base of Storm King Mountain near Glenwood Springs, CO. The area has experienced drought conditions, low humidity, and record-high temperatures. Over the next two days, the South Canyon Fire increases in size and initial attack resources are assigned. Four days later, on July 6, a dry cold front moves into the fire area. The crews on Storm King Mountain do not receive the Red Flag Warning. At 1600, the fire blows up and makes several rapid runs. Forty mile per hour winds push the blowup to the ridge in two minutes. Fourteen firefighters perish as they try to outrun the flames.

Since 2003, the Redding IHC’s mission and emphasis has evolved to a small unit leadership development approach with staff rides becoming an integral part of the crew’s curriculum. The crew culminates an intense, six-week training program by participating in the South Canyon staff ride. “As we climbed, periodically stopping to discuss events as they had unfolded back in 1994, we recognized logistical dilemmas. We proposed alternative tactics that could have been used. And with each discussion, we began to see and understand how this tragic chain-of-events unfolded.” – Redding IHC crew member

The South Canyon staff ride started as a smaller event, with just the crew and a few other participants. Since then, other IHCs and 20 to 25 additional participants from different agencies and backgrounds attend the staff ride annually.

Over the years many of the survivors of the incident have been invited to attend the staff ride and share their on-the-ground experiences from the events that transpired that day. Their presence has made a memorable impact on the participants. They all add insight that only someone who was on scene at the time could provide and have been extremely open to questions asked by the participants. Other subject matter experts have contributed to the staff rides over the years and brought insights on dealing with a tragedy at the home unit, the fire behavior, and more.

“Our staff ride’s secondary benefits include the emotional impact, reinforcement of pride in the profession, and strengthening of crew cohesion. Sharing the lessons of an emotional experience like South Canyon bonds a crew together. It reminds and reinforces that we do a dangerous job and without each member of the crew working together, it can lead to disastrous results. Every crew member now realizes that he or she is not only responsible for themselves, but that their actions can also affect everyone around them.” – Redding Hotshot Crew’s May 2003 South Canyon Fire Staff Ride Report.

After the staff ride is complete, Redding IHC leadership tasks the crew members with writing an essay on what the South Canyon staff ride meant to them. Here are a few of the comments received:

“I came away realizing the importance of situational awareness and LCES. I now find myself more alert and aware of my surroundings in the fire environment.”
“I know the lessons that were learned through the numerous hours of studying, countless discussions, and the physical visit to the site will benefit me through the rest of my fire career.”
“Without blame and any previous biases about what we might have thought happened here, I realized that this training probably had the most impact on me than any other training I have ever received.”
“I have never had any training that relayed messages as vividly as this did. I have never had training that left me both excited about what I learned – as well as awestruck by what I learned.”
“This experience is something that cannot be replicated or performed in a lecture or a classroom with similar long-lasting results.”

“There was nothing in the books that could have completely prepared them for this experience. No picture can show how close 21 seconds to safety actually is (121 feet). Or how far Tyler and Browning, actually ran (1,841 feet) trying to find a way out. The frustration of being so close cannot be fully expressed. The feeling from all staff ride participants was that this is a powerful and positive learning experience.” – Redding Hotshot Crew’s May 2003 South Canyon Fire Staff Ride Report

The crew will continue to make this staff ride the culmination of their training program as the benefits, experience, and knowledge gained are extremely beneficial to the development of our future leaders in wildland fire.

Never Forgotten

Storm King 14:

Kathi Beck, Tamera Bickett, Scott Blecha, Levi Brinkley, Douglas Dunbar, Terri Hagen, Bonnie Holtby, Rob Johnson,
Jon Kelso, Don Mackey, Roger Roth, Jim Thrash, Robert Browning, Jr., and Richard Tyler.

“Stepping on the ground of the South Canyon Fire was without a doubt the most beneficial training and learning experience of my fire career. It is our responsibility to study and learn the lessons from this event.”
– Staff ride participant

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NWCG Latest Announcements

NWCG Equipment Technology Committee Releases New Equipment Bulletins

Date: September 27, 2024
Contact: Equipment Technology Committee

The Equipment Technology Committee (ETC) has released three new Equipment Bulletins:

ETC-EB-24-003 Diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) in fuel containers.
ETC-EB-24-004 Two-compartment fuel and oil container (Dolmar) unavailable in the United States (US) and reminders for upkeeping current inventories.
ETC-EB-24-005 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Inspection, Care, and Maintenance.

These bulletins remind field going personnel of important issues related to equipment for wildland firefighting efforts.

References:

NWCG Alerts

ETC-EB-24-003 Diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) in fuel containers

ETC-EB-24-004 Two-compartment fuel and oil container (Dolmar) unavailable in the United States (US) and reminders for upkeeping current inventories

ETC-EB-24-005 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Inspection, Care, and Maintenance

The Experiential Learning Subcommittee is looking for your feedback on Staff Rides

Date: September 20, 2024
Contact: Ashleigh D'Antonio and George Risko, Leadership Committee

The Experiential Learning Subcommittee needs to hear from the field about where the greatest need lies regarding staff rides and their accessibility.

Do you have an event you would like to turn into a learning experience?
Do you have a staff ride built, but are struggling to implement the delivery?
Do you need help building capacity?
What other ideas do you have to support experiential leadership training?

Fill out this short survey below to help us help you.

References:

Staff Rides: Feedback

Staff Rides

Updated NWCG Single Resource Casual Hire Information, PMS 934

Date: September 19, 2024
Contact: Incident Business Committee

The Incident Business Committee has updated the NWCG Single Resource Casual Hire Information, PMS 934. This update expands the provisions for hiring emergency personnel.

References:

NWCG Single Resource Casual Hire Information, PMS 934

IBC Memorandum 24-03

NWCG 2024 Spring/Summer Highlights

Date: September 13, 2024

Welcome to our latest highlights from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, where we explore the latest updates, insights, and efforts that develop interoperable wildland fire operations among federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial partners.

The Performance Support Package, which for ABRO includes the Incident Position Standards and Next Generation Position Task Book were developed through the Incident Performance and Training Modernization (IPTM) effort. The Performance Support Package will support trainees, those qualified in the position, and evaluators.

NASA JOINS NWCG!

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is officially an associate member of NWCG. As such, NASA is beginning to collaborate with wildland fire management agencies with the goal of increasing collaboration across agencies and leveraging NASA data, technology, and innovation for nation-wide efforts in wildland fire management. NASA has a rich history of research, development, and technology transfer in the areas of Earth science, space technologies, and aeronautics that support the NWCG mission.

WWW.NWCG.GOV HAS A NEW LOOK AND DESIGN

The NWCG web team dedicated the past two years to making a significant upgrade to the www.nwcg.gov site. This upgrade involved a comprehensive redesign of over 7,700 web pages.

The modernization of NWCG’s website involved migrating to Drupal 10, a cutting—edge content management system, and leveraging Amazon Web Service GovCloud for secure and efficient hosting. These upgrades help ensure that the NWCG website remains current in content management practices, offering enhanced customization, improved performance, and an overall superior user experience.

NWCG Leadership Committee

The Wildland Fire Leadership Development Program announced the Professional Reading Program’s 2024 list!

The years books include:

Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean
The Wisdom of the Bullfrog by William H. McRaven
The Art of Clear Thinking by Hasard Lee
Emotional Agility by Susan David
Writing to Persuade by Trish Hall

Learn more at the NWCG Leadership Committee

INCIDENT PERFORMANCE AND TRAINING MODERNIZATION

In 2023, NWCG kicked off the Incident Performance and Training Modernization (IPTM) effort. A training system overhaul focused on developing a performance-based training system designed to shift training to on-the-job when appropriate.

Over the next five years, NWCG intends to analyze all positions within the NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Position Qualifications, PMS 310-1. To date we are currently working on 30 incident positions, and planning for 20+ in calendar year 2025.

Subject Matter Experts from a variety of geographical areas and agencies recently completed the position analysis for 16 positions. From this analysis, Incident Positions Standards and a Next Generation Position Task Book will be developed for each position.

Incident Performance and Training Modernization

NEXT GENERATION POSITION TASK BOOK

In April 2024, NWCG launched the new Next Generation Position Task Book (Next Gen PTB) which is a key component of the IPTM effort. This revised evaluation tool is designed to work in conjunction with the newly developed Incident Position Standards.

Major Next Gen PTB changes:

Structured to improve constructive conversations between evaluators and trainees.
Reference new Incident Position Standards.
Include only tasks required to be evaluated for successful performance.
Trainees will be rated on their performance vs. initialing whether a task was completed.
Must include written feedback when trainee does not meet the standard.
Will be position specific (no combined PTBs).

Screen shot of the Next Gen Position Task Book

Banner image of the Wildland Fire Learning Portal website

NWCG’s training course catalog is now available on the Wildland Fire Learning Portal (WFLP).

To access the training course catalog, visit WFLP and either set up an account or login as a guest.

6MFS

2022 Week of Remembrance Day 6

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7

South Canyon Fire (Colorado) – July 6, 1994

Today’s topic is dedicated to all fallen firefighters.

Perspective by the Redding Interagency Hotshot Crew (IHC)

Never Forgotten

Storm King 14:

Additional Resources

Have an idea or feedback?

Share it with the NWCG 6MFS Subcommittee.

NWCG Latest Announcements

References:

References:

References:

NASA JOINS NWCG!

WWW.NWCG.GOV HAS A NEW LOOK AND DESIGN

NWCG Leadership Committee

INCIDENT PERFORMANCE AND TRAINING MODERNIZATION

NEXT GENERATION POSITION TASK BOOK

NWCG National Wildfire Coordinating Group

NWCG

National Wildfire Coordinating Group