Escape and Entrapment

Escape Route

A preplanned and understood route firefighters take to move to a safety zone or other low-risk area. When escape routes deviate from a defined physical path, they should be clearly marked (flagged).
- NWCG Glossary

Safety Zone

An area cleared of flammable materials used for escape in the event the line is outflanked or in case a spot fire causes fuels outside the control line to render the line unsafe. In firing operations, crews progress so as to maintain a safety zone close at hand allowing the fuels inside the control line to be consumed before going ahead. Safety zones may also be constructed as integral parts of fuel breaks; they are greatly enlarged areas which can be used with relative safety by firefighters and their equipment in the event of blowup in the vicinity.
- NWCG Glossary

Entrapment

A situation where personnel are unexpectedly caught in a fire behavior-related, life-threatening position where planned escape routes or safety zones are absent, inadequate, or compromised. An entrapment may or may not include deployment of a fire shelter for its intended purpose. These situations may or may not result in injury. They include “near misses.”
- NWCG Glossary

The fire shelter has long been considered a last resort. However, it can also protect you from falling embers, thick smoke, or be used as a heat shield while escaping from a fire. You should not hesitate to use your shelter to protect yourself. Do not worry about the cost of the fire shelter, the possibility of investigations, or the perception of others — your safety is always the highest priority. If you feel your situation could be improved by using your fire shelter, use it.

Escape

Firefighters train to recognize and utilize escape routes and safety zones. Throughout their shift, or as fire behavior changes, these are reevaluated.

Crew supervisors must identify escape routes and safety zones, and make sure they are known by everyone on their crews. Changing environmental conditions or work progression should trigger reassessment of planned escape routes and safety zones. The reassessment may require new escape routes and safety zones be identified if work in the area is to continue. You should always know the location of your escape routes and safety zones. Remember, in a true safety zone, you do not need your shelter to protect you from heat.

Escape is your first priority. If your escape seems unlikely or impossible, locate the best deployment site you can and prepare to deploy your shelter.

Time is critical during an escape. You will have to decide quickly whether you have time to escape or if you feel entrapment is imminent. As soon as you realize your escape is compromised, drop your gear. Take your fire shelter with you. Keep your tool if there is a chance you may need it to clear a deployment site. Drop packs, chain saws, or anything else that might slow you down. Firefighters have died carrying packs and tools while climbing a hill to escape fires. You can move up to 30 percent faster without your gear. This can easily mean the difference between life and death in an escape.

“[W]e weren’t going make it. We had the…the slope was against us. The wind was against us. The fire was already bumping our side. We were both taking a considerable amount of heat. So, at that point, I looked at my firefighter and I said, ‘We need to deploy now.'”

As you move along your escape route, stay alert and talk to other crewmembers. Talking helps relieve stress and ensures hazards are communicated quickly. Be alert for deployment areas as you move. If it becomes apparent that you are not going to reach a safety zone, do not pass through an effective deployment site only to get caught later in a more hazardous area. Keep in mind that it takes 15 to 20 seconds to deploy a shelter under ideal conditions, longer in turbulent winds or if you have to remove your pack (another reason to drop your pack). Leave enough time to get on the ground and under your shelter before the heat arrives. Firefighters have been injured or killed because they waited too long to deploy and get into their shelters.

If the fire is closing in behind you, get your shelter out and partially unfold it. Use the shelter to shield you from the heat if necessary. Don’t drop the shelter, allow it to blow away, or snag it on the brush.

“If I was in that exact same situation again, I would use my fire shelter when I was trying to get through [the fire to escape]. Maybe even a little bit earlier. We never really train with running with a shelter, using it as a [heat] shield. Maybe we should.”

Be ready to grab the shelter by an edge and get into it. You will have to recognize when your only option is to deploy your fire shelter. You must be decisive. If you are with a crew, follow the orders given by your supervisor. If you are in charge, be sure to give clear instructions and to make sure they are understood.

Vehicles

Firefighters have both survived and perished while using vehicles to escape from fires (see Figure 1). If you find yourself taking refuge inside a vehicle during an entrapment, you may need to deploy your shelter and be prepared to leave the vehicle.

Past situations have shown that vehicles can catch fire rather easily, cab windows can shatter or fail to stay closed, and cabs can quickly fill with toxic smoke. These situations can force firefighters to hastily exit the vehicle into non-survivable conditions.

If you are entrapped inside a vehicle, unfold the shelter to reflect heat, and be ready to quickly exit and deploy the shelter on the ground.

In a forested area, a fire engine in flames, heavy smoke surrounding the engine.

Figure 1 Fire engine on fire from flame front passage. Two firefighters caught in the cab by the flame front were able to escape by deploying a shelter inside the cab and using it as a heat shield to escape to safety.

Face and Neck Shrouds

Shrouds offer additional protection against radiant heat during an escape. Shrouds should not be used to work in areas that are so hot you could not work there without them. If shrouds are worn, they should be attached to the helmet for quick deployment when they are needed. Do not rely on shrouds to protect your airway from hot gases.

Why You Should Toss your Fusees Before an Entrapment

Firefighters have worked close enough to radiant heat to melt goggles and helmets. These plastics melt at about 320 °F.
Fusees ignite at 375 °F and burn near 3,000 °F.
If an entrapment transitions to a deployment, you will not have time to think about items in your pack that could be dangerous.

Entrapment

If you are in an entrapment, protect your lungs, and airway at all costs. Most firefighters who perish in fires die from heat that damages their airway, not from external burns. One breath of hot gases can damage your lungs, causing you to suffocate.

Your entrapment site may meet the definition of a safety zone, but wind and slope can create the need for a larger safety zone than the standard four times the flame length calculation. Terrain, slope, and wind impact how a fire burns through an area. Because of these factors, be prepared to rapidly deploy your fire shelter if your safety zone turns out to be inadequate for the conditions. For more information, review the 6 Minutes for Safety publication on safety zones.

Be alert for signs of hot gases. These gases may not be smoky or dark. Your only warning may be air movement, an increase in temperature, and/or embers blowing past. If gases get hot enough to burn you, it is past time to get under your fire shelter.

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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.

National Wildfire Coordinating Group

PMS 411

Escape and Entrapment

Escape

“[W]e weren’t going make it. We had the…the slope was against us. The wind was against us. The fire was already bumping our side. We were both taking a considerable amount of heat. So, at that point, I looked at my firefighter and I said, ‘We need to deploy now.'”

“If I was in that exact same situation again, I would use my fire shelter when I was trying to get through [the fire to escape]. Maybe even a little bit earlier. We never really train with running with a shelter, using it as a [heat] shield. Maybe we should.”

Vehicles

Face and Neck Shrouds

Entrapment

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

PMS 411

Escape and Entrapment

Escape

“[W]e weren’t going make it. We had the…the slope was against us. The wind was against us. The fire was already bumping our side. We were both taking a considerable amount of heat. So, at that point, I looked at my firefighter and I said, ‘We need to deploy now.'”

“If I was in that exact same situation again, I would use my fire shelter when I was trying to get through [the fire to escape]. Maybe even a little bit earlier. We never really train with running with a shelter, using it as a [heat] shield. Maybe we should.”

Vehicles

Face and Neck Shrouds

Entrapment

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