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RT-130, Wildland Fire Safety Training Annual Refresher (WFSTAR)

RT-130 Decorative banner. Group of photos depicting wildland firefighters performing various duties.

Point Fire Revisited

A case study of the Point Fire (Idaho, 1995) during which a series of unfortunate events led to the entrapment and death of two firefighters. An overview of the events of the fire and the recommendations from the accident investigation that followed, with fire footage, maps/animations, and firsthand interview accounts.
Category: Case Studies
Core Component(s):
Local Topics, Incident Reviews and Lessons Learned, Fire and Aviation Operational Safety, Human Factors, Communication and Decision Making
Estimated Delivery Time: 1 hour
Video Length: 15:38

Intent

Apply lessons learned from the Point Fire to enhance safety on incidents.

Facilitator Preparation

  • Review the video and module tools.
  • Review the events of the Point Fire (1995) and the recommendations from the accident investigation.
  • Prepare to discuss the consequences/changes that are apparent in present day wildland fire suppression.

Facilitating the Discussion

  • Show the video
  • As a class or in small groups, discuss the questions below. If breaking into small groups, share answers with class.
    • Alternatively, you may discuss the questions in the 6 Minutes for Safety referenced below.

Discussion Questions

As stated in the video, the accident investigation following the entrapment fatalities identified contributing factors and put forth formal recommendations to improve wildland firefighter safety. The majority of findings fell within four distinct categories:

  1. Incident Leadership
    • Not all personnel on the fire received a formal safety briefing upon arrival. Multiple resources failed to hear the Red Flag Warning. Minimal efforts were made to verify safe crew location at the time of the blow-up.
    • As incident commanders and fireline leaders, how do you ensure that all personnel under your supervision receive a thorough operational safety briefing? How can you ensure that critical safety messages (i.e. Red Flag Warnings) make it to ALL of your resources? How do you track and maintain accountability of your resources?
  2. Communications
    • Lack of common communication capability contributed to the incident. The BLM IC could not monitor the Kuna Command frequency. The Kuna engines could not effectively scan between their frequencies and the BLM frequencies.
    • What type of plan is in place for you to communicate effectively with your local cooperators? Are common frequencies identified and preprogrammed? Is your radio equipment compatible, and if not, how can you overcome this problem?
  3. Equipment References
    • Kuna Engine-620 experienced a mechanical failure immediately prior to the burnover. E-620 had experienced similar problems earlier in the season, but no maintenance records were kept to help determine its reliability for fighting wildfires.
    • Are you conducting regular, documented inspections of your firefighting vehicles? Where would you document these inspections? Are you actually fixing mechanical issues or running with “minor gremlins” that you know how to troubleshoot?
  4. Cooperator Relationships
    • While no mutual aid agreement existed between the Boise BLM and the Kuna Rural Fire District at the time of the Point Fire, resources from both had successfully collaborated in wildland training and fire suppression earlier in the season.
    • On your local unit, what type of relationship exists between agencies and cooperators? Are mutual aid agreements in place? Do you conduct any shared training (Annual Fireline Safety Refreshers, fire response simulations, etc)? What aspects of your cooperator relationships do you celebrate? Where do you see opportunities for improvement?

Resources

Additional Video Information

  • This video is also available as a download (zip file, size 3.1GB) with .srt file for closed captioning (you may need to right click and Save As). For information on how to add closed captioning to a video, see this how to page.
  • Note: For Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, right click the word download and select Save Link As; For IE, right click and select Save Target As.

Last Modified / Reviewed:

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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

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National Park Service Logo
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U.S. Fire Administration
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International Association of Fire Chiefs
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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.
 

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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.

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NWCG new website look.

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

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WFLDP PRP book covers

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.

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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).
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Screen shot of the Next Gen Position Task Book
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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.