Point Fire (Idaho) – July 28, 1995

This Day in History is a brief summary of a powerful learning opportunity and is not intended to second guess or be judgmental of decisions and actions. Put yourself in the following situation as if you do not know the outcome. What are the conditions? What are you thinking? What are YOU doing?

Incident Summary:

On July 28, 1995, dry thunderstorms moved into southwestern Idaho and sparked dozens of wildfires. At 1829, a fire was reported about 16 miles southwest of Boise. BLM and Kuna Rural Fire District (RFD) resources were dispatched to the fire. As they arrived on scene, the fire was 60 to 65 acres, actively burning in mature sagebrush and dense cheatgrass with moderate rates of spread. West winds 4 to 6 mph fanned 3- to 5-foot flame lengths along the flanks. The IC (BLM) instructed the BLM engines to split up and directly attack the flanks with Kuna engines 620 and 622 following behind them. Kuna Command instructed the two Kuna engines to stay together and follow the BLM engines to compensate for less experienced firefighters occupying engine 620. By 2010, it is reported that engines on both flanks had met and the spread of the fire had been stopped at 120 acres.

At 2022, the National Weather Service issued a Red Flag warning for dry lightning and locally strong winds, predicting gusts of up to 50 mph from a thunderstorm moving toward the fire. Engines along the northern perimeter of the fire are alerted via BLM Dispatch on a BLM radio channel.

Kuna engines 620 and 622 continued to mop-up along the northern flank, passing multiple federal fire resources and ending at a fence on the southeast corner of the fireline where they were given instructions to turn around and work back around the perimeter. The two worked in tandem until Kuna 622 ran out of water. Kuna 620 took the lead and continued using its remaining water. Using the radio in a nearby BLM engine, Kuna 622 contacted the IC who instructed them refill and standby due to the predicted high winds.

While Kuna 622 was en route to refill, Kuna 620 contacted them with a report that their vehicle was overheating. They are instructed to clean the radiator screen. Soon after, and for unknown reasons, Kuna 620 turned north on a two-track road then north-northeast, driving cross-country through unburned heavy sagebrush. At this point, Kuna 620 became disabled.

At about 2046, the fire escaped the northern perimeter at several locations, fanned by strong south winds from the thunderstorm. Several fire personnel immediately drove north to assess fire behavior. They saw that the fire was burning intensely with flame lengths over 20 feet and an estimated rate of spread of 560 feet/minute. They see a stationary engine in the path of the oncoming flame front and made repeated attempts to contact the engine on the BLM tactical channel but received no response. They did not know whether the engine was occupied.

At 2049, Kuna 620 contacts the Kuna Commander on a local non-federal frequency and reported, “We are on the north line. We have fire coming hard, and this thing has died.” The Kuna 620 engine crew made another a radio transmission one minute later, “The truck’s been overtaken by fire!” That was their last transmission. Two firefighters lost their lives. It took 4 minutes from the point of escape for the fire to overrun the disabled engine.

Discussion Points:

L - How do you establish and maintain lookouts during initial attack?

If terrain is relatively flat, can we be lookouts for other crews nearby? If so, how?

C - The BLM IC could not monitor Kuna Command because the frequency was not programmed into his radio. Some Kuna crews could utilize the BLM frequencies while others could not. Kuna Command did not always have capability for radio communications with all units. And Kuna RFD Engines 620 and 622 had communication capabilities with both BLM and Kuna Command but could not communicate with Kuna Command once they switched to the BLM frequency.

During initial attack, how do you establish and maintain effective communications with other agencies and cooperators?
As an IC, how do you ensure Red Flag warnings and other vital information is received by all fire resources?
What will you and your crew do during any fire assignment to get accurate information about weather and current fire behavior?

E and S - Sometimes it is necessary to travel through the unburned fuel while accessing the fire, burning out, or shuttling water.

What are your concerns?
How do you maintain Escape Routes and Safety Zones:
- As you move down the fireline?
- When en route to refill?
How much water do you keep as reserve in the tank?

Have an idea or feedback?

Share it with the NWCG 6MFS Subcommittee.

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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

Point Fire (Idaho) – July 28, 1995

Incident Summary:

Discussion Points:

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