![]() The 10 standard firefighting orders and 18 watch-out situations were established in the late 1950s. Over that span of time a large number of changes have occurred. My research focused on the last 70-years, because fatality data was generally available for the period. It seems time to take a look and decide if the system has been a success or not. I focused my research on the S-course and task book qualification system with the question in mind “have we managed to train a better, safer firefighter?” The task book system was implemented in late 1993, and has had 20 years to produce and educate a new generation of wildland firefighters and leaders. ![]() Following those interests I started working on a master’s degree in all-hazard emergency management. Today, as I continue to progress through the wildland fire world, my interest in wildland fire, particularly incident management has continued to grow. It was that day, while mopping up a small IA that should have been a now dead man’s responsibility the importance of safety really sank in. My engine helped cover IA responsibilities while Florida DOF held memorials and funerals in following days. While there, two dozer operators were killed on the Blue Ribbon fire down the street from where I was working. A few years later I went on a T6 engine to Florida. ![]() That summer I had the opportunity to act as a radio repeater for the IA of a small fire outside the Belly River Ranger Station. I spent that summer in Glacier National Park as a backcountry ranger. Shortly after finishing my last day of fire class, 32 students and teachers were killed on campus in the largest school shooting in US history. The course was taught on a different schedule than normal classes to allow for longer lab time where the class dug line and performed all the skills we were being taught and also studied the concepts we were learning like fuel moisture and topographic influences. I took my basic wildland fire classes while at Virginia Tech while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in forestry. ![]()
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