As Great as You Please, However Great

(Photo credit: Unique Taching Resources)

Quantuvis: "As great as you please, however great" (Latin Word List)

Do you ever look at something and wonder how it works? Do you take a road just to see where it goes not caring if it goes anywhere? Curiosity is a great motivator moving us along our path--whatever the path may be and wherever it takes us. Although a motivator, curiosity alone may not be enough to move us to action--to move beyond the comfort of the known and into the world of the unknown.

The pursuit of greatness requires more than curiosity; it requires courage. Courage is what moves us from curious and into action. Courage allows us to accept the risks associated with whatever limits us from reaching our full and unbridled potential. Courage allows us to ask the tough questions. Courage allows us to try, to succeed or fail, and to move beyond the sole success or the many failures.

One of the barriers to greatness is fear. Fear on the fireline can result in poor performance or worse yet, injury or death.

Fear: Fire leaders work to keep fear from being a barrier by understanding those fears that affect their team. Fear can destroy communication and, with it, trust and cohesion. In looking out for our people, we are mindful of their fears and vigilant in eliminating unnecessary fears. (Leading in the Wildland Fire Service, p. 48)

(Photo credit: Polka Dot)

Wildland Fire Leadership Challenge - Digging a Little Deeper

"Fire leaders are expected to lead in many directions, an expectation that increases complexity and risk. Summoning the courage needed to intervene and influence peers or leaders above can be difficult, especially if providing unwelcome feedback about behavior or pointing out an alternative to a potentially bad decision." (Leading in the Wildland Fire Service, p. 48)

•   Watch Ramsey Musallam's video "Three Rules to Spark Learning."

• Answer the following questions:
• What is your curiosity level?
• Can you identify what is limiting you from reaching your full potential? 
• Do you have the courage it takes to be a little curious and move beyond the comfort of the known?
• Do you have the courage and fortitude to lead up and stand up for potentially bad decisions?
• How great do you want to be? Is the sky the limit or are you shooting for the moon?

IGNITE: Go Change Someone's Life

You were born with the ability to change someone’s life, don’t waste it. – Unknown

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Developing Your People to be Decision Makers

Career Development from The Smokey Generation on Vimeo.

 Wildland fire personnel come from various backgrounds and education levels. Recognizing and promoting talent is the duty of a wildland fire leader. Although the individual is ultimately in charge of their growth and development, the wildland fire leader owes it to the employee, the agency, and society to care for those around him or her and provide a great service to the greater good.

Wildland Fire Leadership Challenge - Digging a Little Deeper

• Watch retired Redding Hotshot Superintendent Charlie Caldwell share his experience of developing one of his people. 40 through
• Read "Developing Our People for the Future" in Leading in the Wildland Fire Service, p. 40.  

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What is your story? We challenge you to become a part of this amazing  project and share your leadership stories. Bethany Hannah began The Smokey Generation: A Wildland Fire Oral History and Digital Storytelling Project for her master's thesis. All members of the wildland fire service, not just hotshots, can share their stories by following her example. Click here for potential leadership questions. Visit The Smokey Generation website for complete information.

IGNITE: Vision into Intent

Translating vision into clear leader’s intent is at the heart of our command philosophy. – Leading in the Wildland Fire Service, page 15

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Leadership -- More Than Numbers

(Photo credit: Solution Tree)

"Leadership is the art of influencing people in order to achieve a result. The most essential element for success in the wildland fire service is good leadership." - Leading in the Wildland Fire Service, p. 1)

As many of our followers are well aware, the main mechanism for communicating information about the Wildland Fire Leadership Development Program (WFLDP) is through our social media platforms. In this digital age, organizations would be remiss if they didn't use the tools available to them.

However, with social media comes competition--with others as well as self. The "value" of your social media presence is often measured by the number of followers a page has. But do numbers  really matter?

When we launched Facebook, we set a goal of 1,000 followers within a year. We had a silent spirit of friendly competition with other wildland fire pages. They were growing faster than ours. What were they doing that we weren't? Try as we might, the 1K goal was illusive. We did finally hit the goal a few months later.

After we hit that 1K goal, we followed the wise counsel of one of our followers who stressed value is not in a number. The true measure of leadership is influence (as commonly stated by John Maxwell). Following our goal attainment, we switched to analyzing our influence. Who are our followers? What type of post results in dialogue? How far does our reach extend beyond wildland fire? What works and what doesn't?   

We now have over 8,000 followers on Facebook and still get excited when we approach a milestone. However, we rarely know by a "like" or a "share" whether or not the follower read our post or simple hit the button. Students of fire and leadership--those truly committed to development and making a difference in the world around them--take the time and effort to read the information and contribute to the post with a comment. Our focus is on what happens with a like or share not in the number of likes and shares (although we still do take note).

What matters in leadership is the influence--good or bad--you have on others. We hope you lead in a positive direction and make a difference in the world around you.

Wildand Fire Leadership Challenge
How do you define your value? Your crews or team?

Take a moment to discuss what matters. What gives you or your crew/team value? Is it the number of chains you produce? The number of task books you complete? The number of hours your work?

If you are defined by a number, we challenge you to think about increasing your influence factor. How can you make the world around you a better place?

IGNITE: Painful Relationships & Courage

Leaders encounter painful relationships and tough circumstances. Give your best even if you’re opposed, unappreciated, or disrespected. – Dan Rockwell

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Speak Up

Would you rather die than speak to others? The Seinfeld comedy routine isn't that far off for many wildland firefighters. Many people avoid leadership positions because they don't want to speak in front of others or put their thoughts into the written word. Every level of leadership requires the development of communication skills, including the follower.

Those in the role of a follower have a number of responsibilities: to become competent in basic job skills; to take initiative and learn from others; to ask questions and develop their communication skills. (Leading in the Wildland Fire Service, p. 22)

Communication
Communication is the primary tool for establishing an effective command climate. The ability to communicate effectively is universally rated as one of the most important leadership behaviors.

Communication is the foundation upon which we build trust and enable our teams to develop cohesion. Effective communication is a two-way process. Good leaders actively listen to build trust with others. Communication enables us to convey objectives and intent, break error chains, and improve situation awareness. Leaders are cognizant of the central role that communication plays in the ability to lead and always strive to become better communicators.

Five Communications Responsibilities
Fire leaders work to instill the Five Communications Responsibilities in the culture of all crews, teams, and units. These responsibilities are not just tactical tools but apply to the staff and management environment.

In high risk environments, the best level of protection against errors and accidents is effective team communication. Therefore, everyone—regardless of position—has an obligation to communicate critical information.

Fire leaders redeem the Five Communications Responsibilities to enable everyone at all levels to develop good communications practices.

Five Communications Responsibilities

• Brief—use briefings to ensure accurate situation awareness.
• Debrief—use After Action Reviews to build accountability and learn from experience.
• Acknowledge and understand messages—acknowledge and ensure clarity of received communications on conditions, assigned tasks, intent, and other important information.
• Communicate hazards to others—use hazard identification, a key component of risk management, to identify personal, tactical, situational, political, or organizational hazards. Good leaders ensure that team members are vigilant for hazards and communicate identified hazards effectively.
• Ask if you don’t know—guard against making false assumptions when the picture is not clear.

[Information taken from Leading in the Wildland Fire Service.]

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Wildland Fire Leadership Challenge - Digging a Little Deeper

• Provide opportunities for all members of the team to practice their communication skills--both oral and written. 
• Rotate briefings, tailgate sessions, or after action reviews.
• Host book or movie discussions with different group leaders. 
• Participate in mock situations and require members of the team to interact with various stakeholders and managers.
• Take the initiative to develop your communication skills outside the workplace.

IGNITE: One Person Can Make a Difference

One person can make a difference and everyone should try. – John F. Kennedy

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Knowing Ourselves and Seeking Improvement

(Photo credit: Hermera Technologies)

Knowing Ourselves and Seeking Improvement

The starting point for leadership development is self-awareness. In many ways, our greatest challenge is to know ourselves. Self-awareness is an inward application of situation awareness. Fire leaders have an inner drive to analyze and know ourselves. We probe our blind spots and come away resolved to improve ourselves. We honestly appraise our own strengths and weaknesses.

Understanding our abilities and limitations, seeking feedback, learning from our mistakes, knowing where to improve, recognizing when to seek others with complementary strengths—these are all behaviors that enable us to become better leaders. 

Born Versus Made 

Our perspective is that leaders are made, not born. The distribution of innate leadership traits in the wildland fire workforce is similar to the normal Bell Curve distribution for any set of traits in any population. A small percentage of people are natural leaders, possessing the character and traits that compel others to follow them. Another small percentage have character flaws or issues that would prevent them from ever becoming effective leaders. 

Most people—the vast majority—do not come to the job as natural leaders, yet they have the ability to become very effective leaders by working to develop their leadership skills. 

The wildland fire service cannot be successful depending on that small percentage of natural leaders. As a result, we accept the responsibility of making ourselves the best leaders that we can be, continuously embracing opportunities to learn the art of leadership through formal training, field experience, and self-development. The best leaders are life-long students of leadership.

Increasing What is Known 

Fire leaders seek and accept feedback to maintain accurate situation awareness about ourselves. We are willing to examine and probe blind spots, seeking feedback from others. Because blind spots can lead to problems, leaders accept and act on feedback as part of the responsibility to mitigate error. 

Effective leaders also share information about themselves with others. Greater situation awareness about the leader builds trust among team members and enables them to help the leader compensate for weaknesses. 

Seeking and accepting feedback and sharing information enables leaders to increase what is known among team members and contributes to the development of a strong team. 

(Leading in the Wildland Fire Service, pp. 59-61)

IGNITE: Leaving a Legacy

A leader’s accomplishments are measured in lifetimes. Our character, decisions, and actions create powerful ripple effects that continue to influence people and organizations long after we are gone. –Leading in the Wildland Fire Service, page 67

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Reflecting on 9/11

(Photo credit: Depot Section Supervisor Robbie Swofford, Remote Sensing/Fire Weather Support)

As we reflect upon this day 14 years ago, we share past blogs.

IMT Lessons Learned and Shared from 9/11

Incident Management Teams at the World Trade Center
(Scratchline, Issue 1, Summer 2002)

This incident was unlike any previous Incident Management Team (IMT) assignment. The sheer scope of the incident, its cause, the number of human lives impacted, destruction, financial impact incurred, limited geographic area (1/4 square mile), multiple agency involvement, and international significance are unprecedented in IMT history.

Van Bateman's Southwest Area Type 1 IMT was mobilized to assist the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within hours of the terrorist attack. This team worked at the FEMA Incident Command Post (ICP) in Lower Manhattan and at the New York City Fire Department ICP for approximately one month. Joe Stutler's Pacific Northwest Area Type 1 IMT, Mike Lohrey's
Pacific Northwest Area Type 1 IMT, and Joe Stam’s Alaska Area Type 1 IMT were dispatched to support responding agencies and their personnel working at Ground Zero.

Captured below are some of the IMTs’ lessons learned during this catastrophic event:

Planning
Each Section Chief and Unit Leader needs to pay extremely close attention to their personnel for signs of stress. A means of debriefing needs to be set up, both at the incident site and at the home unit, for those adversely affected. Some of these needs were identified late and personnel were already demobilized and back at their  home unit before arrangements were made for critical
incident stress management services.

Logistics
IMT's should be aware that picture identifications are a necessity. Security was very tight and security protocols constantly changing. Access into many areas was denied without proper I.D.

IMT's should expect to spend extra time to ensure compliance with existing national standards when using shower or catering units that are not on the National Contract.

In large urban areas, there can be over 100 VHF and UHF radio systems in use. Dozens of systems were brought in and used on an emergency basis. A comprehensive communication plan was lacking. A meeting to facilitate the coordination of all emergency services communication staffs needs to be scheduled early on to develop a communication plan and to reduce duplication of resources.

Operations
IMT's need additional training in FEMA operational structure including its mission, organization, and ordering procedures. This should be incorporated into team meeting agendas as well as in formal
training.

Type 1 crews were ordered to assist in the warehouse operation and with camp duties. This should be standard procedure for this type incident. Traditional camp crews are not viable due to the location, political environment, and work required.

Finance
Finance Section Chiefs must receive clear directions on specific procedures required by FEMA. They should immediately coordinate actions with FEMA comptrollers and procurement officials. The U.S. Forest Service National Incident Business Advisor should be contacted for assistance.

Information
The process to obtain permission for in person interviews was lengthy and often required more time than the media representatives could afford. Several interview requests were cancelled because interview deadlines could not be met. Phone interviews replaced live interviews when live ones could not be conducted in a timely manner. Expect that rigid protocol and multi-layered permission  processes will prevent full and effective utilization of normal IMT information resources.

Safety
Not all people are suited for a disaster assignment. Because of the emotional impact of the situation, IMT's and Geographical Area Coordination Center's (GACC) should expect a certain percentage of personnel to request incident reassignment or demobilization almost  immediately after arrival. This should not necessarily be seen as a performance problem. The reality of the situation has a greater
impact on some than they might have anticipated.

Summary
Patience is a must. What might be considered small tasks or slow movements by many IMT members can be huge strides for other agencies in time of crisis – especially when they have a long tradition of self-reliance and have been directly affected by a loss of personnel, equipment, and facilities.

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Scratchline, Issue 1, Summer 2002 

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FDNY's Commitment to Everyone Goes Home

Thanks to our partners at Fire Department of New York (FDNY) and theNational Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) for the latest video: Still Working...So Everyone Goes Home. There is a lot we can learn from the  efforts FDYN has made since 9/11. Watch the video to see how your unit might benchmark their efforts.


Things to Ponder:

• Do you have dedicated programs for health and wellness, training, and safety?
• What are you doing to innovate and improve fireground operations with technological advancements?
• What training initiatiaves have you implemented to ensure that "Everyone Goes Home"?
• Have you established a health and wellness program?
• Are you constanstly trying to improve?
• Do you view training as a managerial or personal concern?

Leadership side notes: Deputy Assistant Chief Robert Maynes is a member of the L-580 Steering Committee. We appreciate Bob's continued support of leadership development. and care for his people.

(FDNY at the Gettysburg Staff Ride. Photo  credit: OMNA International LLC)

(A special thanks to Leadership Subcommittee member Brian Fennessy for the lead on this story!)

IGNITE: Student of Fire

Old fires carry embers that can turn to flame and teach new lessons to later generations. – John Maclean

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Company Officer Leadership: Finding Leaders

by Mike Jappa

Leadership. It’s easy right? You read a few books by people others believe are good (or great) leaders, attend a few seminars and there you have it. Now you’re a leader, too!

If only it was that simple.

You may be in a leadership position, like company or chief officer, but is that all it takes to be a leader? Having been in the fire service for some 28 years now, I can honestly say that I’ve worked for and observed a lot of bosses, but only a handful of them were true leaders.

A great number of leaders I’ve met aren’t even in a traditionally accepted role of leadership; at least, they didn’t have rank. Many were and are the newest firefighters among us. They lead by setting an example for others and showing their work ethic every day, just so they fit in around the station.

You see, I have a different view of how leaders in the fire service are made, or at least my own theory.

I think people who join the fire service are leaders the day they apply. They strive to be the ones others can count on during their worst times. They want to be someone who can lead others out of the darkness or the fire to safety, once they have a little training under their belt.

Show me a new firefighter who doesn’t want to be the first on scene no matter what the call. The want to be there first because they want to help, and lead others, even if that doesn’t look like the traditional description of leadership we have all been taught.

Then something strange happens. Some of that drive seems to disappear from some people. It happens for a number of reasons, but generally, it’s because the people in the organization who fill the traditional leadership positions (i.e., the bosses) fail to recognize their efforts and they just kind of give up.

I can’t really say I blame them. It’s difficult to bust your butt every day and get the same response from the boss as someone who’s a slacker.

Then promotional testing comes up. It seems to me that two types of people generally sign up for testing: those who truly want to lead and those who simply think they couldn’t possibly do any worse than the people they work for now so they may as well become one of the bosses.

Unfortunately, all too often the person chosen is the latter of the two. All too often, promotional testing focuses strictly on tactical ability and knowledge of SOPs/SOGs and other areas that, while important, do little to judge the leadership ability and passion an applicant has for being a leader.

We should place more emphasis on an applicant's desire to lead and mentor others. I can train just about anyone to understand my department’s SOPs/SOGs and firefighting tactics. I can’t, however, give them the drive, desire or heart to lead others in a manner that makes those others want to follow.

So how do we develop those leaders?

One way is through mentorship. Promising members of our departments should be mentored not only by their chains of command, but also by others who care about fire service leadership in general.

That’s one of the many reasons the IAFC Company Officer Leadership Committee started the Company Officer Mentor Program. With a growing cadre of more than 20 chief and company officer mentors to choose from, IAFC members at any level have available to them a tool to help them achieve their leadership and career goals. I would invite anyone interested to look into the mentorship program and see what it has to offer.

P.S. We’re always looking to add to the list of mentors as well.

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Mike Jaffa is a captain for the Santa Fe County (N.M.) Fire Department and chair of the IAFC's Company Officer Committee. He’s been a member of the IAFC since 2002.

We would like to thank Captain Jaffa and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) for permission to reprint this article from the August 1, 2015, issue of On Scene on our blog.

IGNITE: Fruits of Labor

Labor wants also pride and joy in doing good work, a sense of making or doing something beautiful or useful - to be treated with dignity and respect as brother and sister. – Thorstein Veblen

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Brian Anderson on Building the Team

An Introduction: Brian Anderson from The Smokey Generation on Vimeo.

In this short clip Brian Anderson, Superintendent for the Bear Divide Interagency Hotshot Crew, shares his thoughts on his passion of building teams and the art of team cohesion.

Building the Team
Leading in the Wildland Fire Service, p. 52

Fire leaders build cohesive teams—not simply groups of individuals putting forth individual efforts—to accomplish missions in high-risk environments.

Cohesive teams are more creative and adaptable when dealing with complex situations. This enables them to detect and mitigate errors before irreparable damage occurs. Cohesion allows team members to anticipate the needs and actions of other team members. This increases efficiency and saves time.

Fire leaders set the stage by creating an environment in which cohesive teams thrive: establishing a foundation of trust, enabling healthy conflict, requiring commitment, setting an expectation of accountability, and bringing focus to the team result.


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What is your story? We challenge you to become a part of this amazing  project and share your leadership stories. Bethany Hannah began The Smokey Generation: A Wildland Fire Oral History and Digital Storytelling Project for her master's thesis. All members of the wildland fire service, not just hotshots, can share their stories by following her example. Click here for potential leadership questions. Visit The Smokey Generation website for complete information.

IGNITE - Great Accomplishments through Teamwork

Through great teamwork comes great accomplishments. – Jacob Atkins/Shoshone-Bannock Crew

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U.S. Army Joins the Fight

Jason Lanier, a squad boss on the Bureau of Land Management Vegas Valley hand crew and 15-year firefighting veteran, teaches Soldiers from the 5th Battalion (HIMARS), 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Field Artillery Brigade, 7th Infantry Division, how to safely utilize the tools they will need during their upcoming firefighting mission on Joint Base Lewis-McChord prior to their deployment Aug. 19, 2015. “We feel pretty lucky to have the opportunity to help military integrate into wildland fire, and it’s going to help us quite a bit,” said Lanier, a squad boss on the Vegas Valley hand crew and 15-year firefighting veteran.

U.S. Army soldiers from 5th Battalion (HIMARS), 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Field Artillery Brigade, 7th Infantry Division, are deploying from Joint Base Lewis-McChord to join the fire lines.

Story by Staff Sgt. Patricia McMurphy

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCHORD, Wash. – According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), the arrival of hot, dry weather, combined with drought conditions, has prompted the WDFW to restrict fires and other activities effective immediately on agency-managed lands in eastern Washington.

There are at least 17 large wildfires currently burning, and because of tapped resources, U.S. Army soldiers from 5th Battalion (HIMARS), 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Field Artillery Brigade, 7th Infantry Division, are deploying from Joint Base Lewis-McChord to join the fire lines.

“Our battalion received orders and is prepared to mobilize approximately 200 Soldiers in support of the National Interagency Fire Center’s efforts,” said Lt. Col. James Dunwoody, commander of the 5-3 FA.

This is the first time since 2006 that the Boise-based National Interagency Fire Center, in charge of coordinating resource deployment for the nation’s wildfire response, has asked for military help, agency officials said.

All national firefighting resources, including some 26,000 firefighters, 33 air tankers and 160 helicopters, are fully deployed - but even that response hasn’t kept pace during this feverish fire season.

“Soldiers are being trained by a team of professional wildland fire agency personnel, including the Bureau of Land Management Vegas Valley crew comprised entirely of military veterans.” said Dunwoody.

The soldiers are slotted to break into 10 crews consisting of 20 Soldiers each and will be ready to depart to Eastern Washington any time after 9 a.m. Aug. 20, thanks to hands-on training. They will get further training onsite before moving to the fire line.

“We feel pretty lucky to have the opportunity to help military integrate into wildland fire, and it’s going to help us quite a bit,” said Jason Lanier, a squad boss on the Vegas Valley hand crew and 15-year firefighting veteran. “There are so many fires out there that we kind of have our hands tied.”

“We were asked to come here and help these guys out and get them situated so they have a basic understanding of fighting fire and the tools they need to get this job done safe,” he added. “It’s a great thing to be able to show them how to do that and hopefully it helps them.”

Dunwoody said the "First Round" Soldiers morale is high even with the possibility of being deployed for 30 days or more.

A Bureau of Land Management Vegas Valley crewman shows Soldiers with 5th Battalion (HIMARS), 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Field Artillery Brigade, 7th Infantry Division, the proper way to sharpen one of the many tools they will need on their upcoming firefighting mission Aug. 19, 2015. “We were asked to come here and help these guys out and get them situated so they have a basic understanding of fighting fire and the tools they need to get this job done safe,” said Jason Lanier, a squad boss on the Vegas Valley hand crew. “It’s a great thing to be able to show them how to do that and hopefully it helps them.”

“Any deployment is time away from home,” said Dunwoody. “This is a way for the Soldiers to give back to the community and they all seem pretty excited.”

Dunwoody said this was similar to regular deployments in some ways like their focus on a common mission, building teamwork and esprit de corps.

“We are following the firefighters who are professionally trained and assisting them,” said Sgt. Michael Nazarko a multiple launch rocket system crewman with 5-3 FA. “They basically go through an area and put out the main fire and what we do is if there is anything still smoldering, we make sure it doesn’t flare back up.”

“We tend to do a lot of different things (in the Army), said Nazarko, a Lyndhurst, New Jersey native. “I’ve done firefinder radar operator, 13 Mike [artillery] missions and now a firefighting mission.”

“That’s why I love the job,” he added. “We get to do our job and everything else.”

Pvt. Josh Beam, multiple launch rocket system ammo specialist with 5-3 FA, has only been in the Army for six months but says he too is looking forward to this mission.

I’m excited,” said Beam, a Healdsburg, Calif., native. “I actually wanted to join a fire department after I got out of the Army, so this is going to be a fun experience for me.”

Pvt. Josh Beam, a multiple launch rocket system ammo specialist with 5th Battalion (HIMARS), 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Field Artillery Brigade, 7th Infantry Division, gets his firefighting gear ready at his unit headquarters on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Aug. 19, 2015, prior to the unit’s deployment to suppress wildfires in Eastern Washington. "I’m excited,” said Beam, a Healdsburg, Calif., native. “I actually wanted to join a fire department after I got out of the Army, so this is going to be a fun experience for me.”

Walking on Hallowed Ground

by Tim Sendelbach
Editor-in-chief Firehouse® Magazine
September 2015

The lessons we learn should never be limited by geographical or professional bias

On Oct. 26, 2006, initial-attack resources from CAL FIRE were dispatched to a fire burning in the Southern California town of Cabazon. With high temperatures, low humidity and Santa Ana winds in the forecast, the potential for rapid-fire growth was extreme.

As the fire grew to more than 500 acres, resources from the U.S. Forest Service were called in. This included the five-person crew of Engine 57. 

Upon their arrival, Engine 57 and four other companies were directed to assist with structural protection. With the fire advancing rapidly, an evacuation order was given, and the assigned crews were directed to report to staging. Caught up in the congestion created by local citizens trying to evacuate at the same time, several of the assigned engine crews were delayed in getting back to the designated staging area. 

After some time had passed, Engine 57 and Engine 52 were assigned to perform structural triage. After completing an evacuation of a residence, the captain of Engine 52 called the captain of Engine 57 to have them come to their location. With the crew set on a high point with an in-ground pool for a water supply and lines deployed, the Engine 57 captain reported back that they were at a good location and would remain there. 

With fire rapidly advancing from multiple fronts, crews began performing burnout operations to set up a defensive perimeter against the advancing fire front. Tragically, the members of Engine 57 were overrun by fire, and five firefighters died. 

Regrettably, my recollection of this incident prior to this past August was minimal at best. I’ve taken great pride in being a continual student of this profession, but I had failed to realize the many lessons that exist outside the world of structural firefighting. 

Admittedly, I’ve never laced up a pair of wildland fire boots in my career. I’ve never been on the operational end of a Pulaski or a drip can, nor have I spent any measurable time performing burnout operations or working “in the black.” But on Aug. 5, I visited the site of the Esperanza Fire, and I walked the hallowed ground that today includes a memorial dedicated to the five firefighters of Engine 57. 

As I walked up the driveway toward the now infamous Octagon House (the structure Engine 57 was attempting to protect when the burnover occurred), the dry, oven-like winds hit me head on as I encountered the marker bearing the name Pablo, representing the location of fallen Firefighter Pablo Cerda. A short distance up the driveway was a marker representing the location of Captain Mark Loutzenhiser. Over the embankment, to the left, was the marker for Firefighter Daniel Hoover-Najera. At the top, separated by less than 30 feet, were the markers for Fire Engine Operator Jess “Gus” McLean and Assistant Fire Engine Operator Jason McKay. 

As I looked at the markers for these five men, the complexity of wildland firefighting and wildland/urban interface (WUI) fires became incredibly clear and, to some degree, even frightening. 

In the structural world, we talk about fire dynamics and the increased fuel loading of the modern fireground. But what happens when your fuel loading is no longer measured in cubic feet, but rather acres, and your flow path is no longer an open door, but rather a prevailing wind? What happens when go or no-go decision-making goes from an individual structure to an entire neighborhood, or command and control goes from a first-alarm assignment of 12–17 firefighters representing a single department to more than 200 engines, 550 firefighters and numerous air resources deployed from areas throughout the state and, potentially, the nation? 

It has been echoed many times throughout our ranks that there is no greater tribute to our fallen than to learn from the tragic events that contributed to their deaths. As I read the events surrounding the Esperanza Fire, it is clear that WE (wildland and structural firefighters) have a lot to learn from each other. 

While the arenas in which we operate may differ, the challenges of leadership, politics, decision-making, human factors and risk management are much the same. Our shared mission is to save lives and protect property, and the hallowed grounds of our fallen represent an obligation to learn, share and apply these lessons without geographical or professional bias. I challenge you to take a look on the other side and see what you’ve been missing.

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TIM SENDELBACH is a 29-year student and educator of the fire and emergency services, currently serving as the editorin-chief for Firehouse. He is responsible for the content and editorial direction of Firehouse® Magazine, Firehouse.com, Firehouse Expo, Firehouse World and related products. He has served as an assistant fire chief with the North Las Vegas, NV, Fire Department, as the chief of training for Savannah, GA, Fire & Emergency Services and as assistant fire chief for Missouri City, TX, Fire & Rescue Services. He is a credentialed Chief Fire Officer and Chief Training Officer and has earned a master’s degree in leadership from Bellevue University, bachelor’s degrees in fire administration and arson and an associate’s degree in emergency medical care from Eastern Kentucky University.

We would like to thank Tim and Firehouse® Magazine for allowing us to reprint this article.  Follow Tim on Facebook or Twitter.