IGNITE: Leaders are Learners

Everyone wins when a leader gets better. - Bill Hybels

[Photo credit: Melissa Neill]

A Legacy of Leaders: Beyond South Canyon and Yarnell

A LEGACY OF LEADERS: 

SOUTH CANYON AND YARNELL

by Rowdy Muir

The 20^th anniversary of South Canyon has caused me to reflect on the events that occurred on the mountain of Storm King and how they relate to Yarnell Hill. How did our wildland fire community get through those tough times 20 years ago; how will we get beyond Yarnell?

IGNITE: Build the Team

RESPECT
Build the team.– Conduct frequent debriefings with the team to identify lessons learned.
– Recognize accomplishments and reward them appropriately.
– Apply disciplinary measures equally.
– Leading in the Wildland Fire Service

[Photo: Tallac Hotshots]

WEEK OF REMEMBRANCE - Day 7: Leadership and South Canyon

Today is dedicated to the 14 firefighters that lost their lives on Storm King Mountain in Colorado 23 years ago today.

WEEK OF REMEMBRANCE - Day 6: Getting Real About What's Normal

If you have crew leaders at a staging area, how many different opinions do you have? When was the last time you had zero communication problems? These are some of the friction points often cited as “contributing factors” after unintended outcomes. Are these rare occurrences or normal work conditions?

How often do you face the following tensions?

• Difference of opinion.
• Communication struggles.
• Surprising fire behavior.
• Decisions under stress.

Discuss the following questions:

• How likely is it that these tensions are present on your next fire?
• How much control do you have over these conditions?
• If nothing bad happens, are these conditions still “contributing factors”?
• How can you practice and improve on dealing with these conditions?

Want context from a real-life event? Watch and discuss Episode 5 of the Nuttall Fire Story video series.

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Thanks to the Wildland LLC for this great resource.

WEEK OF REMEMBRANCE - Day 5: Getting Real About Escape Routes

We always have pre-planned escape routes—right? Sometimes they become “absent, inadequate, or compromised.” That is called “an entrapment.” Here’s the definition from the 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."

So what if you are burning and your plan is to “bring the black with you”…

• But a surprise downhill crown run puts fire below you.

Your planned escape route was back up the line to the top…

• But some unexpected folks show up who are not capable of the fast hike out. 

Now the plan is to bring everyone to the helispot—the best available refuge area…

• But the group hiking to the helispot are cut off by fire…

Now the group turns around and heads back up the line toward the top…

• On the way up, a crewmember becomes unconscious.

Each of those changes in the plan can be viewed as a “Red X” on 

Just in relation to Escape Routes – Discuss This Question:

Want context from a real-life event? Watch and discuss Episode 4 of the Nuttall Fire Story video series.

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Thanks to the Wildland LLC for this great resource.

IGNITE: Freedom

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY 

May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right. – Peter Marshall

[Photo: Baker River IHC]

WEEK OF REMEMBRANCE - Day 4: Getting Real About Complexity

Sometimes our plans don’t work out. We know this, that is why we have contingency plans—but how many contingency plans should you have? How do you prepare for the complexity we face?

What if you were dealing with…

Discuss the following questions:

Want context from a real-life event? Watch and discuss Episode 3 of the Nuttall Fire Story video series.

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Thanks to the Wildland LLC for this great resource.

Week of Remembrance - Day 3: Getting Real About Expected Fire Behavior

Fire Order #3

Base all actions on current and expected behavior of the fire.

• Has a fire ever done something you didn’t expect it to do? It happens often.

Week of Remembrance - Day 2: Engage or Not Engage?

We all lead on the fireline, whether we are conscious of it or not. Decisions are rarely made in a vacuum. We all contribute to how decisions get made. One of the most important decisions made regarding wildland fire is whether or not we “engage.” How is this decision really made?
Look at pages 1 and 2 in the IRPG—they are intended to aid us with this crucial decision.