Opportunity – Create Opportunities for Firefighters to Teach and Learn.

Following the 1994 South Canyon Fire tragedy, a major effort was set underway to improve how firefighters learned from our history. One of the proposed actions was to establish a national Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center, which became a reality in 2002.

Over time, this organization developed a number of innovative products that advanced every wildland firefighter’s ability to look at our past and to learn. One of those products is the “Rapid Lesson Sharing” initiative that allows firefighters in any location to become a teacher and share their close call or best practice for others all across the country to learn.

At the crew or work unit level, leaders should seek out existing opportunities for their team. This can be as simple as utilizing a prescribed fireline preparation assignment for a wildfire LCES drill. Or en route back home from a fire assignment, stopping by a historical tragedy fire location and doing a brief case study site visit.

[Click here to download Learning in the Wildland Fire Service.]