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Week of Remembrance

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2025 WOR: Fire Season 2015 – Closing Remarks

Letter to Leadership |  Day 1  |  Day 2  |  Day 3  |  Day 4  |  Day 5  |  Day 6  |  Day 7  

 

Week of Remembrance 2025 has been spent in reflection of incidents that occurred during the 2015 fire season—10 years ago. Today, on the 31st anniversary of the South Canyon Fire, we also remember the Fallen 14 who lost their lives on Storm King Mountain in 1994. We honor you through our commitment to learning. You are not forgotten.
 

Memorial banner of fallen Storm King firefighters.

It should come as no surprise that many of the lessons from the 2015 fire year sound familiar and feel relevant in today’s fireground. There is a well of value in studying the past to build “slides” that help inform our actions today. On a daily basis, we gather intelligence of current conditions to make safe, sound decisions on the best available information. A parallel intelligence-gathering process can occur when learning from past events.

As we build historical fire knowledge, it turns into awareness. We may recognize a familiar situation, not because we lived it ourselves, but because we invested the time to learn from the past and considered how to apply lessons learned. In that spirit, here are critical questions and lessons (slides) to bring forward from this week’s practice of remembrance. Discuss each with your group.

Idaho BLM Physical Training (PT) Fatality:

  • Medical emergencies can occur during routine daily tasks, like during PT. How is your unit prepared to respond to medical emergencies on and off the fireline? Consider skills, equipment, and training.

Sierra Fire:

  • Is our behavior of accepting risk variable? Do we decline a certain level of risk one day and accept it another day? For example: on initial attack vs. when homes are at risk vs. on a slow, remote fire.
  • How do you decide whether "the juice is worth the squeeze?"

Frog Fire:

  • Firefighters cannot always process the raw data coming at them at a given moment. Instead, what a person pays attention to is a function of identity, past experiences, and one’s own understanding of their purpose. These are human factors in the fire environment.
  • There is an expectation and unwritten agreement with the American public that firefighters will put out wildfires as best we can before they cause problems. This adds pressure into our risk calculus.

De Soto Helicopter Crash:

  • In our uncertain operational environment, the measure of any given risk may be unknowable.
  • Acknowledging that helicopter accidents happen requires us to focus equally on response planning as on prevention.

Twisp River Fire:

  • On expanding incidents, crews get asked to provide leadership staffing and fill needed roles. Does your crew have a “draw down” limit? Does capacity to “loan out” positions change based on fire conditions/complexity?

References:

Category
Week of Remembrance

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NWCG Latest Announcements

RMC Safety Bulletin 26-001: Rhabdomyolysis in Wildland Firefighters

Date:  May 28, 2026
Questions? 
Please contact: Risk Management Committee

The Risk Management Committee (RMC) has issued Safety Bulletin 26-001: Rhabdomyolysis in Wildland Firefighters. Research from 2016 to 2025 shows that 88 cases of rhabdomyolysis (rhabdo) were reported. Analysis of reports from eSafety, the Safety Management Information System (SMIS), and the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center (LLC) indicates that rhabdo is common during this time of year due to Work Capacity Tests and contributing factors such as weather, hydration, nutrition, and medication or supplement use.

RMC issued this safety bulletin to raise awareness in the Wildland Fire Community, and to provide research findings and educational resources that support reducing future cases of rhabdo.

References:

NWCG Alerts

RMC Safety Bulletin 26-001: Rhabdomyolysis in Wildland Firefighters

NEW! D-110, Expanded Dispatch Recorder Course Available Now

Date:  May 15, 2026
Questions? 
Please contact: Dispatch Position and Curriculum Management Subcommittee

NWCG is pleased to announce the new D-110, Expanded Dispatch Recorder (Instructor-led) course is now available on the Wildland Fire Learning Portal (WFLP). Developed through the National Coordination System Committee, this course introduces the structure and function of expanded dispatch, the qualities of an effective dispatcher, and provides hands-on experience with the Interagency Resource Ordering Capability (IROC) system. 

The D-110, Expanded Dispatch Recorder course aligns with the competencies and duties outlined in the NWCG Incident Position Standards for Expanded Dispatch Recorder, PMS 350-59, and is designed for individuals with no prior experience who may be called upon to support dispatch operations.

References:

D-110, Expanded Dispatch Recorder (Instructor-Led)

Expanded Dispatch Recorder (EDRC), Position Page

NWCG Incident Position Standards for Expanded Dispatch Recorder, PMS 350-59

Wildland Fire Learning Portal

Leadership Committee IAP Flyer Now Available

Date:  May 8, 2026
Questions? 
Please contact: Leadership Committee

The NWCG Leadership Committee promotes and enables leadership development across the wildland fire service. The committee provides education, training opportunities, and support for leadership innovation and best practices throughout the community.

A new IAP flyer is now available on the committee website, offering an overview of the products, curriculum, and learning opportunities the Leadership Committee develops. This resource is ideal for posting in your office, sharing with new employees, or distributing through your incident management teams to engage new voices in the leadership journey and reinforce a culture of self‑reflection, development, and growth.

References:

Leadership Committee 2026 IAP Flyer

Incident Operations Subcommittee Updates the Next Generation Position Task Book for FFT1

Date:  May 7, 2026
Questions? 
Please contact: Incident Operations Subcommittee

The NWCG Incident Operations Subcommittee (IOSC) has updated the NWCG Position Task Book for Firefighter Type 1 (Squad Boss) (FFT1), PMS 311‑14. The FFT1 Position Task Book transitioned to the Next Generation (Next Gen PTB) format in June 2025 through the Incident Performance and Training Modernization effort. Since then, IOSC has received feedback from the wildland fire community regarding coding for one of the tasks. Task #13 has been updated to include the option of evaluation in a simulation.

See IOSC Memorandum 26‑01: Transition Plan for Implementation of Updates to the NWCG Position Task Book for Firefighter Type 1 (Squad Boss) (FFT1), PMS 311‑14 for more information.

References:

IOSC Memorandum 26-01: Transition Plan for Implementation of Updates to the NWCG Position Task Book for Firefighter Type 1

NWCG Firefighter Type 1 Squad Boss Position Page