The Week of Remembrance (WOR) was established in 2014 based on the 7-day span between June 30th and July 6th—the respective dates of the Yarnell Hill and South Canyon Fire tragedies. Week of Remembrance 2026 continues the formal partnership between the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center and the 6 Minutes for Safety Subcommittee (6MSC, previously 6MFS) by recognizing fireline fatalities that occurred in the fire season 10 years prior. 2026 pays tribute to incidents from 2016 as follows:

• Day 1 will always pay homage to the Granite Mountain Hotshots who perished on the Yarnell Hill Fire and, this year, will also list the names of all wildland firefighters who died in the line of duty in 2016.
• Days 2 to 6 each take a closer look into the details and lessons of a specific event from 2016.
• Day 7 will always pay homage to those who perished on the South Canyon Fire and then offer final thoughts to close the week.

Throughout, the authors of this content aim to transmit value for our ground level firefighters by maintaining the WOR tradition of “honoring through learning.” As an expression of that tradition, we invite thoughtful discussion and a moment of silence each day this week.

The 2016 incidents in review are reflective of the fact that every year wildland firefighters face objective hazards, equipment failures, and accidents that are, in the moment, unstoppable. Collectively, as a fire organization, we rigorously plan-do-study-improve our training, protocols, standard operating procedures, policies, and equipment. We strive to reduce the number of tragedies in our work environment, yet some unstoppable events will keep happening. So, we also recruit something more powerful and much less tangible, which is an alert, engaged, safety-oriented fire culture.

Culture, a focus of Day 7, is a force greater than the sum of its parts. It has been said that “culture eats policy for breakfast.” Culture change will not prevent the unstoppable or resolve the gravity problem. But, if we take care to nurture our fire culture in a way that is directionally correct, it contains the potential energy to mitigate hazards and manage risk more effectively and broadly than any policy. In the context of the consolidation to a federal wildland fire service, this concept merits time and energy. Our cultural cohesion is being tested, and for all the good that can come from culture change, the reverse is also true.

6MSC may play only a small role in the culture creation of the wildland community, but we take immense ownership for our opportunity as a proactive culture influencer. The Subcommittee’s perspective is that our leverage as a cultural entity is in 1) providing accessible channels for firefighters to engage with, propose, and write 6MSC content, 2) vetting and refining firefighter ideas through subject matter expert input, and 3) developing discussion questions at the end of each daily topic that will instigate the kinds of pointed safety conversations that need to happen, but may not otherwise happen without prompting.

6MSC is reliant on the support, strength, and skill of volunteer committee members, the firefighters who submit ideas and feedback, our advisors, and NWCG leadership. Their willingness to participate in the platform’s growth and evolution so that it keeps pace with changing times brings us here today. Thank you to all who observe Week of Remembrance in solidarity with us—it is the collective observation of these events which give it power as a cultural commitment to honoring through learning.

References:

• Six Minutes for Safety Subcommittee
• Health and Wellness Subcommittee