RT-130, Wildland Fire Safety Training Annual Refresher (WFSTAR)

Country Fire Deployment Case Study

A case study involving a shelter deployment on a fire near Sacramento, California. An engine responding to an initial attack call was burned over after conditions rapidly and dramatically changed fire behavior. The two crewmembers were forced to use their fire shelters to survive. This case study examines the situation and their decisions.

Category: Case Studies

Core Component(s):

Local Topics, Incident Reviews and Lessons Learned, Fire Shelters and Entrapment Avoidance

Estimated Delivery Time: 1 hour

Video Length: 11:20

Intent

Review the decisions and outcome of the two engine crewmembers arriving on the scene of an initial attack fire. Understand how quickly situations can change on a fireline and how quickly a firefighter might have to make life-or-death decisions.

Facilitator Preparation

Review the video, module tools, and additional resources linked below.
Consider additional activities and discussion questions pertinent to your location and agency.
Guide discussion based on the Risk Management Process and the the NWCG Incident Response Pocket Guide (IRPG), PMS 461. Provide copies of the IRPG for students to utilize and answer questions.

Facilitating the Discussion

Show the video.
Facilitate a discussion using the Discussion Questions below.
(Optional) Conduct additional activities pertinent to your location.
Discuss group responses.

Discussion Questions

Situation

What are some common denominators of fire behavior on tragedy fires? Consult your IRPG and compare those denominators to this incident.
What watchout situations were present in the beginning?
When the engine arrived the fire was estimated at 3-5 acres. The firefighters approached toward one of the flanks. What happened to quickly change the situation?

Discussion

The firefighters on this engine tried all of their options:
1. First, they tried to escape.
2. When that option failed, they sheltered in their vehicle.
3. When they realized that was no longer a viable option, they resorted to their fire shelters.
Do you think they made the right choices? What would you have done?
Consult and discuss the “Last Resort Survival” section of your IRPG.
If time allows, read the incident summary (link below) for more details.

Application

Consider your local unit.
1. What sort of terrain is in your area? How might that influence potential fire behavior there?
2. What special precautions or considerations might exist in your area?
3. What SMEs (subject matter experts) may be available on your unit who may be able to offer more insight?

Resources

Document: CalFire Incident Summary
Publication: NWCG Incident Response Pocket Guide (IRPG), PMS 461

Additional Video Information

The video is also available as a download (zip file, size 998 MB) with .srt file for closed captioning (you may need to right click and Save As). For information on how to add closed captioning to a video, see this how to page.

Note: For Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, right click the word download and select Save Link As; for IE, right click and select Save Target As.

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Last Modified / Reviewed: February 13, 2026

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