Firefighter Safety
Visit retreat webpage.
The Zen Community of Oregon is offering this mindfulness-based retreat for Wildland Firefighters as a way to give back to these communities and to support our first responders. This 6-day retreat is intended to help provide refuge, rest and renewal as well as trauma-sensitive training in mindfulness, meditation and Sensory Awareness. There will be a day of work to help to care for Great Vow Zen Monastery, and to integrate mindfulness practice into fire prevention and working on the land.
The retreat will include time to walk the woodland trails (as weather permits), be nourished with home cooked meals, and soak up the contemplative environment and deep support of this location. There will also be two follow-up monthly Zoom calls in small groups after the retreat.
Nomination form.
This nomination form is designed to collect the necessary information for candidates interested in participating in the NWCG RX-300 Prescribed Fire Burn Boss course. This form will capture key details about the nominee’s qualifications, experience, and current role to ensure they meet the prerequisites for the course. Your responses will help us assess eligibility and prioritize enrollment based on the needs of the training cohort. Write N/A for questions that do not pertain to you.
View factsheet.
While inconvenient for your average hiker or boater, major shifts in the weather can be deadly for firefighters. Longer and more intense fire seasons make accurate and timely weather predictions crucial to firefighter safety. To answer this need, the Fire Weather Alert System (FWAS) was developed by Jason Forthofer, Research Mechanical Engineer, and Natalie Wagenbrenner, Research Meteorologist, both from the Rocky Mountain Research Station’s Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. The FWAS is a mobile app that gathers weather data from many sources into a single convenient space and provides firefighters with individualized, easy-to-use, and timely weather alerts on their phones.
View article.
Compared with other models, the escape routes planned by the final improved model not only effectively avoid wildfires, but also provide relatively short travel time and reliable safety. This study ensures sufficient safety margins for firefighters escaping in wildfire environments. The escape route model described in this study offers a broader perspective on the study of escape route planning.
View article.
Wildland firefighters are likely to experience heightened risks to safety, health, and overall well-being as changing climates increase the frequency and intensity of exposure to natural hazards. Working at the intersection of natural resource management and emergency response, wildland firefighters have multidimensional careers that often incorporate elements from disparate fields to accomplish the tasks of suppressing and preventing wildfires. Thus, they have distinctly different job duties than other firefighters (e.g., structural firefighters) and experience environmental health risks that are unique to their work. We conducted a systematic scoping review of scientific literature that addresses wildland firefighter environmental health. Our goal was to identify studies that specifically addressed wildland firefighters (as opposed to firefighters in a broader sense), geographic and demographic trends, sample sizes, patterns in analysis, and common categories of research.
View article.
Federal agencies responsible for wildland fire management face increasing needs for personnel as fire seasons lengthen and fire size continues to grow, yet federal agencies have struggled to recruit and retain firefighting
personnel. While many have speculated that long seasons, challenging working conditions, and low wages contribute to recruitment and retention challenges, there has been no empirical investigation of these claims. We
assemble a unique dataset on the federally funded Interagency Hotshot Crews in the Western United States, which are comprised of highly qualified firefighters, from 2012 to 2018 to analyze the factors that affect firefighter retention. Using a Cox proportional hazard model, we find that a higher workload, a proxy for higher earnings, and cumulative experience over the course of an employee’s career both have a significant positive impact on retention. The wage of alternative occupations had no significant effect on retention. Retention decreases over the study period.
Webinar recording.
Topic: Firefighter Exposures and Efficacy of Interventions
Presenter: Paul White
Delve into the unique health exposures faced by firefighters and learn about the current state of research on the effectiveness of interventions to mitigate exposure. Paul White will share valuable insights into improving occupational safety and health outcomes for firefighters.
Webinar recording.
Topic: Resiliency and Residual in Mission Critical Roles
Join Preston Cline as he discusses the importance of protecting your mental health and building resilience when working in mission critical roles, especially during challenging situations like wildland fires.
Webinar recording.
Land management-focused panel discussion hosted by the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station.
Join us for a live virtual panel session with social scientists and communicators in a conversation about public perceptions and social acceptance associated with Wildfire Crisis planning and implementation. This facilitated panel discussion will be guided by your questions.