Fire today ManagementVolume 62 • No. 4 • Fall 2002 DUDE FIREIRE STAFF RIDEIDE United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Fire Management Today is published by the Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC. The Secretary of Agriculture has determined that the publication of this periodical is necessary in the transaction of the public business required by law of this Department. Fire Management Today is for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, at: Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: 202-512-1800 Fax: 202-512-2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-0001 Fire Management Today is available on the World Wide Web at <http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/fire_new/fmt/>. Ann M. Veneman, Secretary April J. Baily U.S. Department of Agriculture General Manager Dale Bosworth, Chief Robert H. “Hutch” Brown, Ph.D. Forest Service Managing Editor Jerry Williams, Director Madelyn Dillon Fire and Aviation Management Editor Dave Thomas Issue Coordinator The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Disclaimer: The use of trade, firm, or corporation names in this publication is for the information and convenience of the reader. Such use does not constitute an official endorsement of any product or service by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Individual authors are responsible for the technical accuracy of the material presented in Fire Management Today. 2 Fire Management Today Fire today Management Volume 62 • No. 4 • Fall 2002 CONTENTS On the Cover: Dude Fire Staff Ride ................................................ 4 Dave Thomas and Wayne Cook What’s a Staff Ride? ............................................... 6 Paul Keller Human Factors in Fire Behavior Analysis: Reconstructing the Dude Fire ............................. 8 Karl E. Weick Walk Back Into Tragedy: A Quantum Leap Forward ... 16 Paul Keller Site of the 1990 Dude Why Don’t We Just Leave the Fireline?.................... 22 Fire on the Mogollon Robert W. Mutch Rim in Arizona, where six firefighters died in a The Staff Ride Approach to Wildland Fire Behavior blowup. A participant and Firefighter Safety Awareness Training: reflects upon his feelings A Commentary ................................................ 25 and experiences follow­ Martin E. Alexander ing the Dude Fire Staff Next Steps in Wildland Fire Management................. 31 Ride in 1999. Photo: Jerry Williams USDA Forest Service, Book Review: Managing the Unexpected .................. 36 Missoula Technology Dave Iverson Development Center, Book Review: How the Way We Talk Can Change Missoula, MT, 1999. the Way We Work........................................... 38 Jim Saveland Moose Fire: The Historical Perspective .................... 42 Stephen W. Barrett Estimating Canopy Fuels in Conifer Forests .............. 45 Joe H. Scott and Elizabeth D. Reinhardt The FIRE 21 symbol (shown below and on the cover) stands for the safe and effective use of Texas Volunteer Firefighters Benefit From New wildland fire, now and throughout the 21st century. Its shape represents the fire triangle Legislation ...................................................... 51 (oxygen, heat, and fuel). The three outer red Traci Bowen triangles represent the basic functions of wildland fire organizations (planning, operations, and aviation management), and the three critical Bullets to Buckets: Florida’s New Helicopter............. 53 aspects of wildland fire management (prevention, Sylvia Melvin suppression, and prescription). The black interior represents land affected by fire; the emerging A Unique Aviation Tool for Firefighting ...................... 55 green points symbolize the growth, restoration, and sustainability associated with fire-adapted Jill Evans ecosystems. The flame represents fire itself as an ever-present force in nature. For more informa­ tion on FIRE 21 and the science, research, and innovative thinking behind it, contact Mike SHORT FEATURES Apicello, National Interagency Fire Center, 208-387-5460. Websites on Fire................................................... 37 Safety First! ......................................................... 57 Ed Hollenshead Three Small Smokes .............................................. 57 Stephen W. Barrett Firefighter and public safety is Guidelines for Contributors..................................... 58 our first priority. Annual Photo Contest............................................ 59 Volume 62 • No. 4 • Fall 2002 3 DUDE FIRE STAFF RIDE Dave Thomas and Wayne Cook he theme of this issue of Fire Management Today is the staff A staff ride brings soldiers back to the T ride, a concept of organizational scene of old battles, whether won or lost, learning used for over a century by to directly reexperience the strategy the U.S. military, and how it was applied to the 1990 Dude Fire, a and tactics used on the battlefield. 24,174-acre (9,783-ha) fatal forest fire that burned near the Mogollon Rim in Arizona. • Wildland fires are complex organizational psychologist at the natural events that commonly University of Michigan who has Staff Ride defy honest attempts to think studied how firefighters behaved through and understand them; during blowups on the Mann Gulch At its simplest level, a staff ride • Hindsight often creates mis- and South Canyon Fires, cautioned brings soldiers back to the scene of perceptions of what actually the participants not to come too old battles, whether won or lost, to occurred on a fire; and quickly to conclusions about the directly reexperience the strategy • The root cause of the Dude Fire causes of the fatalities. From the and tactics used on the battlefield. tragedy may never be fully fire’s historical artifacts and the Custer’s defeat at the Little Big known. talks, each individual began fram­ Horn, Chief Joseph’s skirmish at the ing a mental picture of the reasons Big Hole River in Montana, and the The lessons learned by participants for the Dude Fire fatalities. Civil War battles at Gettysburg and in a staff ride are usually individual, Antietam are staff rides regularly personal, not easily categorized, and In This Issue conducted today to train soldiers. filled with emotion. The expectation The essays, articles, and book is that individuals will form their With the Dude Fire Staff Ride, we reviews that follow all derived from own conclusions and then, after the experience of attending the applied the framework of the talking and listening to other military staff ride to a plume- Dude Fire Staff Ride. Dr. Marty participants, form a shared vision of Alexander, a fire behavior research dominated wildland fire that blew what happened. up outside of Payson, AZ, in June scientist for the Canadian Forest Service, provides a timely critique 1990, killing six firefighters. This Before walking the old brushed-in staff ride was part of a national of the concept of the staff ride, firelines of the Dude Fire, staff ride including a discussion of both its interagency fire behavior workshop participants were given the raw in Phoenix, AZ, in March 1999. strong and its weak points. Dr. Karl materials of the fire’s history—shift Weick’s talk on the evening before plans, weather forecasts, fire the staff ride is included. Paul The staff ride is not a lecture or behavior and fire danger predic­ field trip. The basic assumptions Keller, formerly with the Zigzag tions, maps, video footage, and Hotshot Crew and the official used in developing the Dude Fire photographs. The night before Staff Ride were: writer/editor for the Dude Fire Staff going to the actual fire site, stu­ Ride, captured many of the conver­ dents heard talks on the history of • There may be no one correct sations and speeches on both the the staff ride from Glenn Robinson, fire site and during the final closing answer or chain of events leading author of The Staff Ride, a booklet up to the fatalities; dialogue in Phoenix. Thankfully, he that describes what a staff ride is was able to record the closing talk and how it is put together. Dr. Dave Dave Thomas is the regional fuels specialist of the fire behavior workshop, Bob for the USDA Forest Service, Intermountain Cleaves, of the USDA Forest Mutch’s heartfelt personal account Region, Ogden, UT; and Wayne Cook is a Service’s Washington Office fire of what the Dude Fire Staff Ride technology transfer specialist for the Forest research branch, spoke on deci­ meant to him. Service, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory, sionmaking. Dr. Karl Weick, an Missoula, MT. 4 Fire Management Today We have also included two book The next staff ride is being planned However, one group of people must reviews, though not directly about in conjunction with an interna­ be singled out for special thanks: staff rides or fire suppression, that tional fire use conference for the personnel of the Payson