Lessons from Yarnell Hill

It was just a little more than a year ago that 19 firefighters were killed by the Yarnell Hill wildfire in central Arizona. Only one member of the Granite Mountain hotshot team survived the tragedy, which is the largest single loss-of-life event for firefighters since Sept. 11, 2001.

A report was put out about the fire and about the deaths that took a very different but helpful approach compared to past major-fire reports. Rather than looking back with hindsight, the report looked into foresight - tried to understand what the crew saw on the ground, how they processed the information that was available and the actions they took, and use that information moving forward to enhance fire science training for those on the fireground - in situations with limited visibility, limited resources and high risks.

The bottom line, as far was what happened, is that hindsight doesn't really matter - based on the facts gathered, the firefighters did absolutely nothing wrong; they adhered to all protocols and procedures, and did what any reasonable firefighter would have done in that situation.

The report says it "does not identify causes in the traditional sense of pointing out errors, mistakes, and violations but approaches the accident from the perspective that risk is inherent in firefighting. Leaders are responsible for guiding firefighters in consideration of the trade-offs between safety, risk management, and other organizational goals. In this report, the Team tries to minimize the common human trait of hindsight bias, which is often associated with traditional accident reviews and investigations."

The report was crafted in a way that may make the Yarnell Hill fire a true learning opportunity for wildfire crews in the future, and improving our firefighting skill and techniques as a result of the report just might be the best way to pay honor and respect to the 19 who gave their lives.

You can see the report here. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B36DIycSgbzWSUtjNkl1Z2ROT0k/edit