About Us

Our mission is to promote learning in the wildland fire service by providing useful and relevant products and services that help to reveal the complexity and risk in the wildland fire environment.

The Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center was established in 2002. It was born of the Human Factors Workshop and TriData Study (1998)—two milestone efforts undertaken in the wake of the 1994 fire season which saw 34 firefighters killed in the line of duty. Fire leaders from all agencies recognized that risk cannot always be eliminated, and learning is vital to thriving in high-risk environments. From this recognition, the Center was created to serve as the focal point for organizational learning. 

The Center operates as a national, interagency, federally-funded organization with interagency staffing. It is an integral part of the interagency fire program created to facilitate a learning culture on behalf of all agencies with wildland fire responsibilities whether local, state, Tribal, or federal. 

The center staff strives to enhance safe work performance and organizational learning for all wildland firefighters. 

The Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center is a reflection of the wildland fire community’s commitment to honor through learning.