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

WFSTAR 2025 Core Components Module Package

Local Topics

• Fire Year In Review 2024

   

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  • Revisit significant events and statistics from the 2024 fire season. Identify lessons learned to prepare for the future. Explore intelligence sources to independently enhance big picture situational awareness.

Vehicle Safety Operations

• Module (Driving the Miles)
  • This module explores the risk exposure associated with operating vehicles during wildland fire assignments. In it, we review rapid lesson sharing of vehicle incidents and common factors that caused them. In the end we hear from a Superintendent of an Interagency Hotshot Crew who addresses human factors, driving watch outs, and standard operating procedures to provide for driving safety within the wildland firefighting community.
     

Incident Reviews and Lessons Learned

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   Module (Bench Lake Fire Immersive Case Study)

  • A case study about a successful firefighting operation near Stanely, Idaho. Fire managers and support personnel protected a community from a threatening wildfire. This case study examines what factors and decisions led to their success and how we might emulate that success in future operations.
• Module (Duvall Creek IWI Case Study)
  • A case study involving a medical extrication on a wildfire in western Oregon. The person in charge of the extrication had to decide the best method to get the patient to definitive medical care. This case study examines their decision and the factors they had to consider.

Fire and Aviation Operational Safety

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   Module (Line Is Clear)

  • Build a knowledge base by listening to three aerial firefighting experts explain best practices when utilizing aerial resources and clarify what it means for a line to be clear.
• Module (Short-haul Capabilities and Limitations)
  • Understanding the capabilities and limitations of Short-haul operations will help you utilize a Short-haul resource effectively. Whether you’re a Duty Officer responsible for deciding what type of resource to send to a new incident in a remote area, or you are a first-year crewmember awaiting your first fire assignment, this module will help you make informed decisions in the field by providing insight into Short-haul operations relevant to all wildland firefighters.

Human Factors, Communication, and Decision Making

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   Module (Unmanned Aircraft Systems Capabilities and Limitations)

  • Agency operated Unmanned Aircraft Systems are becoming more prevalent and more capable every year. This video is designed to provide all firefighters with a baseline understanding of UAS capabilities and limitations. Through that lens the video covers typing, communications, integration in the Fire Traffic Area, decision making when ordering, and updates in the NWCG Incident Response Pocket Guide (IRPG), PMS 461.
• Module (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.

Fire Shelters and Entrapment Avoidance

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• PMS 411 Web Portal
• Next Gen Fire Shelter

Resources

• RT-130, WFSTAR Overview.
• WFSTAR Catalog - 109 WFSTAR modules to choose from.
• NWCG YouTube with WFSTAR module videos.
• Fire Behavior Field Reference Guide, PMS 437 - Observing Fire Weather section.
• Infectious Disease Guidance for Wildland Fire Incidents, guidance from NWCG Emergency Medical Committee.
• Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center.
• NWCG Fire Shelter and Personal Protective Equipment Subcommittee - See the fire shelter section.