Wildland Fire Knowledge: the syllabus

Fuels, weather, and terrain: the fire behaviour triangle

Agency knowledge screening leans hard on the fire behaviour triangle, S-100 and S-130 level courses build their fire behaviour units around fuels, weather, and topography, and crew bosses expect members to predict where a fire will run before it does.

Reading danger: extreme fire behaviour

Recognizing blow-up conditions is a life-safety outcome that agency screening quizzes return to again and again, S-100 and S-130 level courses drill the warning signs, and crew bosses expect any member, however junior, to speak up the moment they see one.

LACES and staying alive

LACES is the single most examined acronym in wildland firefighting: agency knowledge screening asks for it letter by letter, S-100 and S-130 level courses treat it as the core safety system, and crew bosses expect every member to know their escape routes and safety zone before the first tool hits dirt.

Hand tools, pumps, and water delivery

Tool and pump questions fill the equipment sections of agency knowledge screening, S-100 and S-130 level courses spend full field days on hose lays and portable pumps, and crew bosses expect a new member to carry a tool safely and lay hose correctly in their first week.

Radios, ICS, and crew life

Agencies screen for communication and organization basics because wildland crews live inside the Incident Command System all season, S-100 and S-130 level courses introduce radio procedure and ICS on the first days, and crew bosses expect clean radio traffic and instant clarity about who reports to whom.