NGO Security Scenario #21 - The Heat is On

You are a program manager for a forestry project in South America, spending a few weeks in the Western United States observing wildland firefighting operations. You are at a large fire camp. Drought conditions and high winds have caused several fires to increase in size and become unpredictable. Click the play button to see what happens next.



What are the primary threats? How much risk is there? What actions would you take? As the smoke gets thicker, it becomes difficult to breath. Would placing a wet bandanna over your face help? Share your thoughts by clicking on COMMENTS below.

Note: A PowerPoint presentation (in PDF format) by the Incident Commander discussing the event, with lots of photos, is here. Contrast what you see in the video with the description of the actual incident. The U.S. Forest Service, and the wildland fire community in general, do an excellent job of post-incident analysis and making lessons learned widely known. The humanitarian community could learn a lot in developing similar practices for safety and security incidents.