Wildland Firefighting: Everyone Goes Home, a video produced by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, is a story that honors friends and can save the lives of others. Wildland firefighters including members of the U.S. Forest Service, crew chiefs and managers share their story and the pain that many have carried for nearly 19 years.
Fourteen elite wildland firefighters, including hotshots, smokejumpers and two helitak firefighters didn't come back from the July, 1994 South Canyon Fire on Storm King Mountain. The stories of those who did return provide a compelling story. It also shows how organizations are forced to reevaluate their culture in the light of overwhelming evidence that change must occur.
Filmed in Boise, Idaho by Rob Maloney of CoolWater Multi Media, Wildland Firefighting: Everyone Goes Home shows the impact of this devastating blow to the wildland firefighting community. Veteran wildland firefighters explain the changes that came in the aftermath of the fire and newer forest service firefighters tell how this loss of life is shaping their careers.
"We must continue to learn from the incidents that take the fire services greatest resource, our firefighters," said Ron Siarnicki, NFFF executive director. "The lessons in this film help ensure those 14 firefighters are not forgotten and that their sacrifice was not in vain."
Wildland Firefighting: Everyone Goes Home was made possible by a FEMA Fire Prevention & Safety Grant and partnerships with the Wildland Firefighter Foundation and the US Forest Service.
