Wildfire academy is stressing lessons learned the hard way

The legendary Gleason, a Zigzag Hotshot crew superintendent at the time, then came up with a memory aid that every trained wildland firefighter in this country knows and remembers today - LCES. It stands for lookouts, communication, escape routes and safety zones.

Lookouts watch out for wildfire behavior changes, communication lets firefighters on the ground know about approaching hazards, and escape routes help firefighters get away from dangerous situations and into safety zones.

To honor the Prescott-based Arizona Wildfire and Incident Management Academy's 10th year of passing on such lessons, the academy is placing a special emphasis on "Lessons Learned" this year and embarking on its own strategic plan for the future.

Academy coordinator Tony Sciacca said he came up with the "Lessons Learned" idea because it's also the 10th anniversary of the creation of the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center in Tucson.

"I wanted something meaningful this year, and I wanted to remind young firefighters that people have made the ultimate sacrifice," Sciacca said.

Academy Incident Commander Pete Gordon and Sciacca, both veteran wildland firefighters from Prescott, have learned many lessons throughout their long wildland firefighting careers.

Sciacca was present that fateful June 26, 1990, when six members of the Perryville state prison firefighting crew made the ultimate sacrifice in the Dude Fire a day after it ignited near Payson.

The Prescott Hot Shots and Sciacca, their foreman who was training as a safety officer, were among the eight crews in Walk Moore Canyon fighting the blaze near the Perryville crew that day.

Firefighters on the line had noted a few raindrops. Then came a strange calm right before the downburst hit and a fireball rolled into the canyon, fueled by 40- to 60-mph winds.

Firefighters ran for their lives on the line of cleared vegetation created by a bulldozer, their designated escape route. Some of the Perryville crew members were unable to outrun the flames. They deployed their fire shelters, but some still died.

A Central Yavapai Fire District water tender also was at the bottom of the canyon and got out just in time.

Cliff Pearlberg, the state's agency representative on the Dude Fire who now is a public information officer for state fire, said he remains haunted by the deaths. He remembers stopping his vehicle to cool his face with water from the creek when the fire weather changed.

"I learned that when you feel the air go still and you feel a couple raindrops and it just don't feel right, look out," Pearlberg said. "Look out. Check your weather. Talk to someone who can see the fire."

Thankfully, wildland firefighting lessons usually come from much less tragic circumstances than the Dude Fire.

Ted Ralston, Prescott Fire Department wildland code enforcement officer, learned that he should take advantage of nearby water sources such as summer camps.

Sometimes firefighters get to learn from successes, too.

Gordon points to the 2003 Aspen fire near Tucson, when he decided to draw in experts under his command to come up with a detailed burnout plan that helped halt the blaze.

A monument to the firefighters who died on the Dude Fire sits in front of Payson's Rim Country Museum.

"If you are a student of fire, maybe these things won't happen again," Sciacca said. "It's more important to me now to pass these things on than ever."

"I learned that when you feel the air go still and you feel a couple raindrops and it just don't feel right, look out. Look out. Check your weather. Talk to someone who can see the fire."

Cliff Pearlberg, public information officer for state fire