Apologies if this has been posted somewhere before.
@wfapdude got me remembering.
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Not sure how this video landed on you - let me tell you how it landed with me..
I was in my 2nd or 3rd Basic 32 class when first saw the bootleged un-edited newschanel b-roll of it. We’re talking betamax tape! It was used at that time as (what i would later learn to call) a “propaganda video” to “sell” us on carrying a fireshelter at all times. Similar to how the Butte Fire Shelter video was used back before “look up, look down, look around” was even a term / idea in fire training.
It was much later in my careen before the real learning potential behind both those videos - and others like them - resolved into focus. I became a little bitter after realising how much learning potential was wasted by using videos (those stories) as a scare tactic to make us carry shelters! Back then the fire shelter was still relatively new on the scene & mandatory cary was a fresh directive! Believe it or not there was great resistance back then to do so!
The moment Eagle really clicked for me was in my Fire Academy and a tactics unit that Bob Bell & Robert J Kafka were teaching. They were part of the North Zone S-290 Cadre and they opened my eyes to lessons i needed but had missed for many years - all because of how i looked at that incident. It was thru the lense of “mistakes” that i first observed that incident and i was stuck in that viewpoint until Bob & Bob helped me see it from a tactical & human factor viewpoint.
Same for the Butte Fire Shelter Deployment video. It was many years into my career before i learned that there were other resources in that same piece of ground who did not have to ride it out in shelters when stuff hit the fan. In fact they expected it and were prepared for it to do what it did because of fire behavior on previous shifts, current & expected weather, fuel types, topographic influences & trigger points that were reached. Nobody talks about that stuff in the original video - its all about 75+ who survived a burnover in a shelter to prove to us that shelters worked! Thankfully that content isnt used in the same way today as it was in the late 80’s & early 90’s.
So.. when i reflect on the Eagle Fire lessons today i’m still struck by 4 things..
1 - i still get a feeling of relief that those who suffered severe injuries (as horrible & traumatic as they certanaly were/are) were not fatalities.
2 - fighting escarpment fires aint easy & the Wx associated with huge mtns on one side and a big flat area to the east is as fascinating to learn about as it is scary when it wants to be.
3 - when you pull up to the 15000’ view and realize resources were literally making a stand next to an enormous flat lakebed (albeit dry at the time) forever made me do constant tactical re-evaluations whenever i asked people/resources to make a stand for the rest of my career.
4 - IAP cover that day depicting exactly what was to come - pay attention to your IAP cover pages, sometimes they illustrate the watchout situations to come!
Seeing that video & learning that story and the lessons that came from it left a mark on me and made me a better firefighter & fire manager on the LMU, LNF and other places too. It also helped me to be a better instructor and teacher of fire behavior & human factors.
End of report..
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Back when IMETs were plentiful, I made it a point to stop by the food trailer, pick up some extra donuts, and walk over to the met trailer for a face-to-face, even after briefing. We would talk some shop, and then I would ask about my line.
Conversely, when shift was over, I would come back and show them my weather logs, if I had time to write them.
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That type of interaction is super critical, beneficial, and lacking in today’s world. Take the time to learn and to teach. Thanks to all that have come over to get face time with the IMET and FBANs. Keep bringing in those weather observations!
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A good friend of mine was on the TCU engine out of Arnold that was burned over. Spent a month at UC Davis burn unit. Fast forward 10 years I was going to take Doug Cambell’s class back when Asylomar was still running classes. We had to come to class with a with a burn over or near miss. I thought of the Eagle so went to my old CF station to get the Green Sheet. What I found was interesting, the day before there was another entrapment two engines and a dozer. Fortunately no injuries. Long story short we need to learn from past events. Large fire whirls are a regular occurrence on the east side of the Sierra. Usually late afternoon so if you are on a fire there figure it’s going to happen and have a escape plan.
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Coincidentally, today’s (July 10, 2026) Red Flag Warning for eastern Lassen County forecasts similar if not worse fire weather conditions as the day of the Eagle Fire.
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