Development of an improved wildland fire shelter

摘要

The fire shelter is an element of personal protective equipment used by wildland firefighters in the United States to protect against heat injury in the event of entrapment in a wildfire. The current fire shelter has been used for about 30 years with few changes in design. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and other Federal wildland firefighting agencies in the United States determined that an improved fire shelter was needed for better protection from flames and convective heat. This paper examines the process used by the Forest Service’s Missoula Technology and Development Center to assess the performance of new fire shelters and fire shelter materials and to offer options to Federal agencies with wildland firefighting responsibilities.