By Joanna Dodder Nellans
The Daily Courier
PRESCOTT, Ariz. — Kneeling beside the body of one of the firefighters who perished in Arizona’s 1990 Dude wildfire, the legendary late Paul Gleason made a promise to help prevent such deaths in the future. Gleason, a Zigzag Hotshot crew superintendent at the time, then came up with a simple acronym that every trained wildland firefighter in this country knows and remembers today. LCES 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.
Full Story: Ariz. Wildfire Academy aims to ensure firefighters learn from past tragedies