HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FIRE SHELTER

Sent in by Dick Mangan, 03/21/03

1958 Australians start their shelter work with a bell-shaped shelter using an aluminum foil/glass cloth laminate.

1959 Australians test bell shape, develop A-frame shape; then drop bell shape design due to superior performance of A-frame.

USFS Missoula Equipment Development Center (MEDC - now MTDC) starts fire shelter and fire resistant (FR) clothing development.

1960 MEDC publishes it's first report on reflective blankets and FR clothing.

1961 MEDC develops drawings and specifications for cone-shaped shelter and purchases prototypes on a General Services Administration (GSA) contract. Shelters were aluminized kraft paper, and weighed 3.4 lbs. Shelters are folded and rolled into a 14 x 3-1/2 inch diameter roll and contained in an orange cotton canvas case with a white cotton belt. Australians and MEDC exchange ideas and shelters. (See photos at bottom of page.)

1962 Australians test A-frame and MEDC cone-shaped shelters. A-frame design and materials are shown to be clearly superior.

1963 MEDC revises cone-shaped fire shelters.

Australians improve design of A-frame shaped shelter.

1964 Data and shelters exchanged between Australians and MEDC.

1965 MEDC tests Australian A-frame shaped shelter.

1966 MEDC adapts A-frame shape and develops drawings and specifications for purchasing prototypes. Shelter uses aluminum foil/glass cloth laminate with a kraft paper barrier inner liner. Shelter weighs 4.3 lbs and is accordion folded into a 14 x 6 x 3 inch package with orange case and attached belt for carrying.

1967 Interim purchase description is developed for first large buy of 6000 shelters. In mid-contract the requirements are switched to use a higher temperature DuPont adhesive for the laminate. Added an instruction sheet and a carrying pocket to carrying case to carry the instruction sheet. This is essentially the same laminate foil that will be used until the M-2002 shelter is developed.

1974 Eliminate kraft paper barrier liner. Add creep and peel tests to specification. Add Spanish translation to instruction sheet.

1976 Battlement Creek Fire entrapment results in three fatalities.

1977 Forest Service makes it mandatory that all Forest Service firefighters carry a fire shelter.

1978 Start toxicity testing developmental work.

1979 Toxic shelters discovered in field and recalled.

1980 First edition of "Inspecting Your Fire Shelter" pamphlet released.

1981 Toxicity, TGA and IR tests become specification requirements to prevent use of adhesives that release toxics when heated. Change design of the way the fire shelter is folded and the case to a yellow nylon case. Add hold-down flaps to inside edges of shelters. Shelter now packaged in clear plastic polyvinyl bag with a single red tab welded to a scored tear strip on one side.

1985 Brittle shelters that crack discovered in field. Due to no replacements available, these are kept in service with increased inspections.

1986 Add break/rupture test to eliminate brittle laminates. Replaced red pull tab on tear strip with a large red pull ring.

1989 Add polyethylene semi-rigid liner to carrying case to increase shelter field life by 300% to 400%.

1990 Increase carrying case size and add larger hook and pile opening handle.

First edition of "Your Fire Shelter - Beyond the Basics" released.

Dude Fire entrapment, 6 fatalities.

1991 Start shelter redesign effort for new sizes and shape as well as new materials.

1993 NFPA 1977 (1993 edition), takes effect, cites Forest Service specifications for the Fire Shelter.

1994 Redesign polyvinyl bag into "U" shape bag with a continuous scored pull strip with a red pull ring welded to each end.

South Canyon Fire, 14 fatalities.

1995 First field testing of fire shelters when exposed to direct flame contact.

1996 Field testing of fire shelters in Florida and California to determine the actual fire environment to be expected in a fire entrapment.

1997 MTDC first participates in live fire testing of fire shelters in conjunction with the Canadian Northwest Territories (NWT) Crown Fire Experiments, the purpose is to continue gathering information on the actual fire environment of a fire and the behavior of various materials when exposed to this environment.

1998 MTDC continues NWT testing. Add handle to polyvinyl bag, the yellow carrying case is redesigned to mate with this handle.

NFPA 1977 (1998 edition) takes effect and still cites Forest Service specifications for fire shelter. In addition, the requirement that certification to NFPA requirements now include ISO 9000 registration. Due to the lack of contractors that are ISO registered, fire shelters purchased by the Forest Service are no longer required to be NFPA compliance certified.

1999 MTDC continues NWT testing.

2000 Problem with pull strip separating before completely tearing the polyvinyl bag open are determined to be far worse than previously believed. Safety alert issued nationally to require partial opening of pull strips on all fire shelters. The polyvinyl bag is redesigned to incorporate a red pull ring strip welded to polyvinyl bag along entire length of scored pull strip on polyvinyl bag. Rebagging of old fire shelters in new design of polyvinyl bag is begun.

2002 MTDC announces that the Model 2002 Fire Shelter is ready for production. The M-2002 Fire Shelter is composed of three laminates - a quartz fiber/aluminum laminate for the outer layer, a fiberglass/aluminum laminate for the inner layer, and a lighter quartz fiber/aluminum laminate for the floor. The shape is redesigned to be a half-round with quarter-dome ends, the floor has a reinforced entrance hole, and there are handles along one edge to facilitate deployment.

Historical Fire Shelter Photos: 
Early Shelter Test 1, 
Early Shelter Test 2, 
Early Shelter Test 3, 
Early Shelter Test 4

Historical Note from Backburnfs:

With 2004 being the 200th anniversary of the “Corps of Discovery” (Lewis and Clark) expedition I thought I would read the “Journals of Lewis and Clark”. I think I may have come across the first recorded (Western) wildland fire fatality investigation as well as the first use of a fire shelter.

In William Clark’s entry for October 29, 1804, an incident is recorded near Ft. Mandan, North Dakota.

“The Prarie was Set on fire (or cought by accident) by a young man of the Mandins, the fire went with such velocity that it burnt to death a man & woman, who Could not get to any place of Safty, one man a woman &Child much burnt and Several narrowly escaped the flame. a boy half white was saved unhurt in the midst of the flaim” ….”The couse of his being Saved was a Green buffalow Skin was thrown over him by his mother who perhaps had more fore Sight for the pertection of her Son, and [l]ess for herself than those who escaped the flame, the Fire did not burn under the Skin leaveing the grass round the boy. This fire passed our camp last [night] about 8 oClock P.M. it went with great rapitidity and looked Tremendious”.

The goofy spelling is right out of the book.
“The Journals of Lewis and Clark” copyright, 1953. Edited by Bernard De Voto,.
Houghton Mifflin Company
215 Park Avenue South, NY, NY 10003