I called on Chuck Whitlock to help me write this paper. I bounced many of my ideas off him because of his valuable knowledge of the firefighting community. A colleague, Raymond Gold, reviewed drafts of the paper and made suggestions that were to the point about sharing rules and game playing. I also used data from fire investigation reports, social science publications, popular books, fire handbooks, my own reports on Forest Service work crews, and my observations while on the investigation team at the Thirtymile Fire. Several insights in the paper arose from my ongoing involvement in a project at the Missoula Technology and Development Center, Avoiding Entrapment in Wildfire.

From our publications shop in the center, two additional people deserve special thanks. Bert Lindler patiently worked with me carefully critiquing and editing multiple drafts of the paper. Sara Lustgraaf rallied to meet the short deadline for the paper. She did a wonderful job with the typing and layout.