In 1994, one of the most tragic years of wildland firefighting in the United States, 38 wildland firefighters died in job-related activities. Of these deaths, 36 were directly related to fires, with 22 fatalities occurring on fires and 14 fatalities that happened while traveling to fires. The greatest loss of life incident was the 1994 South Canyon Fire, also known as the Storm King Mountain Fire, in Colorado, which claimed the lives of 14 federal firefighters. After this devastating tragedy, a consensus emerged in the wildland fire community. Despite a great deal of attention to safety, the same unsolved problems and underlying factors were reoccurring and, unfortunately, adding to an already long legacy of tragedy fires. Following powerful soul-searching, multiple agency investigations, and special conferences on safety in response to the South Canyon Fire, a new idea arose. It became clear that the usual causal factors sought in fatality fire investigations were not achieving their objectives for change. Therefore, the five federal wildland firefighting agencies decided to pool their support for an examination of the wildland firefighter safety problem in greater depth. In 1994-1995, an interagency committee met to formulate what became the concept for this study. From the outset, the study’s intent was very clear: to contribute to a reduction in fatalities and injuries associated with wildland firefighting. To help achieve this goal, the study planned by the multi-agency committee had four phases, each with its own clear goals: Phase I − Identification of Existing Culture; Phase II − Formulate the Desired Organizational Culture/Safety Environment; Phase III − Develop an Implementation Plan; and Phase IV − Assisting, Monitoring and Evaluating Implementation. This landmark wildland firefighter safety awareness study, known as “TriData” after the safety consulting firm’s name that was hired to conduct this major undertaking, was dedicated to the more than 1,000 federal and state wildland firefighters who contributed their time and heartfelt thoughts to this significant project.