This LibGuide addresses a selection of wildfires which have occurred in the US during the 19th and 20th century. Wildfires were selected for this LibGuide based on two primary factors:

1) presence of relevant material in the ISFI library collection

2) some effect on firefighting principles, procedures, or practice. Unfortunately, these sorts of changes most often come after loss of life or property. Many of these fires caused numerous firefighter casualties. We aim to provide readers with a brief overview of the relevant facts and point them to reliable sources for future learning.

If you want an accessible introduction to historical and modern wildfires, or information about the science of fighting wildfires,  the book below is a good place to start.

The Illinois Fire Service Institute Library contains books, codes and standards, DVDs, CDs, periodicals, manuals, e-resources, audiobooks, and other fire emergency resources, totaling over 65,000 items. We serve all first responders in the state of Illinois. Materials can be requested in person, by phone or email, or online through our catalog. You can search our catalog by title, author, keyword, subject, or publisher, and choose the formats you want to see. Enter as few or as many search terms as you would like; the more search terms you use the fewer results you'll get, but the results will be more specific. If you live in Illinois and have a public library card, we can send materials to your public library via interlibrary loan. Anyone is also welcome to visit us in person!

Local Lending (Illinois Residents Only)