Whether you're responding to wildfire, planning prescribed burns, or working in fuels management, understanding fire behaviour is essential for making sound decisions and communicating effectively on the ground.
This course is built for the real work fire practitioners face, from the pace of initial attack and the grind of wildfire suppression to the precision of controlled fire and the planning behind FireSmart. This version keeps the theory but makes it work in the field, so you can read the Red Book with purpose, write burn (and non-burn) prescriptions that hold up in action, predict the key fire behaviour outputs that matter, and apply fire behaviour principles in the moment.
At successful completion of this course, participants will have met the following learning outcomes under the Canadian Forest Fire Behaviour Prediction (FBP) System:
1. Identify and describe the characteristics of fuels, weather, and topography that influence fire behaviour.
2. Describe the interaction of fuels, weather, and topography on fire behaviour in wildfire, prescribed fire, fuels management and safety.
3. Interpret, communicate, apply, and document fire behaviour and weather information.
4. Demonstrate the use of weather tools and Red Book to determine primary outputs and fire behaviour predictions.
5. Recognize the FBP Fuel Type Descriptions and unique fire behaviour and effects for each type.
6. Apply the information to develop safe and effective fire management decisions, e.g., fuels management, prescribed fire, suppression.
Two days, $555. Maximum 24 students. Course comes with a Red Book, Student Workbook, and internal access to a site that contains practice scenarios and cheat sheets.
Recommended: Students will feel like they have a solid foundation going into this course by reviewing weather material or completing S211 Fire Weather and Environment.
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If you're involved in wildfire response, prescribed burning, or fuels management, understanding fire behaviour is central to your scope of practice. S-390 builds the technical foundation needed to assess risk, develop burn prescriptions, and make defensible, science-based decisions.
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This course goes beyond theory. It teaches you how to use the Red Book and weather tools in real-world scenarios, improving your ability to interpret, communicate, and act on fire behaviour predictions confidently across fire types and landscapes.
It also is required for many fireline and precribed fire positions.
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S-390 helps bridge the gap between planning and operations. You’ll learn how to apply fire behaviour knowledge to burn plan development, ignition planning, site layout, and contingency strategies, key components of professional competence and burn plan authorship.
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This version of S-390 was redesigned for a broad range of professionals: Registered Forest Professionals, FireSmart coordinators, Indigenous fire stewards, municipal staff, and wildland fire practitioners. It’s for anyone needing to apply fire science to planning, operations, or communication. It is also for those who need to make quick decisions, create wildland fire response strategies and tactics with the ability to communicate them clearly and effectively.
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It’s taught by a fire ecologist and burn boss with over 20 years of experience in wildland fire, not just someone trained to teach the curriculum. That means real examples, tailored instruction, and practical exercises that connect fire behaviour principles directly to the decisions you make in the field.
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Past Hosts: Cranbrook Fire Dept., Chartwell Resource Group Ltd., Kelowna Fire Dept., Lil’wat Forestry Ventures, Williams Lake Fire Dept., Ktunaxa Nation Council, RDKB, County of Grande Prairie FD, Kamloops FD.
Past Participants: Structure firefighters, resource professionals, consultants, industry foresters, FireSmart Coordinators, Emergency Response Coordinators, CRI and ISC funding specialists, guardians, wildland firefighters (Type 1, 2, and 3), burn bosses, fuels management specialists, wildfire management specialists, public information officers, EOC coordinators, post-secondary students.