 In an era when all fire was considered detrimental and with limited studies that documented the important ecological role of fire , immediate suppression using aggressive attack was considered the best way to protect the forests . Godwin believed that parachuting firefighters from airplanes as soon as fires were detected and as near to the fire as possible would provide the fastest way to get firefighters in place before a fire raged out of control . Consequently , by 1939 the first stages of the parachuting smokejumper program were initiated at Winthrop , Washington , and at two locations in Montana . A later review of 16 fatal fires , from the Blackwater fire in 1937 through 1956 , led managers of the USFS to implement the Ten Standard Firefighting Orders in 1957 , which were later changed to <unk> in 1987 , with each letter designating one of the ten orders . Not long after the Ten Standard Firefighting Orders were implemented , 18 <unk> Situations were also developed to increase firefighter safety . Decades after the Blackwater fire , forest managers had developed a better understanding of the ecological role of fire . Consequently , in 1977 , the USFS dropped the 10 am rule from their firefighting strategic planning , and shifted their emphasis away from wildfire suppression to wildfire management . 
