Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872 as the world 's first national park . For the next several years , administration of the park languished until 1886 when the U. S. Army was assigned the responsibility for its protection . Upon its arrival in the park , the Army found numerous fires burning in developed areas as well as in areas where it was not reasonable to control them . The commanding officer decided that human-caused fires along roads posed the biggest threat and that the Army would concentrate its suppression efforts on the control of those fires . There were not enough soldiers to fight all of the fires . Thus , came the first conscious decision by a manager of federal land to allow some fires to burn while others were controlled . The policy of fire suppression was also applied to Sequoia , General Grant , and Yosemite national parks when they were established in 1890 , and Army patrols were initiated to guard against fires , livestock trespass , and illegal logging . A number of catastrophic fire events over the years greatly influenced fire management policies . The worst loss of life in United States history due to a wildfire occurred in 1871 when the Peshtigo Fire swept through Wisconsin , killing more than 1500 people . The Santiago Canyon Fire of 1889 in California and especially the Great Fire of 1910 in Montana and Idaho contributed to the philosophy that fire was a danger that needed to be suppressed . The Great Fire of 1910 had burned , destroyed a number of communities and killed 86 people , and this event prompted various land management agencies to emphasize wildfire suppression . U.S. Government land agencies , including the National Park Service , generally followed the fire management policies established by the U.S. Forest Service , which oversees the majority of the nation 's forestlands . ( See " The Big Burn " a 2014 PBS documentary American Experience ( season 27 ) )
Great Fire of 1910
Great Fire of 1910
History of wildfire suppression in the United States