All wildland firefighters working on or near the fireline must be able to identify a safety zone. Furthermore, they need to know how 'big' is 'big enough.' Beighley (1995) defined a safety zone as 'an area distinguished by characteristics that provide freedom from danger, risk, or injury.' The National Wildfire Coordinating Group proposed that a safety zone be defined as 'a preplanned area of sufficient size and suitable location that is expected to prevent injury to fire personnel from known hazards without using fire shelters.'