Recent wildland fire disasters have attracted interest from a variety of disciplines seeking to reduce impacts of fire on people and natural resources. Architecture, insurance and reinsurance, city and county government, and engineering sectors have contributed ideas to mitigate or avoid damage during wildland fires. This paper examines the modern wildland fire system in terms of the historical context for wildland fire, primarily in the US, and discusses some of the characteristics of this system and its human culture that affect the potential impact of innovations and engineering technologies.