In 1934, the Western Actuarial Bureau sponsored a meeting in Kansas City to begin the process of gaining consensus on common training methods and techniques. State fire training directors from Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas attended and the Fire Service Training Association (FSTA) was formed. By its next meeting in 1935, 16 states were represented and more joined every year thereafter. Oklahoma A&M College (OAMC, now known as Oklahoma State University) was chosen to publish the manuals to be developed by the Fire Service Training Association. In 1935, two planographed, hardbound books were produced: Elementary Science Applied to the Firefighting Service and Ladders.

Eventually, a total of ten topics were covered and published in 1937. Because of their red covers, the fire service called them the 'Redbooks'. The ten original “Redbooks” were:

• Forcible Entry, Ropes, Knots, and Extinguishers
• Ground Ladders
• Hose
• Salvage and Overhaul
• Fire Streams
• Fire Apparatus
• Ventilation
• Rescue
• First Aid
• Fire Prevention and Inspection

In 1955, FSTA becomes the International Fire Service Training Association or IFSTA when the first Canadian officials attended and participated in the annual validation conference. In 1957, Oklahoma A&M College became Oklahoma State University. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, IFSTA became more active in the U.S. Fire Service. IFSTA was a participant in the Williamsburg meeting that led to the formation of the Joint Council of National Fire Service Organizations. Everett Hudiburg, director of IFSTA, was selected to chair the Joint Council and spearheaded the formation of the National Professional Qualifications Board (Pro Board). The Pro Board developed professional qualifications standards and a national certification system. The four original professional qualifications standards adopted in 1974 included:

• Fire Fighters
• Fire Officers
• Fire Inspectors and Investigators
• Fire Instructors

When IFSTA realized that its products could be used to assist firefighters in achieving certification, the IFSTA manuals were revised to ensure they covered the appropriate NFPA standards. It was apparent that it would be impractical for firefighters to have to buy at least 10 manuals to meet the firefighter certification requirements.

It was decided that a single manual should be developed to assist firefighters in achieving certification, and thus the Essentials of Fire Fighting was born. Carroll Herring, director of the Louisiana Fireman Training Program (now known as the Louisiana State University Fire and Emergency Training Institute, is credited with recommending the title of Essentials of Fire Fighting. The first edition of Essentials of Fire Fighting was published in 1978 and subsequent editions have been published in 1983, 1992, 1998, 2008, and 2013. The latest edition (7th) was first released in January 2019.

The 7th edition of Essentials of Fire Fighting addresses the 2019 edition of NFPA 1001, Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications and the 2017 edition of NFPA 1072, Standard for Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Emergency Response Personnel Professional Qualifications. These standards are widely accepted as the standards of knowledge and skills measurement for all firefighters in North America and beyond. Essentials of Fire Fighting includes an appendix that lists the job performance requirements from the NFPA standards and cross-references those requirements to the chapters within the manual. These chapters include:

Section A: Fire Fighter I

1. Introduction to the Fire Service and Firefighter Safety

2. Communications

3. Building Construction

4. Fire Dynamics

5. Firefighter Personal Protective Equipment

6. Portable Extinguishers

7. Ropes and Knots

8. Ground Ladders

9. Forcible Entry

10. Structural Search and Rescue

11. Tactical Ventilation

12. Fire Hose

13. Hose Operations and Hose Streams

14. Fire Suppression

15. Overhaul, Property Conservation, and Scene Preservation

Section B: Fire Fighter II

16. Building Materials, Structural Collapse, and Effects of Fire Suppression

17. Technical Rescue Support and Vehicle Extrication Operations

18. Foam Fire Fighting, Liquid Fires, and Gas Fires

19. Incident Scene Operations

20. Fire Origin and Cause Determination

21. Maintenance and Testing Responsibilities

22. Community Risk Reduction

Section C: Emergency First Aid, Fire Fighter I

23. First Aid Provider

Section D: Hazardous Materials Response for Firefighters, Fire Fighter I

24. Analyzing the Incident

25. Action Options and Response Objectives

26. Personal Protective Equipment, Product Control, and Decontamination

Section E: NIMS-ICS 100 and 200, Fire Fighter I and II and Hazardous Materials Responder

27. National Incident Management System - Incident Command Structure

• Fire Protection Publications (FPP)
• International Fire Service Training Association (IFSTA)
• National Fire Protection Association

• International Fire Service Training Association official website
• National Fire Protection Association official website