Researchers at N.C. State are working to find better ways to protect firefighters fighting wildfires. They received a grant from FEMA after a group of firefighters was killed three years ago. In 2013, 19 wildland firefighters died after becoming trapped by flames in Arizona. Some of those who died had deployed fire shelters. “A fire shelter is a last line of defense for a wildland firefighter,” explained N.C. State textile engineer Roger Barker. “That’s why the focus of our research is on developing materials that are more heat resistant and they have to be resistant to very intense flames, he added.