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.

In 1935, two planographed, hardbound books were produced: Elementary Science Applied to the Firefighting Service and Ladders.

The ten original “Redbooks” were: 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.

IFSTA was a participant in the Williamsburg meeting that led to the formation of the Joint Council of National Fire Service Organizations.

The Pro Board developed professional qualifications standards and a national certification system.

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.