The fire behavior analyst (FBAN) position has its roots in the 1956 Inaja Fire in southern California, which claimed the lives of eleven fire fighters. Following this tragedy Richard McCardle, then Chief of the Forest Service, appointed a task force to review fatality fires and determine what could be done to stop the loss of life on wildfires. This task force, now referred to as the 1957 Task Force, determined that better fire behavior information would help reduce the frequency and severity of accidents.

The fire behavior officer (FBO) position was created in response to this task force finding. The chief responsibility of the position was to provide analysis of fire behavior as it related to firefighter safety.