The organization was a direct outcome of the 2004 conference that cemented a nucleus of people and generated momentum. Attention to staff care and support was relatively new in March 2004 when humanitarian and international development professionals from more than 60 organizations gathered at the University of Notre Dame for a groundbreaking first conference "Tending the Helper's Fire: Mitigating Trauma and Stress in International Staff and Volunteers."

Following the conference, a nucleus in Washington, DC began holding regular meetings and organized an international conference on staff care in 2008.

The HelpersFire.org website was created in April 2009.