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A
Aerial Fuels: All live
and dead vegetation in the forest canopy or above surface fuels, including
tree branches, twigs and cones, snags, moss, and high brush.
Aerial Ignition:
Ignition of fuels by dropping incendiary devices or materials from
aircraft.
Air Tanker: A
fixed-wing aircraft equipped to drop fire retardants or suppressants.
Agency: Any federal,
state, or county government organization participating with jurisdictional
responsibilities.
Anchor Point: An
advantageous location, usually a barrier to fire spread, from which to
start building a fire line. An anchor point is used to reduce the chance
of firefighters being flanked by fire.
Aramid: The generic
name for a high-strength, flame-resistant synthetic fabric used in the
shirts and jeans of firefighters. Nomex, a brand name for aramid fabric,
is the term commonly used by firefighters.
Aspect: Direction
toward which a slope faces.
B
Backfire: A fire set
along the inner edge of a fireline to consume the fuel in the path of a
wildfire and/or change the direction of force of the fire’s convection
column.
Backpack Pump: A
portable sprayer with hand-pump, fed from a liquid-filled container fitted
with straps, used mainly in fire and pest control. (See also Bladder Bag.)
Bambi Bucket: A
collapsible bucket slung below a helicopter. Used to dip water from a
variety of sources for fire suppression.
Behave: A system of
interactive computer programs for modeling fuel and fire behavior that
consists of two systems: BURN and FUEL.
Bladder Bag: A
collapsible backpack portable sprayer made of neoprene or high-strength
nylon fabric fitted with a pump. (See also Backpack Pump.)
Blow-up: A sudden
increase in fire intensity or rate of spread strong enough to prevent
direct control or to upset control plans. Blow-ups are often accompanied
by violent convection and may have other characteristics of a fire storm.
(See Flare-up.)
Brush: A collective
term that refers to stands of vegetation dominated by shrubby, woody
plants, or low growing trees, usually of a type undesirable for livestock
or timber management.
Brush Fire: A fire
burning in vegetation that is predominantly shrubs, brush and scrub
growth.
Bucket Drops: The
dropping of fire retardants or suppressants from specially designed
buckets slung below a helicopter.
Buffer Zones: An area
of reduced vegetation that separates wildlands from vulnerable residential
or business developments. This barrier is similar to a greenbelt in that
it is usually used for another purpose such as agriculture, recreation
areas, parks, or golf courses.
Bump-up Method: A
progressive method of building a fire line on a wildfire without changing
relative positions in the line. Work is begun with a suitable space
between workers. Whenever one worker overtakes another, all workers ahead
move one space forward and resume work on the uncompleted part of the
line. The last worker does not move ahead until completing his or her
space.
Burn Out: Setting fire
inside a control line to widen it or consume fuel between the edge of the
fire and the control line.
Burning Ban: A
declared ban on open air burning within a specified area, usually due to
sustained high fire danger.
Burning Conditions:
The state of the combined factors of the environment that affect fire
behavior in a specified fuel type.
Burning Index: An
estimate of the potential difficulty of fire containment as it relates to
the flame length at the most rapidly spreading portion of a fire’s
perimeter.
Burning Period: That
part of each 24-hour period when fires spread most rapidly, typically from
10:00 a.m. to sundown.
C
Campfire: As used to
classify the cause of a wildland fire, a fire that was started for cooking
or warming that spreads sufficiently from its source to require action by
a fire control agency.
Candle or Candling: A
single tree or a very small clump of trees which is burning from the
bottom up.
Chain: A unit of
linear measurement equal to 66 feet.
Closure: Legal
restriction, but not necessarily elimination of specified activities such
as smoking, camping, or entry that might cause fires in a given area.
Cold Front: The
leading edge of a relatively cold air mass that displaces warmer air. The
heavier cold air may cause some of the warm air to be lifted. If the
lifted air contains enough moisture, the result may be cloudiness,
precipitation, and thunderstorms. If both air masses are dry, no clouds
may form. Following the passage of a cold front in the Northern
Hemisphere, westerly or northwesterly winds of 15 to 30 or more miles per
hour often continue for 12 to 24 hours.
Cold Trailing: A
method of controlling a partly dead fire edge by carefully inspecting and
feeling with the hand for heat to detect any fire, digging out every live
spot, and trenching any live edge.
Command Staff: The
command staff consists of the information officer, safety officer and
liaison officer. They report directly to the incident commander and may
have assistants.
Complex: Two or more
individual incidents located in the same general area which are assigned
to a single incident commander or unified command.
Contain a fire: A fuel
break around the fire has been completed. This break may include natural
barriers or manually and/or mechanically constructed line.
Control a fire: The
complete extinguishment of a fire, including spot fires. Fireline has been
strengthened so that flare-ups from within the perimeter of the fire will
not break through this line.
Control Line: All
built or natural fire barriers and treated fire edge used to control a
fire.
Cooperating Agency: An
agency supplying assistance other than direct suppression, rescue,
support, or service functions to the incident control effort; e.g., Red
Cross, law enforcement agency, telephone company, etc.
Coyote Tactics: A
progressive line construction duty involving self-sufficient crews that
build fire line until the end of the operational period, remain at or near
the point while off duty, and begin building fire line again the next
operational period where they left off.
Creeping Fire: Fire
burning with a low flame and spreading slowly.
Crew Boss: A person in
supervisory charge of usually 16 to 21 firefighters and responsible for
their performance, safety, and welfare.
Crown Fire (Crowning):
The movement of fire through the crowns of trees or shrubs more or less
independently of the surface fire.
Curing: Drying and
browning of herbaceous vegetation or slash.
D
Dead Fuels: Fuels with
no living tissue in which moisture content is governed almost entirely by
atmospheric moisture (relative humidity and precipitation), dry-bulb
temperature, and solar radiation.
Debris Burning: A fire
spreading from any fire originally set for the purpose of clearing land or
for rubbish, garbage, range, stubble, or meadow burning.
Defensible Space: An
area either natural or manmade where material capable of causing a fire to
spread has been treated, cleared, reduced, or changed to act as a barrier
between an advancing wildland fire and the loss to life, property, or
resources. In practice, "defensible space" is defined as an area a minimum
of 30 feet around a structure that is cleared of flammable brush or
vegetation.
Deployment: See Fire
Shelter Deployment.
Detection: The act or
system of discovering and locating fires.
Direct Attack: Any
treatment of burning fuel, such as by wetting, smothering, or chemically
quenching the fire or by physically separating burning from unburned fuel.
Dispatch: The
implementation of a command decision to move a resource or resources from
one place to another.
Dispatcher: A person
employed who receives reports of discovery and status of fires, confirms
their locations, takes action promptly to provide people and equipment
likely to be needed for control in first attack, and sends them to the
proper place.
Dispatch Center: A
facility from which resources are directly assigned to an incident.
Division: Divisions
are used to divide an incident into geographical areas of operation.
Divisions are established when the number of resources exceeds the
span-of-control of the operations chief. A division is located with the
Incident Command System organization between the branch and the task
force/strike team.
Dozer: Any tracked
vehicle with a front-mounted blade used for exposing mineral soil.
Dozer Line: Fire line
constructed by the front blade of a dozer.
Drip Torch: Hand-held
device for igniting fires by dripping flaming liquid fuel on the materials
to be burned; consists of a fuel fount, burner arm, and igniter. Fuel used
is generally a mixture of diesel and gasoline.
Drop Zone: Target area
for air tankers, heli-tankers, and cargo dropping.
Drought Index: A
number representing net effect of evaporation, transpiration, and
precipitation in producing cumulative moisture depletion in deep duff or
upper soil layers.
Dry Lightning Storm:
Thunderstorm in which negligible precipitation reaches the ground. Also
called a dry storm.
Duff: The layer of
decomposing organic materials lying below the litter layer of freshly
fallen twigs, needles, and leaves and immediately above the mineral soil.
E
Energy Release Component (ERC):
The computed total heat released per unit area (British thermal units per
square foot) within the fire front at the head of a moving fire.
Engine: Any ground
vehicle providing specified levels of pumping, water and hose capacity.
Engine Crew:
Firefighters assigned to an engine. The Fireline Handbook defines the
minimum crew makeup by engine type.
Entrapment: A
situation where personnel are unexpectedly caught in a fire
behavior-related, life-threatening position where planned escape routes or
safety zones are absent, inadequate, or compromised. An entrapment may or
may not include deployment of a fire shelter for its intended purpose.
These situations may or may not result in injury. They include "near
misses."
Environmental Assessment (EA):
EA's were authorized by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of
1969. They are concise, analytical documents prepared with public
participation that determine if an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is
needed for a particular project or action. If an EA determines an EIS is
not needed, the EA becomes the document allowing agency compliance with
NEPA requirements.
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS):
EIS's were authorized by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of
1969. Prepared with public participation, they assist decision makers by
providing information, analysis and an array of action alternatives,
allowing managers to see the probable effects of decisions on the
environment. Generally, EIS's are written for large-scale actions or
geographical areas.
Equilibrium Moisture Content:
Moisture content that a fuel particle will attain if exposed for an
infinite period in an environment of specified constant temperature and
humidity. When a fuel particle reaches equilibrium moisture content, net
exchange of moisture between it and the environment is zero.
Escape Route: A
preplanned and understood route firefighters take to move to a safety zone
or other low-risk area, such as an already burned area, previously
constructed safety area, a meadow that won’t burn, natural rocky area that
is large enough to take refuge without being burned. When escape routes
deviate from a defined physical path, they should be clearly marked
(flagged).
Escaped Fire: A fire
which has exceeded or is expected to exceed initial attack capabilities or
prescription.
Extended Attack Incident:
A wildland fire that has not been contained or controlled by initial
attack forces and for which more firefighting resources are arriving, en
route, or being ordered by the initial attack incident commander.
Extreme Fire Behavior:
"Extreme" implies a level of fire behavior characteristics that ordinarily
precludes methods of direct control action. One of more of the following
is usually involved: high rate of spread, prolific crowning and/or
spotting, presence of fire whirls, strong convection column.
Predictability is difficult because such fires often exercise some degree
of influence on their environment and behave erratically, sometimes
dangerously.
F
Faller: A person who
fells trees. Also called a sawyer or cutter.
Field Observer: Person
responsible to the Situation Unit Leader for collecting and reporting
information about an incident obtained from personal observations and
interviews.
Fine (Light) Fuels:
Fast-drying fuels, generally with a comparatively high surface
area-to-volume ratio, which are less than 1/4-inch in diameter and have a
timelag of one hour or less. These fuels readily ignite and are rapidly
consumed by fire when dry.
Fingers of a Fire: The
long narrow extensions of a fire projecting from the main body.
Fire Behavior: The
manner in which a fire reacts to the influences of fuel, weather and
topography.
Fire Behavior Forecast:
Prediction of probable fire behavior, usually prepared by a Fire Behavior
Officer, in support of fire suppression or prescribed burning operations.
Fire Behavior Specialist:
A person responsible to the Planning Section Chief for establishing a
weather data collection system and for developing fire behavior
predictions based on fire history, fuel, weather and topography.
Fire Break: A natural
or constructed barrier used to stop or check fires that may occur, or to
provide a control line from which to work.
Fire Cache: A supply
of fire tools and equipment assembled in planned quantities or standard
units at a strategic point for exclusive use in fire suppression.
Fire Crew: An
organized group of firefighters under the leadership of a crew leader or
other designated official.
Fire Front: The part
of a fire within which continuous flaming combustion is taking place.
Unless otherwise specified the fire front is assumed to be the leading
edge of the fire perimeter. In ground fires, the fire front may be mainly
smoldering combustion.
Fire Intensity: A
general term relating to the heat energy released by a fire.
Fire Line: A linear
fire barrier that is scraped or dug to mineral soil.
Fire Load: The number
and size of fires historically experienced on a specified unit over a
specified period (usually one day) at a specified index of fire danger.
Fire Management Plan (FMP):
A strategic plan that defines a program to manage wildland and prescribed
fires and documents the Fire Management Program in the approved land use
plan. The plan is supplemented by operational plans such as preparedness
plans, preplanned dispatch plans, prescribed fire plans, and prevention
plans.
Fire Perimeter: The
entire outer edge or boundary of a fire.
Fire Season: 1)
Period (s) of the year during which wildland fires are likely to occur,
spread, and affect resource values sufficient to warrant organized fire
management activities. 2) A legally enacted time during which burning
activities are regulated by state or local authority.
Fire Shelter: An
aluminized tent offering protection by means of reflecting radiant heat
and providing a volume of breathable air in a fire entrapment situation.
Fire shelters should only be used in life-threatening situations, as a
last resort.
Fire Shelter Deployment:
The removing of a fire shelter from its case and using it as protection
against fire.
Fire Storm: Violent
convection caused by a large continuous area of intense fire. Often
characterized by destructively violent surface in drafts, near and beyond
the perimeter, and sometimes by tornado-like whirls.
Fire Triangle:
Instructional aid in which the sides of a triangle are used to represent
the three factors (oxygen, heat, fuel) necessary for combustion and flame
production; removal of any of the three factors causes flame production to
cease.
Fire Use Module (Prescribed Fire Module):
A team of skilled and mobile personnel dedicated primarily to prescribed
fire management. These are national and interagency resources, available
throughout the prescribed fire season, that can ignite, hold and monitor
prescribed fires.
Fire Weather: Weather
conditions that influence fire ignition, behavior and suppression.
Fire Weather Watch: A
term used by fire weather forecasters to notify using agencies, usually 24
to 72 hours ahead of the event, that current and developing meteorological
conditions may evolve into dangerous fire weather.
Fire Whirl: Spinning
vortex column of ascending hot air and gases rising from a fire and
carrying aloft smoke, debris, and flame. Fire whirls range in size from
less than one foot to more than 500 feet in diameter. Large fire whirls
have the intensity of a small tornado.
Firefighting Resources:
All people and major items of equipment that can or potentially could be
assigned to fires.
Flame Height: The
average maximum vertical extension of flames at the leading edge of the
fire front. Occasional flashes that rise above the general level of flames
are not considered. This distance is less than the flame length if flames
are tilted due to wind or slope.
Flame Length: The
distance between the flame tip and the midpoint of the flame depth at the
base of the flame (generally the ground surface); an indicator of fire
intensity.
Flaming Front: The
zone of a moving fire where the combustion is primarily flaming. Behind
this flaming zone combustion is primarily glowing. Light fuels typically
have a shallow flaming front, whereas heavy fuels have a deeper front.
Also called fire front.
Flanks of a Fire: The
parts of a fire’s perimeter that are roughly parallel to the main
direction of spread.
Flare-up: Any sudden
acceleration of fire spread or intensification of a fire. Unlike a
blow-up, a flare-up lasts a relatively short time and does not radically
change control plans.
Flash Fuels: Fuels
such as grass, leaves, draped pine needles, fern, tree moss and some kinds
of slash, that ignite readily and are consumed rapidly when dry. Also
called fine fuels.
Forb: A plant with a
soft, rather than permanent woody stem, that is not a grass or grass-like
plant.
Fuel: Combustible
material. Includes, vegetation, such as grass, leaves, ground litter,
plants, shrubs and trees, that feed a fire. (See Surface Fuels.)
Fuel Bed: An array of
fuels usually constructed with specific loading, depth and particle size
to meet experimental requirements; also, commonly used to describe the
fuel composition in natural settings.
Fuel Loading: The
amount of fuel present expressed quantitatively in terms of weight of fuel
per unit area.
Fuel Model: Simulated
fuel complex (or combination of vegetation types) for which all fuel
descriptors required for the solution of a mathematical rate of spread
model have been specified.
Fuel Moisture (Fuel Moisture Content):
The quantity of moisture in fuel expressed as a percentage of the weight
when thoroughly dried at 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
Fuel Reduction:
Manipulation, including combustion, or removal of fuels to reduce the
likelihood of ignition and/or to lessen potential damage and resistance to
control.
Fuel Type: An
identifiable association of fuel elements of a distinctive plant species,
form, size, arrangement, or other characteristics that will cause a
predictable rate of fire spread or difficulty of control under specified
weather conditions.
Fusee: A colored flare
designed as a railway warning device and widely used to ignite suppression
and prescription fires.
G
General Staff: The
group of incident management personnel reporting to the incident
commander. They may each have a deputy, as needed. Staff consists of
operations section chief, planning section chief, logistics section chief,
and finance/administration section chief.
Geographic Area: A
political boundary designated by the wildland fire protection agencies,
where these agencies work together in the coordination and effective
utilization
Ground Fuel: All
combustible materials below the surface litter, including duff, tree or
shrub roots, punchy wood, peat, and sawdust, that normally support a
glowing combustion without flame.
H
Haines Index: An
atmospheric index used to indicate the potential for wildfire growth by
measuring the stability and dryness of the air over a fire.
Hand Line: A fireline
built with hand tools.
Hazard Reduction: Any
treatment of a hazard that reduces the threat of ignition and fire
intensity or rate of spread.
Head of a Fire: The
side of the fire having the fastest rate of spread.
Heavy Fuels: Fuels of
large diameter such as snags, logs, large limb wood, that ignite and are
consumed more slowly than flash fuels.
Helibase: The main
location within the general incident area for parking, fueling,
maintaining, and loading helicopters. The helibase is usually located at
or near the incident base.
Helispot: A temporary
landing spot for helicopters.
Helitack: The use of
helicopters to transport crews, equipment, and fire retardants or
suppressants to the fire line during the initial stages of a fire.
Helitack Crew: A group
of firefighters trained in the technical and logistical use of helicopters
for fire suppression.
Holding Actions:
Planned actions required to achieve wildland prescribed fire management
objectives. These actions have specific implementation timeframes for fire
use actions but can have less sensitive implementation demands for
suppression actions.
Holding Resources:
Firefighting personnel and equipment assigned to do all required fire
suppression work following fireline construction but generally not
including extensive mop-up.
Hose Lay: Arrangement
of connected lengths of fire hose and accessories on the ground, beginning
at the first pumping unit and ending at the point of water delivery.
Hotshot Crew: A highly
trained fire crew used mainly to build fireline by hand.
Hotspot: A particular
active part of a fire.
Hotspotting: Reducing
or stopping the spread of fire at points of particularly rapid rate of
spread or special threat, generally the first step in prompt control, with
emphasis on first priorities.
I
Incident: A
human-caused or natural occurrence, such as wildland fire, that requires
emergency service action to prevent or reduce the loss of life or damage
to property or natural resources.
Incident Action Plan (IAP):
Contains objectives reflecting the overall incident
strategy and specific tactical actions and supporting information for the
next operational period. The plan may be oral or written. When written,
the plan may have a number of attachments, including: incident objectives,
organization assignment list, division assignment, incident radio
communication plan, medical plan, traffic plan, safety plan, and incident
map.
Incident Command Post (ICP):
Location at which primary command functions are executed. The ICP may be
co-located with the incident base or other incident facilities.
Incident Command System (ICS):
The combination of facilities, equipment, personnel, procedure and
communications operating within a common organizational structure, with
responsibility for the management of assigned resources to effectively
accomplish stated objectives pertaining to an incident.
Incident Commander:
Individual responsible for the management of all incident operations at
the incident site.
Incident Management Team:
The incident commander and appropriate general or command staff personnel
assigned to manage an incident.
Incident Objectives:
Statements of guidance and direction necessary for selection of
appropriate strategy (ies), and the tactical direction of resources.
Incident objectives are based on realistic expectations of what can be
accomplished when all allocated resources have been effectively deployed.
Infrared Detection:
The use of heat sensing equipment, known as Infrared Scanners, for
detection of heat sources that are not visually detectable by the normal
surveillance methods of either ground or air patrols.
Initial Attack: The
actions taken by the first resources to arrive at a wildfire to protect
lives and property, and prevent further extension of the fire.
J
Job Hazard Analysis:
This analysis of a project is completed by staff to identify hazards to
employees and the public. It identifies hazards, corrective actions and
the required safety equipment to ensure public and employee safety.
Jump Spot: Selected
landing area for smokejumpers.
Jump Suit: Approved
protection suite work by smokejumpers.
K
Keech Byram Drought Index (KBDI):
Commonly-used drought index adapted for fire management applications, with
a numerical range from 0 (no moisture deficiency) to 800 (maximum
drought).
Knock Down: To reduce
the flame or heat on the more vigorously burning parts of a fire edge.
L
Ladder Fuels: Fuels
which provide vertical continuity between strata, thereby allowing fire to
carry from surface fuels into the crowns of trees or shrubs with relative
ease. They help initiate and assure the continuation of crowning.
Large Fire: 1) For
statistical purposes, a fire burning more than a specified area of land
e.g., 300 acres. 2) A fire burning with a size and intensity such that its
behavior is determined by interaction between its own convection column
and weather conditions above the surface.
Lead Plane: Aircraft
with pilot used to make dry runs over the target area to check wing and
smoke conditions and topography and to lead air tankers to targets and
supervise their drops.
Light (Fine) Fuels:
Fast-drying fuels, generally with a comparatively high surface
area-to-volume ratio, which are less than 1/4-inch in diameter and have a
time lag of one hour or less. These fuels readily ignite and are rapidly
consumed by fire when dry.
Lightning Activity Level (LAL):
A number, on a scale of 1 to 6, that reflects frequency and character of
cloud-to-ground lightning. The scale is exponential, based on powers of 2
(i.e., LAL 3 indicates twice the lightning of LAL 2).
Line Scout: A
firefighter who determines the location of a fire line.
Litter: Top layer of
the forest, scrubland, or grassland floor, directly above the fermentation
layer, composed of loose debris of dead sticks, branches, twigs, and
recently fallen leaves or needles, little altered in structure by
decomposition.
Live Fuels: Living
plants, such as trees, grasses, and shrubs, in which the seasonal moisture
content cycle is controlled largely by internal physiological mechanisms,
rather than by external weather influences.
M
Micro-Remote Environmental Monitoring System (Micro-REMS):
Mobile weather monitoring station. A Micro-REMS
usually accompanies an incident meteorologist and ATMU to an incident.
Mineral Soil: Soil
layers below the predominantly organic horizons; soil with little
combustible material.
Mobilization: The
process and procedures used by all organizations, federal, state and local
for activating, assembling, and transporting all resources that have been
requested to respond to or support an incident.
Modular Airborne Firefighting System (MAFFS):
A manufactured unit consisting of five
interconnecting tanks, a control pallet, and a nozzle pallet, with a
capacity of 3,000 gallons, designed to be rapidly mounted inside an
unmodified C-130 (Hercules) cargo aircraft for use in dropping retardant
on wildland fires.
Mop-up: To make a fire
safe or reduce residual smoke after the fire has been controlled by
extinguishing or removing burning material along or near the control line,
felling snags, or moving logs so they won’t roll downhill.
Multi-Agency Coordination (MAC):
A generalized term which describes the functions and activities of
representatives of involved agencies and/or jurisdictions who come
together to make decisions regarding the prioritizing of incidents, and
the sharing and use of critical resources. The MAC organization is not a
part of the on-scene ICS and is not involved in developing incident
strategy or tactics.
Mutual Aid Agreement:
Written agreement between agencies and/or jurisdictions in which they
agree to assist one another upon request, by furnishing personnel and
equipment.
N
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA):
NEPA is the basic national law for protection of the environment, passed
by Congress in 1969. It sets policy and procedures for environmental
protection, and authorizes Environmental Impact Statements and
Environmental Assessments to be used as analytical tools to help federal
managers make decisions.
National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS):
A uniform fire danger rating system that focuses on the environmental
factors that control the moisture content of fuels.
National Wildfire Coordinating Group:
A group formed under the direction of the Secretaries of Agriculture and
the Interior and comprised of representatives of the U.S. Forest Service,
Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Park
Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Association of State
Foresters. The group’s purpose is to facilitate coordination and
effectiveness of wildland fire activities and provide a forum to discuss,
recommend action, or resolve issues and problems of substantive nature.
NWCG is the certifying body for all courses in the National Fire
Curriculum.
Nomex ®: Trade name
for a fire resistant synthetic material used in the manufacturing of
flight suits and pants and shirts used by firefighters (see Aramid).
Normal Fire Season: 1)
A season when weather, fire danger, and number and distribution of fires
are about average. 2) Period of the year that normally comprises the fire
season.
O
Operations Branch Director:
Person under the direction of the operations section chief who is
responsible for implementing that portion of the incident action plan
appropriate to the branch.
Operational Period:
The period of time scheduled for execution of a given set of tactical
actions as specified in the Incident Action Plan. Operational periods can
be of various lengths, although usually not more than 24 hours.
Overhead: People
assigned to supervisory positions, including incident commanders, command
staff, general staff, directors, supervisors, and unit leaders.
P
Pack Test: Used to
determine the aerobic capacity of fire suppression and support personnel
and assign physical fitness scores. The test consists of walking a
specified distance, with or without a weighted pack, in a predetermined
period of time, with altitude corrections.
Paracargo: Anything
dropped, or intended for dropping, from an aircraft by parachute, by other
retarding devices, or by free fall.
Peak Fire Season: That
period of the fire season during which fires are expected to ignite most
readily, to burn with greater than average intensity, and to create
damages at an unacceptable level.
Personnel Protective Equipment (PPE):
All firefighting personnel must be equipped with proper equipment and
clothing in order to mitigate the risk of injury from, or exposure to,
hazardous conditions encountered while working. PPE includes, but is not
limited to: 8-inch high-laced leather boots with lug soles, fire shelter,
hard hat with chin strap, goggles, ear plugs, aramid shirts and trousers,
leather gloves and individual first aid kits.
Preparedness:
Condition or degree of being ready to cope with a potential fire situation
Prescribed Fire: Any
fire ignited by management actions under certain, predetermined conditions
to meet specific objectives related to hazardous fuels or habitat
improvement. A written, approved prescribed fire plan must exist, and NEPA
requirements must be met, prior to ignition.
Prescribed Fire Plan (Burn Plan):
This document provides the prescribed fire burn boss information needed to
implement an individual prescribed fire project.
Prescription:
Measurable criteria that define conditions under which a prescribed fire
may be ignited, guide selection of appropriate management responses, and
indicate other required actions. Prescription criteria may include safety,
economic, public health, environmental, geographic, administrative,
social, or legal considerations.
Prevention: Activities
directed at reducing the incidence of fires, including public education,
law enforcement, personal contact, and reduction of fuel hazards.
Project Fire: A fire
of such size or complexity that a large organization and prolonged
activity is required to suppress it.
Pulaski: A combination
chopping and trenching tool, which combines a single-bitted axe-blade with
a narrow adze-like trenching blade fitted to a straight handle. Useful for
grubbing or trenching in duff and matted roots. Well-balanced for
chopping.
R
Radiant Burn: A burn
received from a radiant heat source.
Radiant Heat Flux: The
amount of heat flowing through a given area in a given time, usually
expressed as calories/square centimeter/second.
Rappelling:
Technique of landing specifically trained firefighters from hovering
helicopters; involves sliding down ropes with the aid of
friction-producing devices.
Rate of Spread: The
relative activity of a fire in extending its horizontal dimensions. It is
expressed as a rate of increase of the total perimeter of the fire, as
rate of forward spread of the fire front, or as rate of increase in area,
depending on the intended use of the information. Usually it is expressed
in chains or acres per hour for a specific period in the fire’s history.
Reburn: The burning of
an area that has been previously burned but that contains flammable fuel
that ignites when burning conditions are more favorable; an area that has
reburned.
Red Card: Fire
qualification card issued to fire rated persons showing their training
needs and their qualifications to fill specified fire suppression and
support positions in a large fire suppression or incident organization.
Red Flag Warning: Term
used by fire weather forecasters to alert forecast users to an ongoing or
imminent critical fire weather pattern.
Rehabilitation: The
activities necessary to repair damage or disturbance caused by wildland
fires or the fire suppression activity.
Relative Humidity (Rh):
The ratio of the amount of moisture in the air, to the maximum amount of
moisture that air would contain if it were saturated. The ratio of the
actual vapor pressure to the saturated vapor pressure.
Remote Automatic Weather Station (RAWS):
An apparatus that automatically acquires, processes, and stores local
weather data for later transmission to the GOES Satellite, from which the
data is re-transmitted to an earth-receiving station for use in the
National Fire Danger Rating System.
Resources: 1)
Personnel, equipment, services and supplies available, or potentially
available, for assignment to incidents. 2) The natural resources of an
area, such as timber, crass, watershed values, recreation values, and
wildlife habitat.
Resource Management Plan (RMP):
A document prepared by field office staff with public participation and
approved by field office managers that provides general guidance and
direction for land management activities at a field office. The RMP
identifies the need for fire in a particular area and for a specific
benefit.
Resource Order: An
order placed for firefighting or support resources.
Retardant: A substance
or chemical agent which reduced the flammability of combustibles.
Run (of a fire): The
rapid advance of the head of a fire with a marked change in fire line
intensity and rate of spread from that noted before and after the advance.
Running: A rapidly
spreading surface fire with a well-defined head.
S
Safety Zone: An area
cleared of flammable materials used for escape in the event the line is
outflanked or in case a spot fire causes fuels outside the control line to
render the line unsafe. In firing operations, crews progress so as to
maintain a safety zone close at hand allowing the fuels inside the control
line to be consumed before going ahead. Safety zones may also be
constructed as integral parts of fuel breaks; they are greatly enlarged
areas which can be used with relative safety by firefighters and their
equipment in the event of a blowup in the vicinity.
Scratch Line: An
unfinished preliminary fire line hastily established or built as an
emergency measure to check the spread of fire.
Severity Funding:
Funds provided to increase wildland fire suppression response capability
necessitated by abnormal weather patterns, extended drought, or other
events causing abnormal increase in the fire potential and/or danger.
Single Resource: An
individual, a piece of equipment and its personnel complement, or a crew
or team of individuals with an identified work supervisor that can be used
on an incident.
Size-up: To evaluate a
fire to determine a course of action for fire suppression.
Slash: Debris left
after logging, pruning, thinning or brush cutting; includes logs, chips,
bark, branches, stumps and broken understory trees or brush.
Sling Load: Any cargo
carried beneath a helicopter and attached by a lead line and swivel.
Slop-over: A fire edge
that crosses a control line or natural barrier intended to contain the
fire.
Smokejumper: A
firefighter who travels to fires by aircraft and parachute.
Smoke Management:
Application of fire intensities and meteorological processes to minimize
degradation of air quality during prescribed fires.
Smoldering Fire: A
fire burning without flame and barely spreading.
Snag: A standing dead
tree or part of a dead tree from which at least the smaller branches have
fallen.
Spark Arrester: A
device installed in a chimney, flue, or exhaust pipe to stop the emission
of sparks and burning fragments.
Spot Fire: A fire
ignited outside the perimeter of the main fire by flying sparks or embers.
Spot Weather Forecast:
A special forecast issued to fit the time, topography, and weather of each
specific fire. These forecasts are issued upon request of the user agency
and are more detailed, timely, and specific than zone forecasts.
Spotter: In
smokejumping, the person responsible for selecting drop targets and
supervising all aspects of dropping smokejumpers.
Spotting: Behavior of
a fire producing sparks or embers that are carried by the wind and start
new fires beyond the zone of direct ignition by the main fire.
Staging Area:
Locations set up at an incident where resources can be placed while
awaiting a tactical assignment on a three-minute available basis. Staging
areas are managed by the operations section.
Strategy: The science
and art of command as applied to the overall planning and conduct of an
incident.
Strike Team: Specified
combinations of the same kind and type of resources, with common
communications, and a leader.
Strike Team Leader:
Person responsible to a division/group supervisor for performing tactical
assignments given to the strike team.
Structure Fire: Fire
originating in and burning any part or all of any building, shelter, or
other structure.
Suppressant: An agent,
such as water or foam, used to extinguish the flaming and glowing phases
of combustion when direction applied to burning fuels.
Suppression: All the
work of extinguishing or containing a fire, beginning with its discovery.
Surface Fuels: Loose
surface litter on the soil surface, normally consisting of fallen leaves
or needles, twigs, bark, cones, and small branches that have not yet
decayed enough to lose their identity; also grasses, forbs, low and medium
shrubs, tree seedlings, heavier branch wood, downed logs, and stumps
interspersed with or partially replacing the litter.
Swamper: (1) A worker
who assists fallers and/or sawyers by clearing away brush, limbs and small
trees. Carries fuel, oil and tools and watches for dangerous situations.
(2) A worker on a dozer crew who pulls winch line, helps maintain
equipment, etc., to speed suppression work on a fire.
T
Tactics: Deploying and
directing resources on an incident to accomplish the objectives designated
by strategy.
Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR):
A restriction requested by an agency and put into effect by the Federal
Aviation Administration in the vicinity of an incident which restricts the
operation of nonessential aircraft in the airspace around that incident.
Terra Torch ®: Device
for throwing a stream of flaming liquid, used to facilitate rapid ignition
during burn out operations on a wildland fire or during a prescribed fire
operation.
Test Fire: A small
fire ignited within the planned burn unit to determine the characteristic
of the prescribed fire, such as fire behavior, detection performance and
control measures.
Timelag: Time needed
under specified conditions for a fuel particle to lose about 63 percent of
the difference between its initial moisture content and its equilibrium
moisture content. If conditions remain unchanged, a fuel will reach 95
percent of its equilibrium moisture content after four timelag periods.
Torching: The ignition
and flare-up of a tree or small group of trees, usually from bottom to
top.
Two-way Radio: Radio
equipment with transmitters in mobile units on the same frequency as the
base station, permitting conversation in two directions using the same
frequency in turn.
Type: The capability
of a firefighting resource in comparison to another type. Type 1 usually
means a greater capability due to power, size, or capacity.
U
Uncontrolled Fire: Any
fire which threatens to destroy life, property, or natural resources, and
Underburn: A fire that
consumes surface fuels but not trees or shrubs. (See Surface Fuels.)
V
Vectors: Directions of
fire spread as related to rate of spread calculations (in degrees from
upslope).
Volunteer Fire Department (VFD):
A fire department of which some or all members are unpaid.
W
Water Tender: A ground
vehicle capable of transporting specified quantities of water.
Weather Information and Management System (WIMS):
An interactive computer system designed to accommodate the weather
information needs of all federal and state natural resource management
agencies. Provides timely access to weather forecasts, current and
historical weather data, the National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS),
and the National Interagency Fire Management Integrated Database (NIFMID).
Wet Line: A line of
water, or water and chemical retardant, sprayed along the ground, that
serves as a temporary control line from which to ignite or stop a
low-intensity fire.
Wildland Fire: Any
nonstructure fire, other than prescribed fire, that occurs in the wildland.
Wildland Fire Implementation Plan (WFIP):
A progressively developed assessment and operational management plan that
documents the analysis and selection of strategies and describes the
appropriate management response for a wildland fire being managed for
resource benefits.
Wildland Fire Situation Analysis (WFSA):
A decision-making process that evaluates alternative suppression
strategies against selected environmental, social, political, and economic
criteria. Provides a record of decisions.
Wildland Fire Use: The
management of naturally ignited wildland fires to accomplish specific
prestated resource management objectives in predefined geographic areas
outlined in Fire Management Plans.
Wildland Urban Interface:
The line, area or zone where structures and other human development meet
or intermingle with undeveloped wildland or vegetative fuels.
Wind Vectors: Wind
directions used to calculate fire behavior.
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