Ever wonder what contain or control means? Confused
by overhead vs. aircraft? Check out the examples below of our most commonly
used fire terminology. More questions? Visit: facebook.com/idahofireinfo and leave us a comment under the post. We will help answer any further questions.
Air
Attack or Air Tactical Aircraft: is an airplane that flies
over an incident, providing tactical coordination with the incident commander
on the ground, and directing airtankers and helicopters to critical areas of a
fire for retardant and water drops.
Air Tanker: A fixed-wing aircraft equipped to drop fire retardants or
suppressants.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Fire Behavior: The manner in which a fire reacts to the influences of
fuel, weather and topography.
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 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 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 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.
Firefighting
Aircraft means support of the firefighters on the ground
from aircraft in the air. Aircraft can access steep, rocky or unsafe areas
before ground forces are able to gain entry.
Fuel: Combustible material. Includes, vegetation, such as grass,
leaves, ground litter, plants, shrubs and trees, that feed a fire.
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.
Hand Line: A fireline built with hand tools.
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.
Hotshot Crew: A highly trained fire crew used mainly to build fireline by
hand.
Hotspot: A particular active part of a fire.
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.
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.
Overhead: People assigned to supervisory positions, including incident
commanders, command staff, general staff, directors, supervisors, and unit
leaders.
Prevention: Activities directed at reducing the incidence of fires,
including public education, law enforcement, personal contact, and reduction of
fuel hazards.
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.
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.
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.
Smoldering Fire: A fire burning without flame and barely spreading.
SEAT: Single Engine Air Tanker- A fixed-wing aircraft equipped to drop fire
retardants or suppressants.
Torching: The ignition and flare-up of a tree or small group of
trees, usually from bottom to top.
Water Tender: A ground vehicle capable of transporting specified
quantities of water.
