| AIR TACTICAL GROUP SUPERVISOR
| - coordinates all airplane and
helicopter tactical operations on an incident. |
| AIR TANKER
| - any fixed wing aircraft
certified by FAA to transport and deliver fire retardant
solutions. |
| ANCHOR POINT
| - a barrier to fire spread from
which fire line construction begins. |
| BACKFIRE
| - setting a fire in front of a
wildfire to burn up fuel in the path of the advancing flame
front and/or to change direction of the force of the fire's
convection column. |
| BARRIER
| - an area without flammable
fuels, e.g., constructed fire line, rock slides, roads, lakes,
rivers, etc. |
| BLOW UP
| - sudden increase in fire
intensity or spread. |
| BURNING OUT
| - setting a fire inside a
control line between the fire and the control line to remove
unburned fuels. Considered a normal part of line construction.
Reinforces the control line. (FIRING OUT) |
| COLD TRAILING
| - inspecting for and
extinguishing all hot spots along the edge of a control line. |
| CONFINE A FIRE
| - restrict a fire to within
specific boundaries determined either prior to or during a
fire. Uses natural barriers or topographic features. |
| CONTAIN A FIRE
| - to take needed fire
suppression action to stop the fire's spread under prevailing
conditions. |
| CONTROL A FIRE
| - to complete a control line
around the full perimeter of a fire includes any spot fires,
interior unburned islands, burn out any unburned area adjacent
to control line, cool down hot spots next to control line
until the lines can be expected to hold under foreseeable
conditions. |
| CONTROL LINE
| - all constructed or natural
fire barriers and treated fire edge used to control a fire. |
| CROWN FIRE
| - a fire that spreads through
the tops of trees or shrubs independent of the ground surface
fire. |
| CROWN OUT
| - a fire that rises from the
ground into the tops of vegetation and spreads through the
tops of trees. To intermittently ignite the crowns as surface
fire advances. |
| DIRECT ATTACK
| - building a fire line by
wetting, smothering or physically separating the burning fuel
from unburned fuel. Usually done by hand crews, engines or
tractors directly on the fire edge. |
| DEFENSIBLE SPACE
| - a cleared area around a
structure which allows firefighters to safely defend the
structure from an advancing fire. |
| ESCAPED FIRE
| - a fire which exceeds the
capability of the initial action resources. |
| FIRE STORM
| - violent updraft caused by a
large continuous area of intense fire. Creates violent surface
indrafts near fire perimeter and often with tornado like
winds. Destructive surface winds. |
| FLASHOVER
| - rapid combustion or explosion
of unburned gases trapped as a result of poorly ventilated
topography. |
| FLANKS OF FIRE
| - the edges of a fire which is
parallel to the main direction of fire spread. The sides of
the fire looking from the point of origin towards the head. |
| FUEL TYPE
| - identifiable fuel elements of
distinctive species, form, size, arrangement or other
characteristics which cause a predictable rate of fire spread
under specified weather conditions. |
| HAND CREW
| - individuals trained for
firefighting that are brought together to work as an organized
crew on a fire. |
| HEAD OF FIRE
| - the most rapidly spreading
portion of a fire. |
| HELIBASE
| - the main location for parking,
fueling, maintaining and loading of helicopters, usually near
the Incident Base. |
| HELIRAPPELER
| - a firefighter delivered to a
fire by helicopter who rappels from the helicopter down ropes
to ground. |
| HELISPOT
| - temporary landing spot for
helicopters, usually remote and unimproved. |
| HELITANKER
| - helicopter equipped with a
bucket or fixed tank to deliver water or retardant to a fire. |
| HOT SHOT CREW
| - highly trained firefighting
crew used to construct fireline with handtools. Organized for
full time firefighting. |
| HOTSPOT
| - an extremely active part of a
fire. |
| ICS
| - Incident Command System, an
organization with a common structure with responsibility for
the management of all aspects of an incident. |
| INCIDENT
| - an occurrence or event that
requires action by emergency service personnel. (fire, flood,
earthquake, hurricane, volcanic event, etc.) |
| INCIDENT BASE
| - the location where
firefighters are provided food, lodging and supplies. |
| INCIDENT COMMAND POST
| - location where primary command
functions are executed. Usually located at the Incident Base. |
| INITIAL ACTION
| - (INITIAL ATTACK) fire control
work by first firefighters arriving at a fire. |
| INCIDENT MANAGEMENT TEAM
| - a group of highly trained
individuals organized as a team to manage an incident using
the Incident Command System. |
| LEAD PLANE
| - aircraft flown to direct
tactical operations of Air Tankers. |
| MOPUP
| - extinguishing burning fuels
inside the control lines. |
| OPERATIONAL PERIOD
| - a scheduled period of time to
accomplish planned objectives and fire control operations.
Planned time period is usually 12 to 24 hours. |
| PATROL
| - watching an assigned portion
of control line to prevent fire from becoming active and
escaping to the unburned fuels outside the line. |
| PRESCRIBED FIRE
| - any fire ignited by management
actions to meet specific objectives. (Prescribed Burn) |
| RATE OF SPREAD
| - the rate of increase in the
fire size through forward rate of spread at the head of the
fire or rate of increase in area. Expressed in chains per
hour(66 ft) or acres per hour. |
| RUNNING FIRE
| - rapidly spreading fire with a
well defined head. |
| SCRATCH LINE
| - unfinished control line
hastily constructed to check the spread of a fire. |
| SMOKEJUMPER
| - a firefighter delivered to a
fire by airplane who parachutes to the ground. |
| SMOLDERING
| - fire burning without flame and
barely spreading. |
| SNAG
| - standing dead tree or part of
a dead tree. |
| SPOT FIRE
| - fire outside the perimeter of
the main fire started by flying embers, sparks or rolling
debris. |
| SPOTTING
| - sparks or embers carried by
the wind starting new fires ahead of the main fire. |
| SURFACE FIRE
| - fire that burns the litter,
debris and small vegetation on the ground. |
| TRENCH
| - small ditch constructed on
sloping ground to catch rolling material. |
| UNDERSLUNG LINE
| - (UNDERCUT) a fire line or
control line below a fire on a slope. |
| UNIFIED COMMAND
| - A command structure which
allows all responsible agencies or individuals to jointly
manage an incident through a common set of objectives. |
| WILDLAND FIRE
| - any non-structure fire, other
than prescribed fire, that occurs in the wildland. |
| WILDFIRE
| - an unwanted wildland fire. |
