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THE WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER DICTIONARY
This is a conglomeration of terms gathered for your ease of use. It's not expected for you to know these by heart or look them up on your own, that's why I've spent a lot of time putting together a list organized for your ease of access. Use these terms when you see fit in the rp.- GENERAL KNOWLEDGE FOR THOSE ON THE GROUND
- BACKBURN | a precautionary fire set downwind of the main fire for controlled fuel clearing by "backing" it into the main fire, similar to a burnout, which occurs adjacent to the control line.
- BACKFIRE | a fire set along the inner edge of a fireline to consume the fuel in the path of a wildfire and to change the direction or force of the fire's convection column.
- BARRIER | any obstruction to the spread of fire. typically an area or strip devoid of combustible fuel.
- BERM | soil heaped on the downhill side of a traversing fireline below a fire in order to trap rolling firebrands.
- BLOWUP | a sudden increase in fireline intensity or the rate of spread of a fire sufficient to preclude direct control or to upset existing suppression plans. often accompanied by violent convection and may have other characteristics of a firestorm.
- BUMP UP | to move to another location. can be used in many contexts, from moving to another location on a single fireline to an entire crew moving to another fire. bump back means to return to a previous location. in the "bump" system of fireline construction, each firefighter works on a small piece of fireline with his or her tool until a completed portion of line is encountered. then the call to bump up is heard, and everyone ahead of the caller skips ahead one or more positions, leaving the unfinished fireline for those coming up behind.
- BURNING INDEX | a measure of fire-control difficulty, measured by the potential length of flame in feet multiplied by 10.
- BURNING PERIOD | the part of each day when fires spread most rapidly, typically from 10:00 AM to sundown.
- CATLINE AKA DOZER LINE | A fireline constructed with the front blade of a bulldozer or any tracked vehicle with a front-mounted blade used for exposing mineral soil.
- CONTROL LINE | an inclusive term for all constructed or natural barriers and retardant-treated fire edges used to control a fire.
- COYOTE TACTICS | a progressive line construction duty involving primarily hotshots and smokejumpers who build firelines until the end of the operation and then bed down wherever they end up, often without tents or sleeping bags.
- CREEPING FIRE | a fire that spreads slowly with a low flame.
- CROWN FIRE | a fire that advances between the tops of trees or shrubs more or less independently of a fire on the ground surface. crown fires are sometimes classed as running or dependent to distinguish the degree of independence from the surface fire.
- DIRECT ATTACK | any treatment applied directly to burning fuel, such as wetting, smothering, or chemically quenching the fire or by physically separating the burning from the unburned fuel.
- DRIP TORCH | a hand-carried fire-starting device filled with flammable liquid that is poured across a flaming wick, dropping flaming liquid onto the fuels to be burned.
- DUFF | a layer of decaying forest litter consisting of organics such as needles, leaves, and other plant materials covering the mineral soil. duff can smolder for days after a fire. extinguishing smoldering duff is key to successful mop-up operations.
- 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.
- 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 prescriptions.
- EXTENDED ATTACK | a situation in which a fire cannot be controlled by initial attack resources within a reasonable period of time. committing additional resources within 24 hours after commencing suppression action will usually control the fire.
- FIRE CAMP | a temporary camp established near the scene of large fires to provide food, rest, and other necessities to fire crews.
- FIREFIGHTING FOAM | an aerated solution created by forcing air into, or entraining air within, water containing a foam concentrate by means of suitably designed equipment or by cascading it through the air at a high velocity. foam reduces combustion by cooling, moistening and excluding oxygen.
- FIRE RETARDANT | any substance (except plain water) that by chemical or physical action reduces the flammability of fuels or slows their rate of combustion.
- FIREROAD | a road built specifically for access for fire management purposes.
- FIRE SHELTER | a portable, one-person tent, made of heat-reflecting aluminum foil, heat-resistant silica cloth and lightweight fibreglass. as a last resort, a firefighter can dig into the ground, deploy the shelter, hunker down and hope that it keeps him or her safe until the fire has passed.
- FIRELINE HANDBOOK | a small red booklet carried by U.S. firefighters on the firelines as a quick reference on various firefighting topics.
- FIRELINE AKA FIRETRAIL | the part of a control line that is scraped or dug to mineral soil. more generally, working a fire is called being on the fireline. may also refer to as a wet line, where water has been used to create a burn boundary in light fuels such as grass.
- FLANKS OF A FIRE | the parts of a fire's spread perimeter that grow to the sides then run roughly parallel to the main direction of spread. separated flank heads are extremely dangerous in steep terrain.
- FLARE-UP | Any sudden acceleration in the rate of spread or intensification of a fire. unlike a blowup, a flare-up is of relatively short duration and does not radically change existing control plans.
- GROUND FIRE | A fire that consumes the organic material beneath the surface litter ground, such as a peat fire.
- HAND CREW | a number of individuals that have been organized and trained and are supervised principally for operational assignments on an incident, typically using handheld tools. in the United States, an ordinary hand crew is 20 in number, including supervisors.
- HEAD OF A FIRE | the most rapidly spreading portion of a fire's perimeter, usually to the leeward or up a slope; may have multiple heads if there are separated flanking fires.
- HOT SPOT | a particularly active part of a fire.
- INCIDENT QUALIFICATION CARD AKA RED CARD | credentials issued to qualified firefighters listing their qualifications and specialties. these certifications must be renewed annually.
- INDIRECT ATTACK | a method of suppression in which the control line is located some considerable distance away from the fire edge. this method is generally used in the case of a fast-spreading or high-intensity fire and to utilize natural or constructed firebreaks, fuel breaks, and favorable breaks in the topography. the intervening fuel is usually backfired, but occasionally the main fire is allowed to burn to the line, depending on conditions.
- INITIAL ATTACK | the actions taken by the first resources to arrive at a wildfire to protect lives and property and to prevent further expansion of the fire. usually done by trained and experienced crews, and taking place immediately after size-up.
- INTERFACE ZONES | where urban firefighting meets wildland firefighting. structures at the edges of wildlands are uniquely threatened, and protecting them from fires requires skills and equipment of both disciplines.
- L.A.C.E.S. | a firefighter safety mnemonic for Lookout, Awareness or Anchor point, Communications, Escape routes, Safety zones.
- LOGGING SLASH | tops, stumps, mill ends, or limbs left by logging operations. may be beneficial to soil stability, but can dry out and make for hazards.
- PARALLEL ATTACK | a fire containment method where crews construct a fireline at some distance from the edge of the fire and then burn out the fuel in the buffer as the fireline is completed.
- PRESCRIBED BURN | a fire that is deliberately ignited for the purpose of forest or prairie management, often to remove heavy fuel buildup or simulate natural cycles of fire in an ecosystem.
- PULASKI | a special axe that combines the traditional axe with the adze (an axe with an arched blade). the adze is used to break up topsoil, while the axe is used to chop roots and brush.
- S-130/S-190 | the basic wildland fire training course given to all U.S. firefighters before they can work on the fire lines.
- TYPE 1 ENGINE | a fire engine designed primarily for fighting fires in structures accessible from roads.
- TYPE 2 ENGINE AKA TENDER | a fire engine designed to carry and pump water for use in fire suppression.
- TYPE 3 ENGINE | a fire engine designed primarily for fighting wildland fires. they are usually able to traverse more rugged terrain than type 1 and type 2 engines.
- BRUSH TRUCK, AKA TYPE 6 ENGINE | a small fire truck outfitted for wildland firefighting.
- URBAN INTERFACE | the interface zone where man-made structures inter-mingle with wildlands, creating the risk of structural involvement in a wildland fire incident and wildland fire involvement in structure fires, each of which requires different equipment, training, and tactics.
- WATCH OUT SITUATIONS | a list of 18 situations for firefighters to be aware of, which signal potential hazards on the fire line; originated from analysis of generations of similar incidents.
- WIDOWMAKER | any branch or treetop that is poorly or no longer attached to a tree, but still tangled overhead.
- WILDFIRE | An unplanned, unwanted wildland fire, including unauthorized human-caused fires, escaped wildland fire use events, escaped prescribed burns, fires cause by lightning strikes or downed power lines, and all other wildland fires where the objective is to put the fire out.
- WILDLAND | an area in which manmade development is essentially nonexistent, except possibly for roads, railroads, power lines, and similar transportation facilities. structures, if any, are usually remote and widely scattered.
- WINDFALL | trees knocked over or broken off by wind, increasing fuel loading and hampering the building of a fireline. large, unmanaged areas of dense blowdown can create serious fire hazards once the larger fuels become dry.
- FOR SMOKEJUMPERS
- SMOKEJUMPER | one who is dropped by parachute into a relatively inaccessible area in order to fight a forest fire.
- ALLEN ROLL, AKA ROLL | a method of hitting the ground which distributes landing shock and prevents injury. their feet hit the ground for just a moment, then the person twists to land on their butt, kicks their feet up over their shoulder, and comes to a stop laying on their stomach.
- AUGER IN | to hit the ground in such a way as to cause injury.
- BACKPACK | the primary parachute, worn on back.
- BUTTER KNIFE | a dull knife carried by the jumper in order to cut crossed parachute lines in an emergency.
- FEATHERED LANDING | a landing in timber whose resilience cushions the landing shock.
- FIRE BOSS | leader or captain of a team of smokejumpers.
- HANG UP | to land in a tree and get entangled in the branches.
- INVERSION | a type of parachute malfunction that happens when the canopy gets turned inside out. the chute is still functional, but the controls are reversed.
- JUMP PLANE | airplane from which smokejumpers parachute from to their firefighting area.
- JUMP RUN | pass of an airplane over a jump site.
- JUMP SITE | section of ground adjacent to a forest fire that a spotter locates as a potential landing place for smokejumpers.
- LETDOWN | to decend from a tree after being hung up by sliding down a 100' rope carried by the jumper for this purpose.
- LINE-OVERS | lines which have passed over the canopy of an improperly opened parachute which force it out of shape. these must be cut with the butterknife.
- MAE WEST | a dangerous parachute malfunction where several line-overs cross the center of the chute, causing it to look like a bra. if no more than four lines are crossed, they can be cut. if more than four are crossed, the secondary shoot must be opened.
- OPENING SHOCK | the shock a jumper gets from the sudden opening of their chute.
- OVERHEAD | the instructors for smokejumper training.
- RUN OUT OF BRANCHES | jumping in timber is comparatively safe, since the chute snags in the branches. occasionally, however, the tree collapses the chute but doesn't hold it, causing the jumper to fall through the branches. if they can't catch themselves on a branch, they might fall for as much as 75' from the lowest limb until they hit the ground.
- SHOCK TOWER | a high tower from which trainees jump to accustom themselves to opening shock.
- SILK STORY | a retelling of jumping experiences.
- SPOTTER | the person that tells the jumpers when to jump. they are an experienced jumper, and responsible for the safety of the entire crew.
- STICK | a group of jumpers that leave the plane on the same pass.
- STREAMER | the most dangerous chute malfunction, in which the chute fails to completely open and streams out in the shape of a cigar.
- FOR HOTSHOTS
- HOTSHOTS | an intensively trained fire crew used primarily in hand line construction and organized primarily to travel long distances from fire to fire as needed rather than serving only one location.
- LOOKOUT | safety personnel positioned to monitor the location and behavior of a fire, ready to signal a crew to escape.
- MOP-UP | the act of extinguishing or removing burning material near control lines, felling snags, and trenching logs to prevent rolling after an area has burned in order to make a recent fire zone safe or to reduce residual smoke.
- FOR AERIAL FIREFIGHTERS
- AERIAL FIREFIGHTING | the use of aircraft in support of ground resources to combat wildfires, often most effective in initial attack.
- AIR DROP | the delivery of supplies or fire retardant from the air. supplies can be dropped by parachute, while retardant is generally released in a single drop of one or more trails, the size of which is determined by the wind and the volume, speed and altitude of the airtanker. altitude is usually no less than 200 feet.
- AERIAL IGNITION | ignition of fuels by dropping incendiary devices or materials from aircraft.
- AIR OPERATIONS | a group tasked with coordinating aerial-based observation, supply, rescue and suppression at the scene of a wildfire.
- AIR TACTICAL GROUP SUPERVISOR | a person who coordinates air resources for attack of a fire with aerial firefighting.
- AIRTANKER AKA WATER BOMBER | fixed-wing aircraft certified as being capable of transporting and delivering 600 to 3,000 gallons of water or other liquid or powder fire retardants.
- BAMBI BUCKET | a collapsible bucket used for lifting and moving water or fire retardant with a helicopter.
- BUCKET DROPS | the dropping of fire retardants or suppressants from specially designed buckets slung below a helicopter.
- DROP ZONE | target area for air tankers, helitankers, and cargo dropping.
- 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 natural or improved takeoff and landing area intended for temporary or occasional helicopter use, typically in remote areas without other access.
- HELITACK | a fire crew trained to use helicopters for initial attack and to support large fires through bucket drops and the movement of personnel, equipment and supplies. another primary function of Helitack is smokejumper support and retrieval.
- LEAD PLANE | an aircraft with pilot used to make trial runs over a target area to check wind, smoke conditions, topography and to lead airtankers to targets and supervise their drops.
- S.E.A.T. | acronym for single engine air tanker; a small agricultural aircraft converted for use on fires, predominantly during the initial attack.
- SLING LOAD | cargo net containing supplies or equipment delivered by long line below a helicopter.
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