NWCG Glossary of Wildland Fire, PMS 205

Rate of heat release per unit of burning area per unit of time.

The act of directing, ordering, or controlling by virtue of explicit statutory, regulatory, or delegated authority.

The working environment within the influence of a particular leader or chain of command. The command climate is based on the subordinates' understanding of how they are expected to perform, how they are treated, and how they must conform to the leader's style. 

How leaders present themselves to others. The personal attributes and traits that determine whether leaders are worthy of trust and respect from their subordinates.

A group of incident personnel that the Incident Commander or Unified Command assigns to support the command function at an ICP. Command staff often include a PIO, a Safety Officer, and a Liaison Officer, who have assistants as necessary. Additional positions may be needed, depending on the incident.

Additional information describing the feature.

Verbal, graphical, or written information sharing with internal and external audiences.

Communications Unit staff install and test communications equipment, supervise and operate the incident communications center, distribute and recover communications equipment assigned to incident personnel, and maintain and repair communications equipment on site.Most complex incidents have an incident Communications Plan. Staff in the Communications Unit produce this plan, as they are responsible for assigning radio frequencies; establishing voice and data networks for command, tactical, support, and air units; setting up on-scene telephoneand public-address equipment; and providing any necessary off-incident communication links.

An event initiated by local private or government organizations that require non-emergency services for a general gathering such as a concert, convention, or parade. 

A plan developed in the collaborative framework established by the Wildland Fire Leadership Council and agreed to by state, tribal, and local government, local fire department, other stakeholders and federal land management agencies managing land in the vicinity of the planning area. A Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) identifies and prioritizes areas for hazardous fuel reduction treatments and recommends the types and methods of treatment on Federal and non-Federal land that will protect one or more at-risk communities and essential infrastructure and recommends measures to reduce structural ignitability throughout the at-risk community. A CWPP may address issues such as wildfire response, hazard mitigation, community preparedness, or structure protection - or all of the above. 

A formal working agreement among agencies to obtain mutual aid.

Spacing between fuel particles.

Any piece of (fire) equipment having a full complement of personnel.

The practice of comparing and contrasting the fire damage on different surfaces of an object that has been subjected to the oncoming fire.

An investigative technique that involves comparing same sized indicators within an indicator category at separate locations; looking for either differences or similarities in appearance.

A circle, graduated in degrees, printed on some charts or marked on the ground at an airport or heliport. It is used as a reference to either true or magnetic direction.

Person responsible to the Compensation/Claims Unit Leader for administrative matters arising from serious injuries and fatalities occurring on the incident.

Compensation and Claims Unit staff are responsible for financial concerns resulting from property damage, injuries, or fatalities at the incident. The specific activities vary depending on the incident. Staff handling injury compensation ensure that all forms needed by workers’ compensation programs and local agencies are completed. These staff also typically maintain files on injuries and illnesses associated with the incident and obtain written witness statements. Since Medical Unit staff may also perform some of these tasks, the Medical and the Compensation and Claims Units should coordinate closely. The Compensation and Claims Unit staff may assist with civil tort claims investigations involving incident property, and the staff maintain logs on the claims, obtain witness statements, and document investigations and agency follow-up activities.

A broad description that groups core behaviors necessary to perform a specific function.

Any item which can produce sufficient heat over a sufficient duration of time capable of bringing forest fuels to their ignition temperature and sustain open flame combustion.

Actions taken to conform with legal requirements.

A generic term used to describe foam systems consisting of an air compressor (or air source), a water pump, and foam solution.

Term used in calculating from performance charts the permissible helicopter payload at which a helicopter is capable of hovering in ground effect or hovering out of ground effect, based on pressure altitude and air temperature.

A substance that has been concentrated; specifically, a liquid that has been made denser, as by the removal of some of its water.

A model that is a diagram or description of a set of relationships between factors that describe how a system works, such as an ecological model.

The process by which a gas becomes a liquid.

Depiction of the degree of departure from historical fire regimes, possibly resulting in alterations of key ecosystem components. These classes categorize and describe vegetation composition and structure conditions that currently exist inside the Fire Regime Groups. Based on the coarse-scale national data, they serve as generalized wildfire rankings. The risk of loss of key ecosystem components from wildfires increases from Condition Class 1 (lowest risk) to Condition Class 3 (highest risk).

Stage of growth or degree of flammability of vegetation that forms part of a fuel complex. Herbaceous stage is at times used when referring to herbaceous vegetation alone. In grass areas minimum qualitative distinctions for stages of annual growth are usually green, curing, and dry or cured. 

Heat transfer through a material from a region of higher temperature to a region of lower temperature.

A wildfire response strategy of restricting a wildfire to a defined area, primarily using natural barriers that are expected to restrict the spread of the wildfire under the prevailing and forecasted weather conditions.

The strategy employed in appropriate management responses where a fire perimeter is managed by a combination of direct and indirect actions and use of natural topographic features, fuel, and weather factors.

A raging, destructive fire. Often used to connote such a fire with a moving front as distinguished from a fire storm.

Likelihood that a wildfire capable of causing considerable damage will occur.

Uniformity and size of bubbles.

Resultant of all fire danger factors that are relatively unchanging in a specific area (e.g., resource values at risk, topography, fuel type, exposure to prevailing wind).

The amount of a specified fuel type or strata that is removed through the fire process, often expressed as a percentage of the preburn weight.

Email of the incident-based contact responsible for data creation.

Name of the incident-based contact responsible for data creation.

Phone number for the incident-based contact responsible for data creation.

The status of a wildfire suppression action signifying that a control line has been completed around the fire, and any associated spot fires, which can reasonably be expected to stop the fire's spread.

The act of controlling hazardous spilled or leaking materials.

The status of a wildfire suppression action signifying that a control line has been completed around the fire, and any associated spot fires, which can reasonably be expected to stop the fire's spread.

Climate that is characteristic of the interior of a land mass of continental size, marked by large annual diurnal and day-to-day ranges of temperature, low relative humidity and irregular precipitation.

A back-up plan of action when actions described in the primary plan are no longer appropriate. Contingency actions are required to be taken when the result exceeds its intent. Actions are taken to return the project to its intended design.

The portion of a prescribed fire plan, incident action plan, or implementation plan that identifies possible but unlikely events and the contingency resources needed to mitigate those events.

Planned and identified fire suppression personnel and equipment that mitigate possible but unlikely events that exceed or are expected to exceed holding resource capabilities.

A map having lines of equal elevation that represent the land surface (Topographic).

Any written agreement giving one party a right, a service, or a commodity in exchange for a right, a service, or a commodity. Contracts include land use permits, purchase orders, equipment rental agreements, leases, etc.