NWCG Glossary of Wildland Fire (PMS 205)

The ability to account for the location and welfare of personnel, accomplished when supervisors ensure that the ICS principles and processes are functional and personnel are working within these guidelines.

Personnel who have reported to the incident without an assignment (i.e., they are not assigned to an increment, strike team, or organizational unit).

Fire ignited to clear vegetation as a form of pest control or as deterrent. Also used to smoke small game from burrows.

The documented location where a photograph was taken.

Intolerance to light; especially: painful sensitiveness to strong light.

Circular yarn woven between longitudinal warp ends that form a pick on one turn of the finished jacket.

Piling slash resulting from logging or fuel management activities and subsequently burning the individual piles.

A method of determining winds aloft by periodically reading the elevation and azimuth angles of a theodolite, usually at one-minute intervals, while tracking the ascent of a small free-lift balloon. A PIBAL is commonly used for constructing a wind profile. 

Pilot responsible for the operation and safety of an aircraft during flight time.

Navigation of aircraft by visual reference to landmarks.

Colored flags attached to metal or plastic pins to designate the location of fire pattern indicators, evidence, and other items of interest.

A hose coupling with one or more cylindrical studs on its outside rim. The studs allow the use of a spanner wrench to tighten the coupling.

Direct attack around a fire in opposite directions by two or more attack units. Usually conducted from the fire's tail to head.

Mechanized method of dispensing DAIDs (Delayed Aerial Ignition Devices) at a selected rate. The DAIDs are polystyrene balls, 1.25 inches in diameter, containing potassium permanganate. The balls are fed into a dispenser, generally mounted in a helicopter, where they are injected with a water-glycol solution and then drop through a chute leading out of the helicopter. The chemicals react thermally and ignite in 25-30 seconds. The space between ignition points on the ground is primarily a function of helicopter speed, gear ratio of the dispenser, and the number of chutes used (up to four). 

A vascular plant that has a usually continuous central internal stand of spongy tissue in the stem.

The selected course of action and organization of personnel and equipment in fire suppression, as applied to a particular fire or to all fires of a specific type.

That part of the earth's lower atmosphere that is directly influenced by the presence of the earth's surface and responds to surface forcings such as fronts, friction, evapotranspiration and convective mixing.

A map that shows the positions of features without showing the elevations of all hills and valleys of the land. It can include rivers, lakes, roads, boundaries, or other human-made symbolic features.

Period of time between scheduled planning meetings.

The meeting which serves as a final review and approval, by the Command and General Staff, of operational plans and resources requirements. This meeting is an element of the Planning Cycle.

The ICS Section that collects, evaluates, and disseminates operational information related to the incident and for the development of the IAP. This section also maintains information on the current/forecasted situation and on the status of resources assigned to the incident.

Device installed, but jettisonable, in a helicopter, which injects glycol into a plastic sphere containing potassium permanganate, which is then expelled from the machine and aircraft. This produces an exothermic reaction resulting in ignition of fuels on the ground for prescribed or wildland fire applications. 

Fireline constructed by a tractor plow.

A convection column generated by combustion (of wildland fuel).

How high above the level of release an emission plume rises.

A wildland fire whose activity is determined by the convection column.

Particulate matter of mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD) less than or equal to 10 micrometers.

Particulate matter of mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD) less than or equal to 2.5 micrometers.

A handheld electronic device that measures temperature, humidity, wind speed, and possibly other atmospheric variables, depending on brand and model.

Unburned indentations in the fire edge formed by fingers or slow burning areas.

The date and time that the fire point was collected in the field.

An additional field to assist with identifying the feature.

That part of the fire on which work is started when suppression crews arrive.

The exact physical location within the Ignition Area where a heat source and the local fuel interact, resulting in a fire.

Point of Origin of an incident for which no fire agency has been assigned as the protecting unit.

A permanent source of air pollution that can be distinctly identified such as a smokestack.

Predictions that apply to an initiating fire burning during a time when conditions have been relatively constant, or where it can be assumed that the fire will maintain a basically elliptical shape.

Description of the type of point.

A wildfire response strategy which protects specific assets or highly valued resources from the wildfire without directly halting the continued spread of the wildfire.

Unit of fluid viscosity in fire retardant, defined as tangential force per unit area (dynes/square centimeter) required to maintain unit difference in velocity (1 centimeter/second) between two parallel planes separated by 1 cm of fluid (1 poise=1 dyne-second/cubic centimeter). 

A synthetic material either spun or filament. Can be used in both the warp and filler yarn in fire hose.

Any of various partially crystalline lightweight thermoplastics that are resistant to chemicals and moisture, have good insulating properties, and are used especially in packaging, insulation and sometimes for wildland engine water tanks.

The date and time that the polygon was collected in the field

A copolymer plastic, usually black, that is strong, ultraviolet resistant, not effected by chemicals and a good choice for wildland engine water tanks.

This type plastic normally is used for round molded tanks, is not ultraviolet resistant, a poor choice for fire apparatus.

Small gasoline-driven pump that can be carried to a water source by one or two firefighters or other conveyance over difficult terrain.

Container, either with rigid frame or self supporting, which can be filled with water or fire chemical mixture from which fire suppression resources can be filled. It can also be a source for charging hose lays from portable pumps or stationary engines.

A code (mnemonic) for designating a position used in incident management response

The requirement to perform satisfactorily in a specified position within the last five years (three years for aviation and expanded dispatch positions) in order to maintain qualification for the position.

An assignment in which an individual is being evaluated for tasks found in the position task book.