NWCG Glossary of Wildland Fire, PMS 205

Overview

The NWCG Glossary of Wildland Fire provides an extensive listing of approved terms and definitions used by the NWCG community. It contains terms commonly used by NWCG in the areas of wildland fire and incident management and is not intended to list all terms used by NWCG groups and member agencies. The NWCG has directed that all committee and subgroup product glossaries be contained within the NWCG Glossary of Wildland Fire to maintain definition consistency and clarity among documents.

Comments, questions, and recommendations shall be submitted to the appropriate agency program manager assigned to the Data Standards and Terminology Board (DSTB).

NWCG Glossary of Wildland Fire, PMS 205 (Quick View)

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Title	Steward	Status	Definition
fire management area	FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee, IFPC Interagency Fire Planning Committee	Approved	One or more parcels of land having a common set of fire management objectives.
fire management improvements	FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee	Approved	All structures built and used primarily for fire management, e.g. lookout towers, lookout cabins, telephone lines, and also firebreaks, fuel breaks, and roads to lookouts.
fire management objective	FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee, IFPC Interagency Fire Planning Committee	Approved	Planned, measurable result desired from fire protection and use based on land management goals and objectives.
Fire Management Plan (FMP)	FMB Fire Management Board	Approved	A compilation of goals, objectives, and requirements from the land/resource management planning process necessary to implement wildland fire management decisions.
Fire Management Unit (FMU)	FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee, IFPC Interagency Fire Planning Committee	Approved	A land area definable by specified management objectives, constraints, topographic features, access, values to be protected, political boundaries, fuel types, major fire regime groups, and other defined elements that set it apart from an adjacent area. The primary purpose of developing Fire Management Units in fire management planning is to assist in organizing information in complex landscapes. A fire management unit may have dominant management objectives and pre-selected strategies assigned to accomplish these objectives.
fire occurrence identifier	GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	Approved	Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) assigned to the spatialrecord.
fire out date time	FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee	Approved	The date when all observable combustion has ceased or there is no risk of the fire again becoming active and requiring additional control or management actions.
fire out time	FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee	Approved	The time when all observable combustion has ceased or there is no risk of the fire again becoming active and requiring additional control or management actions. All management activities directly relating to suppression (including mop-up), monitoring, or burning efforts have concluded; however, there may be secondary management efforts, such as burned area rehabilitation or hazard mitigation, still in process.
fire pack	ETC Equipment Technology Committee	Approved	A one-person unit of fire tools, equipment, and supplies prepared in advance for carrying on the back.
fire pattern	WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee	Approved	The visible or measurable physical changes formed by a fire effect or group of fire effects. This can be over a small area or it can include the overall pattern of fire spread as determined by the entirety of fire pattern indicators over a larger area.
fire pattern indicator	WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee	Approved	A physical object that displays changes (fire effects) from exposure to heat, flame, and combustion by-products that can reveal the direction of fire progression at a precise location with accurate analysis. A fire pattern indicator is a single component of the overall fire pattern.
fire pattern indicator cluster	WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee	Approved	Multiple fire pattern indicators in relatively close proximity to each other which exhibit a consistent vector.
fire pattern indicator, angle of char	WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee	Approved	Angled or horizontal char or scorch pattern created on standing fuels as fire burns up to, past and beyond, indicating the direction of fire progression at that point. One of the 11 NWCG categories of fire pattern indicators.
fire pattern indicator, angle of scorch	WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee	Approved	Scorch pattern left on canopy of standing fuels that indicates the direction of fire progression at that point. This fire pattern indicator is included within the fire pattern indicator category of Angle of Char.
fire pattern indicator, cupping	WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee	Approved	A concave or cup-shaped char pattern found on the side of fuels exposed to the oncoming fire including small stumps (generally 10 inch diameter and less are more reliable), grass stem ends and terminal ends of brush and tree limbs (generally less than 1/2 inch diameter) that indicate the direction of fire progression at that point. One of the 11 NWCG categories of fire pattern indicators.
fire pattern indicator, curling	FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee, WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee, FDSC Fire Danger Subcommittee	Approved	Green leaves and succulents, uncured vegetation which bends and curls inwards towards the heat source due to desiccation. One of the 11 NWCG categories of fire pattern indicator.
fire pattern indicator, foliage freeze	WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee	Approved	Small branches, needles, and leaves swept into a position by the wind and fixed by desiccation indicating the wind direction at the time of fire passage. One of the 11 NWCG categories of fire pattern indicators.
fire pattern indicator, grass stem	WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee	Approved	The un-consumed grass stems and heads of cured grass left lying on the ground after the passage of a fire that under certain circumstances point in the direction that the fire came from. One of the 11 NWCG categories of fire pattern indicators.
fire pattern indicator, protection	WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee	Approved	A combustible or non-combustible object that displays differential damage or deposits on opposing sides due to the passage of the fire and indicates the direction of fire progression at that location.  One of the 11 NWCG categories of fire pattern indicators.
fire pattern indicator, spalling (exfoliation)	WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee	Approved	Rock or boulders that display more chipping or pitting on the exposed surface than the protected surface due to the passage of the fire indicating the direction of fire progression at that location. One of the 11 NWCG categories of fire pattern indicators
fire pattern indicator, staining	WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee	Approved	Objects displaying more stain deposits on the exposed surface of the object than on the protected surface of the object indicating the direction of fire progression at that location. One of the 11 NWCG categories of fire pattern indicators.
fire pattern indicator, u or v	WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee	Approved	Fire pattern that resembles a U or V shape and indicates the direction of fire progression in that area. One of the 11 NWCG categories of fire pattern indicators.
fire pattern indicator, white ash	WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee	Approved	There are two subsets of the white ash fire indicator, deposits and exposure. Objects displaying more white ash deposits on the exposed surface of the object as opposed to the protected surface of the object indicating the direction of fire progression at that location. Objects displaying more attached white ash on the exposed surface of the object as opposed to the protected surface of the object indicating the direction of fire progression at that location. One of the 11 NWCG categories of fire pattern indicators.
fire perimeter	FBSC Fire Behavior Subcommittee	Approved	The entire outer edge or boundary of a fire.
fire planning	IFPC Interagency Fire Planning Committee	Approved	The process of developing and interpreting goals and objectives necessary to guide wildland fire management actions.
Fire Planning Unit (FPU)	FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee, IFPC Interagency Fire Planning Committee	Approved	The geographic scope of the landscape defined for the fire management analysis. A Fire Planning Unit consists of one or more Fire Management Units. FPUs may relate to a single administrative unit, a sub-unit, or any combination of units or sub-units. FPUs are scalable and may be contiguous or non-contiguous. FPUs are not predefined by agency administrative unit boundaries, and may relate to one or more agencies. They may be described spatially.
fire plow	ETC Equipment Technology Committee	Approved	A heavy duty plowshare or disc plow usually pulled by a tractor to construct a fireline.
fire potential	FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee	Approved	The likelihood of a wildland fire event measured in terms of anticipated occurrence of fire(s) and management's capability to respond. Fire potential is influenced by a sum of factors that includes fuel conditions (fuel dryness and/or other inputs), ignition triggers, significant weather triggers, and resource capability.
fire presuppression	IFPC Interagency Fire Planning Committee	Approved	Activities undertaken in advance of fire occurrence to help ensure more effective fire suppression. Activities includes overall planning, recruitment and training of fire personnel, procurement and maintenance of firefighting equipment and supplies, fuel treatment and creating, maintaining, and improving a system of fuel breaks, roads, water sources, and control lines.
fire prevention	CEPC Communication, Education, and Prevention Committee	Approved	Activities such as public education, community outreach, law enforcement, engineering, and reduction of fuel hazards that are intended to reduce the incidence of unwanted human-caused wildfires and the risks they pose to life, property or resources.
fire progress map	GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	Approved	A map maintained on a large fire to show at given times the location of the fire, deployment of suppression forces, and progress of suppression.
fire progression	WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee	Approved	The spread of the fire from one location to another.
fire qualifications	IPSC Incident and Position Standards Committee	Approved	Computerized interagency summary of fire suppression qualifications of listed personnel. Available information includes fire training record, fire experience record, and physical fitness testing score for each individual.
fire regime	FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee	Approved	Description of the patterns of fire occurrences, frequency, size, severity, and sometimes vegetation and fire effects as well, in a given area or ecosystem. A fire regime is a generalization based on fire histories at individual sites. Fire regimes can often be described as cycles because some parts of the histories usually get repeated, and the repetitions can be counted and measured, such as fire return interval.
fire regime current condition class	FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee	Approved	A qualitative measure classified into three classes describing the relative degree of departure from historical fire regimes, possibly resulting in alterations of key ecosystem components such as species composition, structural stage, stand age, canopy closure, and fuel loadings.
fire regime groups	FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee	Approved	A classification of fire regimes into a discrete number of categories based on frequency and severity. The national, coarse-scale classification of fire regime groups commonly used includes five groups: I - frequent (0-35 years), low severity; II - frequent (0-35 years), stand replacement severity; III - 35-100+ years, mixed severity; IV - 35-100+ years, stand replacement severity; and V - 200+ years, stand replacement severity.
fire rehabilitation (event)	NCSC National Coordination System Committee	Approved	An event dealing with objectives to repair damage or disturbance caused by wildfire. Efforts occurring 1-5 years from ignition date.
fire report	FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee	Approved	An official record of a fire, generally including information on cause, location, action taken, damage, costs, etc., from start of the fire until completion of suppression action. These reports vary in form and detail from agency to agency.
fire report approver name	FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee	Approved	Name of the person that approved the fire report. Approval authority varies by agency.
fire report provider name	FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee	Approved	Name of person that provided the data for the fire report or is the contact for questions regarding the fire report.
fire reporting agency unit identifier	FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee	Approved	The unit identifier for the agency preparing the fire report.
fire resistant tree	FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee	Approved	A species with compact, resin-free, thick corky bark and less flammable foliage that has a relatively lower probability of being killed or scarred by a fire than a fire sensitive tree.
fire resource category	NCSC National Coordination System Committee	Approved	The intermediate classification of operational resources available to respond to a fire.
fire resource kind	NCSC National Coordination System Committee	Approved	The most general classification of operational resources available to respond to a fire.
fire resource status (record)	NCSC National Coordination System Committee	Approved	Indicates if the resource record being submitted or updated is an initial response resource or daily resource record.
fire resource type	NCSC National Coordination System Committee	Approved	The most specific classification of operational resources available to respond to a fire.
fire resources	IBC Incident Business Committee	Approved	All personnel and equipment available or potentially available for assignment to incidents.
fire restriction polygon		In Development	A polygon depicting areas where measures have been taken by jurisdictional agencies to impose bans and standards of use on certain human acitvities that could lead to the cause of wildlland fire.
fire retardant	ETC Equipment Technology Committee	Approved	Any substance except plain water that by chemical or physical action reduces flammability of fuels or slows their rate of combustion.
fire risk (agent)	WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee	Approved	A causative agent.

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National Wildfire Coordinating Group

PMS 205

NWCG Glossary of Wildland Fire, PMS 205

Overview