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Long Term Fire Analyst

Position Description

Duties

  • Assists in the burn plan development and review before implementing.
  • Provides appropriate historic weather information.
  • Obtains weather forecasts, updates and special advisories; document local weather before and during the fire; and communicate with Meteorologist.
  • Establishes and maintains effective communications with appropriate personnel, such as supervisors, Fire Effects Monitor, crewmembers, or adjoining forces.
  • Establishes a system to monitor fire behavior, first order fire effects, weather data before (if possible), during and after ignition.
  • Assesses real-time observations of fire behavior and immediate fire effects, and recommend tactical adjustments.
  • Identifies fuels outside of standard models because of depth, loading arrangement, or kind of fuel; and adjust predictions accordingly.
  • Analyzes observed and predicted fire behavior to make adjustments to fuel models or the assumptions used in the fire behavior calculations.
  • Estimates wind speed and direction at any time and location over a large area of varying topography, given a fire weather forecast.
  • Assembles information and calculate fire growth from a line source of fire over an extended time period.
  • Recognizes and describes special conditions that promote extreme fire behavior.
  • Calculates the rate of spread, flame lengths (fireline intensity), heat per unit area, burn size (area and perimeter) for selected time periods for a burn starting from a point source and be able to plot the burn area and perimeter on a map.
  • Predicts the rate and direction of fire spread on slope with winds at various angles on the slope.
  • Employs appropriate solutions for burns of extended durations.
  • Provides assessment of risk of a rare fire spread, significant smoke, and/or season ending event for long duration fires.
  • Synthesizes the data sets from a number of local weather stations for useful inputs to fire behavior calculations for various locations.
  • Monitors smoke emissions for health, safety, and vista impairment.
  • Locates proper sites for, and identify appropriate equipment for weather data collection.
  • Prepares written prescribed fire behavior forecast within the time frame specified by the supervisor.
  • Provides formal briefing to appropriate personnel.
  • Provides fire behavior and fire effects summary for the fire(s).

Position Knowledge and/or Requirements

  • S-390, Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior Calculations
  • S-490, Advanced Wildland Fire Behavior Calculations
  • S-590, Advanced Fire Behavior Interpretations
  • S-492, Long Term Fire Risk Assessment
  • S-493, FARSITE: Fire Growth Simulation

 

Last Modified/Reviewed:

NWCG Latest Announcements

2024 Week of Remembrance

Date: June 27, 2024
Contact: 6 Minutes for Safety Subcommittee 

As we approach the 2024 Week of Remembrance (WOR), June 30 to July 6, we dedicate this time to thoughtfully reviewing and recognizing the events of the 2018 Mendocino Complex. As such, this year’s theme of “Learning From the Mendocino Complex” embodies a longstanding hallmark of WOR, honoring through learning.

Throughout the week, our energy will be directed toward fostering generative conversations in briefing rooms and at tailgates.

References:

6 Minutes for Safety - 2024 Week of Remembrance

Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center

Updated NWCG Wildland Fire Risk and Complexity Assessment, PMS 236

Date: June 24, 2024
Contact: Incident and Position Standards Committee 

The June 2024 update of the NWCG Wildland Fire Risk and Complexity Assessment, PMS 236, is now available to meet the current needs for incident management typing.

The NWCG Wildland Fire Risk and Complexity Assessment should be used to evaluate firefighter safety issues, assess risk, and identify the appropriate incident management organization based on incident complexity. Assessing risk, determining incident complexity, and identifying an appropriate incident management organization is a subjective process based on examining a combination of indicators or factors, which can change over time.

References:

NWCG Wildland Fire Risk and Complexity Assessment, PMS 236

Operations Branch Director (OPBD) Next Gen PTB Available

Date: June 10, 2024
Contact: NWCG Feedback 

The NWCG Position Task Book for Operations Branch Director (OPBD), PMS 311-109 is now available for use within the OPBD position qualification pathway. As part of the transition to Complex Incident Management (CIM), the OPBD Next Gen PTB was developed and the position qualification pathway updated.

More information about the Next Gen PTB format can be found on the NWCG Position Task Book webpage.

References:

Operations Branch Director Position Page

Operations Branch Director Next Gen PTB

NWCG Position Task Books

Updated NWCG Standards for Interagency Incident Business Management, PMS 902

Date: June 5, 2024
Contact: NWCG Incident Business Committee 

The 2024 revision of the NWCG Standards for Interagency Incident Business Management, PMS 902 is now available. The uniform application of interagency incident business management standards is critical to interagency fire operations. PMS 902 assists NWCG agencies in constructively working together to provide effective execution of each agency's incident business management program.

References:

PMS 902