NWCG Glossary of Wildland Fire, PMS 205

A FireCode used by the USDA Forest Service to track and compile cost information for emergency initial attack fire suppression expenditures for A, B, C, & D size class fires on Forest Service lands.

To jettison a load of water or retardant from an aircraft, or terminate a preplanned aircraft maneuver.

Term frequently used in aviation operations, usually in connection with a stated altitude.

According to the American Meteorological Society, (also called vapor density). In a system of moist air, the ratio of the mass of water vapor present to the volume occupied by the mixture; that is, the density of the water vapor component.

Act of soaking up and retaining a gas in liquid or in a solid; also retention of radiant energy.

Agency-specific accounting data. Each agency assigns a specific accounting code to an incident.

Cost reports utilized for financial obligation purposes.

The thing that a person is doing when a wildland fire ignition occurs.

Common name of activity

Type of activity or event

Date when treatment was physically completed

Oral or written statement tending to link its maker to involvement in a particular crime.

Moving a hose lay toward a specified area from the point where the hose-carrying apparatus has stopped.

A system for, or the act of discovering, locating, and reporting fires from aircraft.

Inclusive term applied to equipment designed to ignite wildland fuels from an aircraft.

A way to group people based on their chronological age and their position in the life cycle as it relates to the age demographic. This information provides valuable insight to Communication, Education, and Prevention personnel in developing products to reach and educate on wildland fire prevention.

An administrative division of a government with a specific function, or a non-governmental organization (e.g., private contractor, business, etc.) that offers a particular kind of assistance. A federal, Tribal, state or local agency that has direct fire management or land management responsibilities or that has programs and activities that support fire management activities.

The official position responsible for the management of a geographic unit or functional area. The managing officer of an agency, division thereof, or jurisdiction having statutory responsibility for incident mitigation and management. Examples: Federal Line Officer, State Forest Officer/Delegate or Fire Manager, Tribal Chairperson, Fire Chief, Police Chief, Sheriff, Mayor or County Representative.

Costs incurred by an agency that address the sole concern of only the agency or are not incurred with mutual benefit. Agency specific costs are not shared.

The deployment of fixed-wing or rotary aircraft on a wildland fire, to drop retardant or extinguishing agents, shuttle and deploy crews and supplies, or perform aerial reconnaissance of the overall fire situation.

Mathematical or quantitative representation or simulation of air quality processes; e.g., emission models, receptor models, or air quality dispersion models.

A method used to distribute various types of general or time-sensitive information from an NWCG committee to the wildland fire community. Information may include bulletins, advisories, or safety warnings, each with an associated color hash-marked bordered stationary.

A threat or an incident, natural or manmade, that warrants action to protect life, property, the environment, and public health or safety, and to minimize disruptions of government, social, or economic activities. It includes natural disasters, cyber incidents, industrial accidents, pandemics, acts of terrorism, sabotage, and destructive criminal activity targeting critical infrastructure. This also includes the effects climate change has on the threats and hazards.

According to the American Meteorological Society, the general name for instruments designed to measure total wind speed.

Angle of point symbol displayed in mapping application

A plant that lives for one growing season, starting from a seed each year.

The external alphanumeric value painted on the side of the equipment.

Ignition of several individual fires throughout an area, either simultaneously or in rapid succession, and so spaced that they add to and influence the main body of the fire to produce a hot, fast-spreading fire condition.

An agency or organization providing personnel, services, or other resources to the agency with direct responsibility for incident management.

Training where the students and/or instructors are not interacting with each other in real time. Typically, the students are accessing learning resources at a time of their choosing.

According to the American Meteorological Society, a departure from the usual decrease or increase with altitude of the value of an atmospheric property; also, the layer through which this departure occurs (the "inversion layer"), or the lowest altitude at which the departure is found ("the base of the inversion"). In fire management usage, nearly always refers to an increase in temperature with increasing height.

According to the American Meteorological Society, the ability of the atmosphere at rest to become turbulent or laminar due to the effects of buoyancy. Air tending to become or remain turbulent is said to be statically unstable; one tending to become or remain laminar is statically stable; and one on the borderline between the two (which might remain laminar or turbulent depending on its history) is statically neutral.

The starting date, hour, and minute of the first suppression work on a fire.

An area considered to have air quality as good as, or better than, the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) as defined in the Clean Air Act. An area may be in attainment for one or more pollutants but be in nonattainment for one or more other pollutants. 

Passengers may be transported in government aircraft only if they meet definition of an Official or an Unofficial Passenger.

A back bearing is measured from the object to your position. It is the exact opposite of a direct bearing.

Used in some localities to specify fire set to spread against the wind in prescribed burning.

A flame generating device (e.g., a fount containing diesel oil or kerosene and a wick, or a backpack pump serving a flame-jet).

A tactic associated with indirect attack, intentionally setting fire to fuels inside the control line to slow, knock down, or contain a rapidly spreading fire. Backfiring provides a wide defense perimeter and may be further employed to change the force of the convection column. Backfiring makes possible a strategy of locating control lines at places where the fire can be fought on the firefighter's terms. Except for rare circumstance meeting specified criteria, backfiring is executed on a command decision made through line channels of authority. 

That portion of the fire with slower rates of fire spread and lower intensity normally moving into the wind and/or down slope.

A collapsible bucket slung below a helicopter. Used to dip water from a variety of sources for fire suppression.

A location where personnel coordinate and administer logistics functions for anincident. There is typically only one base per incident. (An incident name or other designator is added to the term Base.) The ICP may be co-located with the Incident Base.

An imaginary line on the ground running east-west (horizontal) measured with special accuracy to provide a base for surveying.

Training that is specifically designed to meet course objectives through a combination of self-directed online training and Instructor-led training. The online component typically contains a portion of the curriculum content and must be successfully completed in order to complete the course.

A detailed prescription for treating a specified burning block with fire.

The most common type of hose attached and stored on wildland engine booster reels. The hose is made of neoprene and does not appreciably collapse when stored empty.

A fire edge that crosses a control line or natural barrier intended to confine the fire.

The increase in strength of a fire management organization.

The accelerated spreading of a fire with time.