NWCG Glossary of Wildland Fire (PMS 205)

A job hazard analysis identifies hazards associated with work projects and worksites, and identifies protective equipment or modified work procedures needed.

A facility established as the central point of contact for news media and interest parties to coordinate incident information activities at the scene of the incident. Public information officials from all participating federal, state, and local agencies should collocate at the JIC. 

A system that integrates incident information and public affairs into a cohesive organization designed to provide consistent, coordinated, timely information during crisis or incident operations.

Selected landing area for smokejumpers.

Approved protection suit worn for smokejumping.

The range or sphere of authority. Public agencies have jurisdiction at an incident related to their legal responsibilities and authority for incident mitigation. Jurisdictional authority at an incident can be political/geographical (e.g., city, county, state or federal boundary lines), or functional (e.g., police department, health department, etc.). 

Jurisdiction of initial attack frequency zones in a dataset.

The agency having responsibility either geographical or functional, related to their legal responsibilities and authorities.

The agency category having land and resource management responsibility for a specific geographical or functional area as provided by federal, state or local law.

The agency kind having land and resource management responsibility for a specific geographical or functional area as provided by federal, state or local law.

The governmental entity having overall land and resource management responsibility for a specific geographical area as provided by law.

Code used in interagency wildland fire to uniquely identify the governmental entity having overall land and resource management responsibility for a specific geographical area as provided by law.

The name of the governmental entity having overall land and resource management responsibility for a specific geographical area as provided by law.

A polygon depicting areas of wildland fire jurisdiction to the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) Unit level.

An estimate (0-800) of the amount of precipitation (in 100ths of inches) needed to bring the top 8 inches of soil back to saturation. A value of 0 is complete saturation of the soil, a value of 800 means 8.00 inches of precipitation would be needed for saturation. In the 1988 version of NFDRS, outputs of KBDI are used to adjust live and dead fuel loadings. 

Inflammation of the cornea of the eye characterized by burning or smarting, blurring of vision, and sensitiveness to light and caused by infectious or noninfectious agents - called also corneitis.

Automatic engine shut-off feature resulting from loss of oil pressure, water pressure, or vacuum.

As applied to incident resources, a class or group of items or people of the same nature or character or classified together because they have traits in common. Category sometimes referred to as subset of kind.

Lowest temperature at which sustained combustion can be initiated for a specified substance.

The bursting of a sample hose when kinked (bent over itself) and tied, then hydrostatic pressure applied.

The testing of a sample hose when kinked (bent over itself), tied, and then pressurized.

To reduce the flame or heat on the more vigorously burning parts of a fire edge.

Nautical miles per hour, equal to 1.15 mph.

The label applied to the feature in a GIS system.

Fuels which provide vertical continuity between strata, thereby allowing fire to carry from surface fuels into the crowns of trees or shrubs with relative ease. They help initiate and assure the continuation of crowning.

Fire started as a result of land occupancy for agricultural purposes, industrial establishment, construction, maintenance and use of rights-of-way, and residences, except equipment use and smoking.

A set of decisions that establish management direction for land within an administrative area; an assimilation of land-use-plan-level decisions developed through the planning process regardless of the scale at which the decisions were developed.

A document prepared with public participation and approved by an agency administrator that provides general guidance and direction for land and resource management activities for an administrative area. The L/RMP identifies the need for fire’s role in a particular area and for a specific benefit. The objectives in the L/RMP provide the basis for the development of fire management objectives and the fire management program in the designated area.

A feature in the landscape which can be readily recognized; anythign from a prominent tree or rock, to a church or a lake.

The person or entity that owns the land or has the authority to convey title to others.

Specific classification of landownership within landowner kinds.

Agency or entity having the land management responsibility at the point of origin.

The person or entity who owns the land where the water source is located.

Full contact information for the landowner including name, phone number, email, etc.

Broadest classification of landownership.

Broad classification of land ownership at the point of origin.

The landowner category value associated wtih the polygon.

NWCG Unit Identifier of landowner agency at the point of origin of a fire.

An event dealing with response to mass movement of the earth's surface, including landslide, mudslide, slumping, sinkhole etc.

Change of an atmospheric variable (temperature unless specified otherwise) with height.

Aircraft in which maximum certified gross weight at take-off exceeds 12,500 pounds.

A fire burning with a size and intensity such that its behavior is determined by interaction between its own convection column and weather conditions above the surface.

For statistical purposes, a fire burning more than a specified area of land e.g., 300 acres.

In FireFamily Plus, a day with both a weather observation and at least one large (as defined by the user) fire.

The last name of the resource as it appears on a government issued ID. 

Date the water source was last used or visited and confirmed to be viable

Rate or spread and intensity of a fire usually falling somewhere in between advancing and backing with spread lateral to the main direction of fire travel.

The center point of the treatment or activity indicated using the angular distance north of the earth's equator.
• Decimal degrees (e.g. 43.618881)
• Datum of NAD83

The angular distance north or south of the earth's equator, measured in units of decimal degrees along a meridian.