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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

The increase in strength of a fire management organization.

The accelerated spreading of a fire with time.

A general alert from an NWCG committee to the wildland fire community regarding the release of subject-specific information such as technical information, equipment updates, accident reports, etc. Depending on the origin and/or the subject content, a green hash-marked bordered stationary may be associated with this type of alert.

The post-fire activities prescribed and implemented to rehabilitate and restore fire damaged lands.

A device used to determine the burning index for different combinations of burning index factors.

Odd or "even" thousand-foot (305 m) altitudes or flight levels. E.g., 5,000, 6,000, 7,000; FL 250, FL 260, and FL 270.

North, south, east, west; used for giving directions and information from the ground or air in describing the fire (eg., the west flank or east flank, not right flank or left flank).

Dropping of equipment or supplies, with or without a parachute, from an aircraft in flight.

A remote hook attached to the end of a longline. It has four or more individual hooks which can be independently released, allowing the pilot to fly cargo loads to different locations without landing.

The city and state pairing for the dispatch center location

Hose filled with water under pressure and ready to use.

The process whereby resources first report to an incident. Check-in locations include incident command post (ICP), base or camps, staging areas, helibases, or direct to a tactical assignment. All responders, regardless of agency affiliation, report in to receive an assignment.

Additional information describing the feature.

An instrument used for showing direction, consisting of a magnetic needle swinging freelyon a pivot and pointing to magnetic north.

Compensation and Claims Unit staff are responsible for financial concerns resulting from property damage, injuries, or fatalities at the incident. The specific activities vary depending on the incident. Staff handling injury compensation ensure that all forms needed by workers’ compensation programs and local agencies are completed. These staff also typically maintain files on injuries and illnesses associated with the incident and obtain written witness statements. Since Medical Unit staff may also perform some of these tasks, the Medical and the Compensation and Claims Units should coordinate closely. The Compensation and Claims Unit staff may assist with civil tort claims investigations involving incident property, and the staff maintain logs on the claims, obtain witness statements, and document investigations and agency follow-up activities.

A model that is a diagram or description of a set of relationships between factors that describe how a system works, such as an ecological model.

Email of the incident-based contact responsible for data creation.

Name of the incident-based contact responsible for data creation.

Phone number for the incident-based contact responsible for data creation.

The status of a wildfire suppression action signifying that a control line has been completed around the fire, and any associated spot fires, which can reasonably be expected to stop the fire's spread.

A line on a map or chart indicating elevation in feet, and connects all points of the same height above sea level.

The completion of control line around a fire, any spot fires therefrom, and any interior islands to be saved; burned out any unburned area adjacent to the fire side of the control lines; and cool down all hotspots that are immediate threats to the control line, until the lines can reasonably be expected to hold under the foreseeable conditions. 

The dollar amount associated with an incident.