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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)

EDG Explorer is a database platform used for managing NWCG Glossary terms.  The following table is a quick view of the terms found in EDG. More detailed information such as rules, documentation, and term relationships may be viewed in EDG Explorer.  

Note: If the NWCG Glossary of Wildland Fire is not displaying below please report it to NWCG Webmaster

Title Steward Status Definition
ABCD Miscellaneous DMC Data Management Committee, IBC Incident Business Committee Approved

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.

abort NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee Approved

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

abort area NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee Approved

A designated area where unused quantities of water or fire retardant may be jettisoned, usually to permit an airtanker to land with less than a full load.

Above Ground Level NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee Approved

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

absolute humidity FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee Approved

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.

absorption CEPC Communication, Education, and Prevention Committee Approved

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

accounting code IBC Incident Business Committee Approved

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

accrual reports IBC Incident Business Committee Approved

Cost reports utilized for financial obligation purposes.

accuracy descriptor (Point of Origin) (POO) Approved

Description of the methods used to determine the certainty and precision of the fire location at the point of origin.

action plan NIMSIC National Incident Management System Integration Committee Archived

Any tactical plan developed by any element of ICS in support of the incident action plan.

active fire IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee Approved

Any fire that has not been called "out".

active resources IBC Incident Business Committee Archived

Resources checked in and assigned work tasks on an incident.

activity (fire cause) CEPC Communication, Education, and Prevention Committee Approved

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

activity group CEPC Communication, Education, and Prevention Committee Approved

Further refines wildfire cause supporting data, providing information for prevention programs for targeted messaging.

activity name CEPC Communication, Education, and Prevention Committee Approved

Common name of activity

activity type FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee Approved

Type of activity or event

actual completion date FMC Fuels Management Committee Approved

Date when treatment was physically completed

administrative workweek IBC Incident Business Committee Approved

Period of seven consecutive calendar days designated in advance by the head of a department (5 U.S.C. 6101(a)).

admission CEPC Communication, Education, and Prevention Committee Approved

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

advancing a line IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee Approved

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

Adze Hoe ETC Equipment Technology Committee Approved

A fire-trenching or digging tool having a sharp, tempered blade, which is useful for heavy grubbing, trenching, and light cutting.

aerial detection IASS Interagency Aerial Supervision Subcommittee Approved

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

aerial fuels FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee Approved

Standing and supported live and dead combustibles not in direct contact with the ground and consisting mainly of foliage, twigs, branches, stems, cones, bark, and vines.

Aerial Ignition Device (AID) ETC Equipment Technology Committee, NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee Approved

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

agency NIMSIC National Incident Management System Integration Committee Archived

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.

agency administrator NIMSIC National Incident Management System Integration Committee Approved

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.

agency certification IPSC Incident and Position Standards Committee Approved

The process whereby the employing agency or contractor documents that the individual is fully qualified to perform duties and responsibilities for a specified position.

agency specific costs IBC Incident Business Committee Approved

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.

air attack NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee Approved

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.

air quality model FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee Approved

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

airtanker NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee Approved

Fixed-wing aircraft certified by FAA as being capable of transport and delivery of fire retardant solutions.

Alert System RMC Risk Management Committee Approved

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.

alidade ETC Equipment Technology Committee Approved

A sighting device used by lookouts to determine the horizontal bearing and sometimes the vertical angle of a fire from a lookout.

all hazard incident NIMSIC National Incident Management System Integration Committee Approved

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.

allocated resources IBC Incident Business Committee Archived

Resources dispatched to an incident, that have not yet checked in.

allowable payload NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee Approved

The amount of weight that is available for passengers and/or cargo. On the load calculation form it is the operating weight subtracted from the selected weight.

altimeter setting NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee Approved

The barometric pressure reading used to adjust a pressure altimeter for variations in existing atmospheric pressure or to the standard altimeter setting (29.92) inches.

anemometer FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee Approved

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

angle GSC Geospatial Subcommittee Approved

Angle of point symbol displayed in mapping application

annual certification IPSC Incident and Position Standards Committee Approved

Annual review by an employing agency of an individual's position qualifications and documentation certifying that the individual is fully qualified to perform duties and responsibilities for a specified position. Annual certification is based on established performance standards and agency specific requirements. 

annual plant FDSC Fire Danger Subcommittee Approved

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

apparatus identifier ETC Equipment Technology Committee Approved

The alphanumeric characters assigned to an apparatus.

apparatus number NCSC National Coordination System Committee Archived

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

arduous duty level RMC Risk Management Committee Archived

Arduous duty field work requires above-average endurance and superior conditioning.  Duties may include an occasional demand for extraordinarily strenuous activity in emergency situations under adverse environmental conditions over extended periods. The pace of work typically is set by the emergency condition.  Essential functions include, but are not limited to: running, walking or hiking, climbing, jumping, twisting, bending, lifting more than 50 pounds, and carrying 45 pounds or more for extended periods over difficult terrain. 

area ignition FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee Approved

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.

aspect FDSC Fire Danger Subcommittee Approved

Cardinal direction toward which a slope faces.

aspect code (Point of Origin) (POO) Approved

A code used to describe the direction toward which the predominant slope faces at the point of origin of the fire (including ridgetops and/or flat ground). Point of origin is the location where a competent ignition source came into contact with the material first ignited and sustained combustion occurred.

assigned resources NIMSIC National Incident Management System Integration Committee Approved

Resources checked in and assigned work tasks on an incident.

assisting agency IBC Incident Business Committee, NIMSIC National Incident Management System Integration Committee Approved

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

at incident NCSC National Coordination System Committee Proposed New

The resource is committed and at the assigned incident.

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How to Print or Download Glossary of Wildland Fire, PMS 205

Modified / Reviewed:

NWCG Latest Announcements

WFSTAR 2025 Core Component Module Package and 2024 Fire Year in Review Now Available

Date: March 14, 2025
Questions?  Please contact:
Joe Schindel at mschindel@blm.gov
 

The 2025 Core Component Module Package for RT-130, Wildland Fire Safety Training Annual Refresher (WFSTAR) and the 2024 Fire Year in Review are now available on the NWCG website. The 2025 Core Component Module Package provides all content needed to deliver RT-130.

References:

2025 Core Component Module Package

2024 Fire Year in Review Module

NEW! NWCG Wildland Urban Interface Mitigation Field Guide, PMS 053

Date: March 12, 2025
Contact: Wildland Urban Interface Mitigation Committee

The NWCG Wildland Urban Interface Mitigation Field Guide, PMS 053 provides mitigation practitioners at all experience levels with recommendations on the most effective and efficient ways to accomplish mitigation work in communities at risk to wildfire damage or destruction. The content in this guide was written in coordination with the NWCG Standards for Mitigation in the Wildland Urban Interface, PMS 052.

References:

NWCG Wildland Urban Interface Mitigation Field Guide, PMS 053 

Updated, NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Module Operations, PMS 430

Date: March 11, 2025
Contact: Fire Use Subcommittee
Wildland Fire Module Unit

The NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Module Operations, PMS 430 standardizes procedures and expectations for Wildland Fire Modules (WFMs). These standards are to be used by staff, supervisors, specialists, and technicians for planning, administering, and conducting WFM operations. These standards will also be used as a measure of WFM qualifications, capabilities, and expected performance, for both Type 1 and Type 2 WFMs.

References:

NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Module Operations, PMS 430

NEW! NWCG Standards for Airtanker Operations, PMS 514

Date: March 7, 2025
Contact: National Interagency Aviation Committee

The NWCG Standards for Airtanker Operations, PMS 514 establishes the standards for dispatching, utilizing, and coordinating airtankers on interagency wildland fires. These standards should be used in conjunction with the NWCG Standards for Aerial Supervision (SAS), PMS 505, NWCG Standards for Airtanker Base Operations (SABO), PMS 508, and any applicable agency plans.

References:

NWCG Standards for Airtanker Operations, PMS 514