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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.  

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Title Steward Status Definition
job hazard analysis RMC Risk Management Committee Approved

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

Joint Information Center (JIC) NIMSIC National Incident Management System Integration Committee Pending Revision

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. 

Joint Information System (JIS) NIMSIC National Incident Management System Integration Committee Pending Revision

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.

jump spot IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee Approved

Selected landing area for smokejumpers.

jump suit ETC Equipment Technology Committee Approved

Approved protection suit worn for smokejumping.

jurisdiction DMC Data Management Committee Approved

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 (radio frequency) Approved

Jurisdiction of initial attack frequency zones in a dataset.

jurisdictional agency NIMSIC National Incident Management System Integration Committee Approved

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

jurisdictional agency category In Development

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

jurisdictional agency kind In Development

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

jurisdictional unit FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee Approved

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

jurisdictional unit identifier FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee Approved

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.

jurisdictional unit name In Development

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

jurisdictional unit polygon In Development

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

Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) FDSC Fire Danger Subcommittee Approved

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. 

keratitis EMC Emergency Medical Committee Approved

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.

kill switch MFES Mobile Fire Equipment Subcommittee Approved

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

Kind NIMSIC National Incident Management System Integration Committee Approved

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.

kindling point FBSC Fire Behavior Subcommittee Approved

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

kink MFES Mobile Fire Equipment Subcommittee Approved

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

kink pressure test MFES Mobile Fire Equipment Subcommittee Approved

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

knock down IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee Approved

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

knot NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee, FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee Approved

Nautical miles per hour, equal to 1.15 mph.

label Approved

The label applied to the feature in a GIS system.

ladder fuels FBSC Fire Behavior Subcommittee Approved

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.

land occupancy fire WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee Approved

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.

land use plan FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee, IFPC Interagency Fire Planning Committee Approved

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.

Land/Resource Management Plan (L/RMP) FMB Fire Management Board Approved

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.

landmark IPSC Incident and Position Standards Committee Approved

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

landowner DMC Data Management Committee Approved

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

landowner category FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee Approved

Specific classification of landownership within landowner kinds.

landowner category (Point of Origin) (POO) Approved

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

landowner category (polygon)
landowner category (water source) Approved

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

landowner contact information Approved

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

landowner kind FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee Approved

Broadest classification of landownership.

landowner kind (Point of Origin) (POO) Approved

Broad classification of land ownership at the point of origin.

landowner kind (polygon) GSC Geospatial Subcommittee Approved

The landowner category value associated wtih the polygon.

landowner unit (Point of Origin) Approved

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

landslide/mass earth movement/avalanche/sinkhole (event) NCSC National Coordination System Committee Approved

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

lapse rate FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee Approved

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

large aircraft NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee Approved

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

large fire (behavior) IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee, FENC Fire Environment Committee Approved

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.

large fire (statistical) IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee, FENC Fire Environment Committee Approved

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

large fire-day FDSC Fire Danger Subcommittee Approved

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

last name DMC Data Management Committee Approved

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

last used (water source) GSC Geospatial Subcommittee Approved

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

lateral fire WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee Approved

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.

Latitude

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

latitude (Decimal Degrees) GSC Geospatial Subcommittee Approved

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

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