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
long-term fire danger	FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee, FDSC Fire Danger Subcommittee	Approved	The results of those factors in fire danger affecting long-term planning; involves consideration of past records and conditions and probable future trends.
long-term fire residence	WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee	Approved	Areas in the fire where fuel accumulations, heavy fuels, or higher fuel moisture content cause the fire to burn for an extended period of time.
long-term fire retardant	ETC Equipment Technology Committee	Approved	Chemical that inhibits combustion primarily through chemical reactions between products of combustion and the applied chemicals, even after the water component has evaporated. Other chemical effects also may be achieved, such as film-forming and intumescence.
Longitude			The center point of the treatment or activity indicated using the angular distance west of the meridian at Greenwich, England. • Decimal degrees (e.g. 43.618881) • Datum of NAD83
longitude	GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	Approved	The angular distance east or west of the prime meridian, measured in units of decimal degrees.
Longitude Decimal Degrees		Approved
Longitude Degrees Decimal Minutes		Approved
Longitude World Geodetic System 1984 Degrees Decimal Minutes		Approved
longline	NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee, ETC Equipment Technology Committee	Approved	A line or set of lines, usually in 50' increments, used in external load operations that allow the helicopter to place loads in areas in which the helicopter could not safely land.
lookout (crew member)	IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee	Approved	A fire crew member assigned to observe the fire and warn the crew when there is danger of becoming trapped.
lookout (fire)	IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee	Approved	A person designated to detect and report fires from a vantage point.
lookout (location)	IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee	Approved	A location from which fires can be detected and reported.
lookout dispatcher	IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee	Archived	Person combining the functions of lookout and dispatcher.
lookout firefighter	IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee	Archived	Person combining the functions of lookout and firefighter.
lookout patrol	IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee	Archived	Person who travels along ridges or other vantage points to discover, detect, report, and suppress fires.
lookout point	IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee	Archived	Vantage point selected for fire detection or observation.
lookout tower	IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee	Approved	Structure that elevates a person above nearby obstructions to sight for fires; generally capped by some sort of house or cupola.
Lookout(s), Communication(s), Escape Route(s), and Safety Zone(s)	IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee	Approved	Elements of a safety system used by fire fighters to routinely assess their current situation with respect to wildland firefighting hazards.
lopping	FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee	Approved	After felling, cutting branches, tops, and unwanted boles into lengths such that resultant logging debris will lie close to the ground.
lopping and scattering	FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee	Approved	Lopping logging debris and spreading it more or less evenly over the ground.
lost line	IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee	Approved	Any part of a fireline rendered useless by a breakover of the fire.
low	FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee	Approved	An area of relatively low atmospheric pressure in which winds tend to move in a counterclockwise direction, spiraling in toward the low's center.
low expansion	ETC Equipment Technology Committee	Approved	Foam with an expansion between 1:1 and 20:1.
macroclimate	FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee	Approved	General large-scale climate of a large area or country as distinguished from smaller scale mesoclimate and microclimate.
macroscale fire pattern indicator	WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee	Approved	Large single fire pattern indicator or overall patterns of indicators that are readily visible from a distance.
magnetic bearing		Approved	Bearing by magnetic north rather than true north.
magnetic north		Approved	The direction toward which a magnetic needle of a compass points.
main ridge	IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee	Approved	Prominent ridgeline separating river or creek drainages. Usually has numerous smaller ridges (spur) extending outward from both sides.
major disaster	NIMSIC National Incident Management System Integration Committee	Archived	Any natural catastrophe or, regardless of cause, any fire, flood, or explosion, in any part of the United States, which in the determination of the President causes damage of sufficient severity and magnitude to warrant major disaster assistance.
major repair (aviation)	NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee	Approved	A repair (1) that, if improperly done, might appreciably affect weight, balance, structural strength, or other qualities affecting airworthiness or (2) that is not done according to accepted practices or cannot be done by elementary operations.
male coupling	ETC Equipment Technology Committee	Approved	An externally threaded hose nipple which fits in the thread of a female (internally threaded) swivel coupling of the same pitch and diameter. Nozzles attach to this type of coupling.
management action points	FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee	Approved	Geographic points on the ground or specific points in time where an escalation or alternative of management actions is warranted. These points are defined and the management actions to be taken are clearly described in an approved Prescribed Fire Plan. Timely implementation of the actions when the fire reaches the action point is generally critical to successful accomplishment of the objectives.
management by objectives	NIMSIC National Incident Management System Integration Committee, ICSC Incident Command Subcommittee	Approved	A management approach, fundamental to NIMS, that involves (1) establishing objectives, e.g., specific, measurable and realistic outcomes to be achieved; (2) identifying strategies, tactics, and tasks to achieve the objectives; (3) performing the tactics and tasks and measuring and documenting results in achieving the objectives; and (4) taking corrective action to modify strategies, tactics, and/or performance to achieve the objectives.
management complexity level designator	FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee	Approved	The highest management level utilized to manage a fire event.
management event (internal) (event)	NCSC National Coordination System Committee	Approved	An event dealing with agency-specific administrative, programs, such as public relations.
management requirements	FMB Fire Management Board	Approved	The technical and scientific specifications for management activities or potential actions mandated by the agency administrator and defined in land/resource management plans. Management requirements are derived from land/resource management plan and fire management plan standards and guidelines information.
manager contact information	NCSC National Coordination System Committee	Approved	Contact information for the manager of the resource.
managers	NIMSIC National Incident Management System Integration Committee	Approved	Individuals within ICS organizational units that are assigned specific managerial responsibilities, e.g., staging area manager or camp manager.
manual weather station	FDSC Fire Danger Subcommittee	Approved	A non-telemetered weather station that provides one observation every 24 hours for manual entry into WIMS.
manually regulated	ETC Equipment Technology Committee	Approved	A proportioning method or device that requires a manual adjustment to maintain a desired mix ratio over a changing range of water flows and pressures.
map		Approved	A line drawing, to some scale, of an area of the earth’s surface. It shows objects and features by conventional signs.
map method	GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	Approved	How the geospatial feature was derived
map scale		Approved	Indicates the ratio or proportion of the horizontal distance on the map to the corresponding horizontal distance on the ground.
marine accident (event)	NCSC National Coordination System Committee	Approved	An event dealing with an accident or mishap involving watercraft.
marine air	FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee	Approved	Air which has a high moisture content and the temperature characteristics of an ocean surface due to extensive exposure to that surface. An intrusion of marine air will moderate fire conditions. Absence of marine air in coastal areas may lead to more severe fire danger.
marine climate	FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee	Approved	Regional climate under the predominant influence of the sea, that is, a climate characterized by marine air; the opposite of a continental climate.
marine search/rescue/recovery (event)	NCSC National Coordination System Committee	Approved	An event dealing with a search, and/or rescue, and/or recovery in a marine setting.
maritime air	FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee	Approved	Air which has assumed high moisture content and the temperature characteristics of a water surface due to extensive exposure to that surface.
mass arsonist	WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee	Approved	An offender who sets three or more fires at the same location during a limited period of time.
mass fire	FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee	Approved	A fire resulting from many simultaneous ignitions that generates a high level of energy output.

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National Wildfire Coordinating Group

PMS 205

NWCG Glossary of Wildland Fire, PMS 205

Overview