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
master fire chronology	FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee	Approved	Chronological listing of the dates of fires documented in a designated area, the dates being corrected by crossdating. Size of the area must be specified.
material first ignited	WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee	Approved	The fuel that is first set on fire by the heat of ignition.
mathematical model	FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee	Approved	A model that is a quantitative and mathematical representation or simulation which attempts to describe the characteristics or relationship of physical events.
mattock	ETC Equipment Technology Committee	Approved	Hand tool with a narrow hoeing surface at one end of the blade and a pick or cutting blade at the other end; used for digging and grubbing.
maximum certified gross weight	NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee	Approved	Absolute maximum allowable gross weight for an aircraft as established by the manufacturer and approved by the FAA.
maximum computed gross weight	NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee	Approved	Computed gross weight for an aircraft, obtained from the appropriate performance chart, which is the maximum gross weight appropriate to the applicable circumstance of configuration and/or environmental conditions.
maximum dry bulb temperature	FDSC Fire Danger Subcommittee	Approved	The highest value for dry bulb temperature measured at the observation site during the preceding 24-hour period.
Maximum Manageable Area	FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee	Approved	The maximum geographic limits of spread within which a wildland fire is allowed to spread.
maximum relative humidity	FDSC Fire Danger Subcommittee	Approved	The highest value for relative humidity measured at the observation site during the preceding 24-hour period.
may day	RMC Risk Management Committee	Approved	International distress signal/call. When repeated three times it indicates imminent and grave danger and that immediate assistance is required.
Mcleod	ETC Equipment Technology Committee	Approved	A combination hoe or cutting tool and rake, with or without removable blades.
mean fire return interval	FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee	Approved	Arithmetic average of all fire intervals in a given area over a given time.
Mean Sea Level	FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee	Approved	Average height of the surface of the sea for all stages of the tide over a 19-year period.
measured woody fuel moisture	FDSC Fire Danger Subcommittee	Approved	Moisture content of the small branch wood and foliage of live woody plants, expressed as a percentage of the oven dry weight of the sample, collected monthly and used to supplement NFDRS modeled outputs.
medical assist (event)	NCSC National Coordination System Committee	Approved	An event dealing with a rescue, and/or recovery, and/or service for a non-accident medical emergency (e.g., heart attack, illness, etc.).
Medical Unit	NIMSIC National Incident Management System Integration Committee	Approved	Medical Unit staff are responsible to plan for and provide health and medical services for incident personnel.
medium expansion	ETC Equipment Technology Committee	Approved	Foam with an expansion between 21:1 and 200:1.
medium-range forecast	FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee	Approved	A forecast for a period extending from about two days to five days or a week in advance; there are no absolute limits to the period embraced by this definition.
medivac	RMC Risk Management Committee	Approved	Mobile medical treatment and transportation.
merge identifier		Approved
merged wildfires	IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee	Approved	Two or more wildfires that burn together to form a single burned area and which, by management action, may be declared merged and managed as a single incident to improve efficiency and simplify incident management processes.
mesa (topographic)		Approved	A flat-topped mountain with steep sides.
message center	NIMSIC National Incident Management System Integration Committee	Archived	The message center is part of the incident communications center and is collocated or placed adjacent to it. It receives, records, and routes information about resources reporting to the incident, resource status, and administrative and tactical traffic.
methodology	DPMS Dispatch Position and Curriculum Management Subcommittee	Approved	A set of standardized procedures and practices that have been peer-reviewed and have received general acceptance by the profession.
Micro-Remote Environmental Monitoring System	FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee	Approved	Mobile weather monitoring station. Each unit consists of a shipping container, solar panel, battery, temperature/relative humidity sensor, wind mast, wind direction/speed sensor, data logger and radio. A Micro-REMS usually accompanies an incident meteorologist and ATMU to an incident.
microscale fire pattern indicator	WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee	Approved	Fire pattern indicators that are generally only visible when viewed within close proximity.
mid-flame windspeed	FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee	Approved	The speed of the wind measured at the midpoint of the flames, considered to be most representative of the speed of the wind that is affecting fire behavior.
middle name	DMC Data Management Committee	Approved	The middle name of the resource as it appears on a government issued ID. Applies only to overhead resources.
Military Operations Area	NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee	Approved	Military Operations Area found on aeronautical charts.
military time	IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee	Archived	The 24-hour clock system where midnight is 2400, one minute after midnight is 0001 and progresses to 2400 daily.
millibar	FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee	Approved	A unit of pressure equal to a force of 1,000 dynes per square centimeter. (A dyne is the force that would give a free mass of one gram an acceleration of one centimeter per second per second).
mineral ash	FBSC Fire Behavior Subcommittee	Approved	The residue of mineral matter left after complete combustion of wood (wood ash) or other organic material; consists largely of oxides, carbonates, and phosphates of Ca, K and Mg, together with other compounds.
mineral soil	FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee	Approved	Soil layers below the predominantly organic horizons; soil with little combustible material.
minimum cost suppression alternative	IBC Incident Business Committee	Approved	The alternative that achieves incident objectives, consistent with priority for firefighter and public safety, and is least expensive when considering expected costs for fire suppression and emergency stabilization and/or rehabilitation.
minimum dry bulb temperature	FDSC Fire Danger Subcommittee	Approved	The lowest value for dry bulb temperature measured at the observation site during the preceding 24-hour period.
Minimum Impact Strategy and Tactics	IFPC Interagency Fire Planning Committee	Approved	The application of strategy and tactics that effectively meet suppression and resource objectives with the least environmental, cultural and social impacts
minimum relative humidity	FDSC Fire Danger Subcommittee	Approved	The lowest value for relative humidity measured at the observation site during the preceding 24-hour period.
miscellaneous fire	WFISC Wildland Fire Investigation Subcommittee	Approved	Fire of known cause that cannot be properly classified into any of the eight standard causes of fires.
mission assignment	NIMSIC National Incident Management System Integration Committee	Approved	A work order issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to a federal agency, directing completion of a specified task, and setting forth funding, other managerial controls and guidance. Mission Assignments (MA) are implemented utilizing assigned federal agency's existing authorities and resources which may be compensable or non-compensable.
mitigation	FMB Fire Management Board	Approved	Modifying the environment or human behavior to reduce potential adverse impacts of from a natural hazard.
mitigation actions	IFPC Interagency Fire Planning Committee	Approved	Actions that are implemented to reduce or eliminate (mitigate) risks to persons, property or natural resources. These actions can be undertaken before and during a wildfire. Before a fire actions can include fuel treatments, creation of fuel breaks or barriers around critical or sensitive sites or resources, and vegetation modification and structural changes to increase the chance a structure will survive a wildfire with or without active protection (sometimes referred to as defensible space or the home ignition zone). Mitigation actions can also occur during response and can include mechanical and physical tasks, specific fire applications, and limited suppression actions. Such as fireline construction, and creating "black lines" through the use of controlled burnouts to limit fire spread and behavior.
mix ratio	ETC Equipment Technology Committee	Approved	The ratio of liquid foam concentrate to water, usually expressed as a percent.
mixing	FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee	Approved	A random exchange of air parcels on any scale from the molecular to the largest eddy.
mixing chamber	ETC Equipment Technology Committee	Approved	A tube, constructed with deflectors or baffles, that mixes foam solution and air to produce tiny, uniform bubbles in a short distance (1 to 2 ft).
mixing height	FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee	Approved	Measured from the surface upward, the height to which relatively vigorous mixing occurs due to convection.
mixing layer	FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee	Approved	That portion of the atmosphere from the surface up to the mixing height. This is the layer of air, usually below a stable layer, within which pollutants are mixed by turbulence and diffusion.
mixmaster	NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee	Approved	The person in charge of fire retardant mixing operations with responsibility for quantity and quality of the slurry and for the loading of aircraft.
mob en route		Proposed New	The resource is assigned to an incident and travel has started, but the resource has not yet arrived at the incident. This is the time between ETD and ETA.
mobile radio	NCSC National Coordination System Committee	Approved	A two way radio unit on mobile apparatus (instead of base stations), usually semi-permanently attached to the apparatus.
mobile weather unit forecast (fire)	FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee	Approved	A special fire weather forecast for a specific fire prepared by a meteorologist on site at or near the fire area.

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National Wildfire Coordinating Group

PMS 205

NWCG Glossary of Wildland Fire, PMS 205

Overview