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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
live fuels FDSC Fire Danger Subcommittee Approved

Living plants, such as trees, grasses, and shrubs, in which the seasonal moisture content cycle is controlled largely by internal physiological mechanisms, rather than by external weather influences.

live herbaceous moisture content FDSC Fire Danger Subcommittee Approved

Ratio of the amount of water to the amount of dry plant material in herbaceous plants (i.e., grasses and forbs).

live line ETC Equipment Technology Committee Approved

Hose line filled with water under pressure and ready to use.

live reel ETC Equipment Technology Committee Approved

Hose line or reel on a fire engine, carried preconnected to the pump, ready for use without making connections to pump or attaching nozzle.

live run IASS Interagency Aerial Supervision Subcommittee Approved

Indicates that the airtanker has the target in sight and will make a retardant drop on this run over the target.

live woody moisture content FDSC Fire Danger Subcommittee Approved

Ratio of the amount of water to the amount of dry plant material in shrubs.

load and hold NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee Approved

An order given to the airtanker pilot to pick up another load of retardant or water and hold at the reload base. The tanker is still committed to the fire.

load and return NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee Approved

Order given to the airtanker pilot to pick up another load of fire retardant or water and return to the fire.

load calculation form NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee Approved

An agency form used to calculate helicopter allowable payload.

loading pad NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee Approved

Concrete pad at a retardant base on which aircraft stand when being loaded.

Loadmaster SEATB Single Engine Airtanker Board, IAB Interagency Airtanker Board Approved

Individual responsible to the Deck Coordinator for the manifesting, loading and unloading of personnel, equipment and cargo.

local agency ICSC Incident Command Subcommittee Approved

Any agency having jurisdictional responsibility for all or part of an incident.

Local Approval Date

Day/Month/Year officially accepted by the local manager as meeting all local requirements to receive funds in the planned year.

local fire report identifier FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee Approved

A number or code that uniquely identifies an incident report for a particular reporting unit and a particular calendar year.

Local ID

User entered ID for Treatment or Activity

local incident identifier FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee Approved

A number or code that uniquely identifies an incident for a particular local fire management organization within a particular calendar year.

local resource IBC Incident Business Committee Approved

Resources within a dispatch center's area of responsibility.

local responsibility area ICSC Incident Command Subcommittee Approved

Lands on which neither the state nor the federal government has any legal responsibility for providing fire protection.

local winds FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee Approved

Winds which are generated over a comparatively small area by local terrain and weather. They differ from those which would be appropriate to the general pressure pattern.

Location
location timestamp NCSC National Coordination System Committee Approved

The date/time for the resource’s last known position.

logging

The process of harvesting, transporting and processing trees for commercial purposes or forest health.

logging debris FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee Approved

Unwanted tree parts (crowns, logs, uprooted stumps) remaining after harvest.

logging/forestry CEPC Communication, Education, and Prevention Committee Superceded

The process of harvesting, transporting and processing trees for commercial purposes.

Logistics Section NIMSIC National Incident Management System Integration Committee Approved

The ICS section responsible for providing facilities, services, and supplies in support of an incident and personnel well being. The logistics section may include units and branches.

long-range forecast FWS Fire Weather Subcommittee Approved

Fire weather forecast for a period greater than five days in advance.

long-range spotting FUSC Fire Use Subcommittee Approved

Large glowing firebrands are carried high into the convection column and then fall out downwind beyond the main fire starting new fires. Such spotting can easily occur 1/4 mile or more from the firebrand's source.

long-term fire danger FDSC Fire Danger Subcommittee, FWS Fire Weather 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 (Decimal Degrees) GSC Geospatial Subcommittee Approved

The angular distance east or west of the prime meridian, measured in units of decimal degrees.

longitude (Decimal Degrees) (Point of Origin) Approved

The longitude location of the wildland fire location point specified in decimal degrees.

longitude (Degrees Decimal Minutes) GSC Geospatial Subcommittee Approved

Longitdue in degrees, decimal minutes WGS84 fore labeling purposes.

longitude (initial) GSC Geospatial Subcommittee, NCSC National Coordination System Committee Approved

The location coordinate for the longitude value corresponding to the initial reported point of origin specified in decimal degrees.

longitude (Point of Origin) (POO) Approved

The longitude location of the point of origin specified in decimal degrees. Point of origin is the location where a competent ignition source came into contact with the material first ignited and sustained combustion occurred.

longitude (World Geodetic System 1984) Approved

Longitude format for labeling and display.

longline ETC Equipment Technology Committee, NIAC National Interagency Aviation 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) (LCES) 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.

loose-at-fold MFES Mobile Fire Equipment Subcommittee Approved

The process by which a tube is not bonded 360 degrees around in the jacket.

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.

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