Los Angeles: Fire Forces Evacuations, Burns Homes in Sylmar Area

No. I speak for both Hubby and me.

I think that was the most frustrating part of watching fire coverage today, seeing home after home go up in flames, with not one firefighter or police checking the house to see if anyone was inside, or to see if there was any fire apparatus available to use as prepared by the homeowner.

It's like watching those firestorm films all over again, with Doctor George Fischbeck explaining to horrified viewers how there was hundreds of thousands of gallons of water sitting in pools while firefighters were unable to use fire hydrants, and how homeowners should install those pumps.

I'm not finger-pointing, but just having seen someone pull up, and at least look, would have made me feel far more comfortable.

5:13PM - A Metrolink spokesman says the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railway shut down Metrolink’s Inland Empire-Orange county line between the downtown Riverside and Anaheim Canyon stations this afternoon due to the wildfire in the Corona-Anaheim Hills-Yorba Linda area.

Metrolink trains destined for the Inland Empire are operating to the Orange Station — for transfer to a northbound regularly scheduled Orange County Line train — or Union Station, and passengers are being transferred to eastbound San Bernardino Line trains to the San Bernardino station.

At that point, passengers will be taken by bus to downtown Riverside and stations further west on the Inland Empire-Orange County Line, Metrolink’s Francisco Oaxaca says.

(FOX)

How do fires just pop up like that?

Many ways. #1 High winds, causing trees, branches to fall onto power lines, etc etc.

In addition, high winds blowing burning embers FAR beyond the fire lines, spotting fires FAR in front of initial fires.

I’ve got soot all over my house and cars.

And I live at the beach. (Hermosa Beach)

I don’t see smoke from Corona.

Most freepers think I am a trouble maker so i will wait till it can be just you and me

Hubba Hubba!

That blue hair got to ya, didn’t it. I KNEW it! :) :) :) :) :)

I believe it the plum heads west

its heading west

It’s getting better. Have the Santa Anas lifted? I think we are only mildly smoke-flavored now.

I shall take three, yes three, pooches outside and do a wind-check for you. :)

BRB!

I think we are only mildly smoke-flavored now.

Bwwwwwwahhhhhhhh.......!!!

Obama scorched earth policy

i can i lick your finger before you hoist it in the air

Is it possible to fix wallboard? I thought it had to be replaced?

I received this from Homeland Security:

Global Fireball - al Qaeda Planning New Environmental Terror Attack?

21 Oct 2008 12:54 AM PDT

Extremists are threatening an environmental disaster by sparking a series of catastrophic wild fires. We first posted on this last year.

Western intelligence agencies fear that Al Qaeda terrorists are planning a “global fireball” in a new departure in its war on the West.

Deliberately lighting forest blazes in Europe, the US and Australia would not only stretch emergency services but leave insurance companies facing multi-billion pound damage bills as the credit crunch bites.

The fires would also create a pollution disaster, with billions tons of climate change gases escaping into the atmosphere.

The so-called “forest jihad” is being championed by Islamic scholars and Osama Bin Laden’s terror strategists who believe setting fire to dry woodlands will produce maximum damage for minimum risk.

Western security services have picked up internet chatter which spells out in graphic terms the terrorists’ thinking.

One message warns: “Imagine if, after all the losses caused by such an event, a jihadist organization were to claim responsibility for the forest fires. You can hardly begin to imagine the level of fear that would take hold of people in the United States, in Europe, in Russia and in Australia.”

Australia is at most immediate risk from Al Qaeda’s change in tactics. Years of drought have left tinderbox conditions and with summer beckoning, its bush lands are vulnerable to a coordinated fire starting.

also:

Documents recovered from a remote area along the Pakistan border have revealed that Osama bin Laden wants al-Qaida to launch a “global fireball” by lighting forest fires in Europe, the United States, Australia and South America.

The documents were uncovered during an operation led by the British intelligence service MI6, and now have been described by experts in that agency as “the most worrying [plot] that the world is facing.”

This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America’s trusted source for homeland security news and information.

“Fire spotting 3/4 mile in front of itself.” Telegraph Canyon.

Per LA CO FD scanner

I love how the news act like it is a big deal

It is a big deal jerk people are losing their homes

Air is bad here and my son is asthmatic so I’m trying to figure out what to do and whether we would be safer to just stay in and tough it out or leave. Need to get fresh air or something. Air conditioner and fan are not helping. Not sure which freeways are open nor which direction to find breathable air.

A
Aerial fuels all live and dead vegation in the forest canopy or above surface fuels, including tree branches, twigs, cones, moss and snags and high brush

Agency- ( any federal , state or county goverment orgazations particiapting with juridictional responsibilites

Air Tanker-( a fixed wing air craft equipped to drop fire retardant or water or other supplies that are needed

Anchor Point -( an advantage location usally a barrier to fire spread, from which to start building a fire line.. an Achor point is used to reduce the chance of ffs being flanked by a fire

Aramid -( the generic name for high strenght - flame resistance synthetic fabric used in shirts, and pants for ffs, nomex is the brand name for aramid fabric, is the term commonly used by ffs

Aspect -( direction towards which a slop faces

B
Backfire-( a fire set along the inner edge of a fire line , to consume the fuel in the path of a wild land fire and or to change the direction of force of the fire convection column

Backing Fire -( fire that is moving into the wind

Back pack Pump- ( a portable sprayer with hand pump fed from a liquid filled container fitted with straps, used manly in pest controla and fire suppression

Bambi Bucket-( a collaspible bucket slung below a helicopter , its used to drip water from a varity of sources, for fire suppression

Behave- (a system of interactive computer programs for modeling fuel and fire behavoir that consits of 2 systems , burn and fuel

Blackline -( refereds to fuels that have been burned with intentionally or not , many prescribed fire and wildland fire suppression techniques are based on the concept of black line as a barrier to the fire spread

Bladder bag- a collasible backpack portable sprayer made of neoprene or high strenght nylon fabric fitted with sprayer

Blow Up- ( a sudden increase of fire behavior or rate of spread stong enought to prevent direct control or to upset control plans blowups are often accompanied by violent behavior or may have other charactices of a fire storm

Brush -( a collective term that refers to stands of vegation dominated by shrubby , woody plants , or low lying growing trees, usally of type undesirable for livestock or timber management

Brush fire - ( a fire burning n vegation that is predominantly shrubs, brush and scrub growth

Bucket drops -( the dropping of fire retardants or suppersants from specially designed buckets slung below a helicopter

Buffer Zones- ( an ara of reduced vegation that seperates wildlands from vulnerable residential or business developments, this barrier is similar to a greenbelt, in that is its usually used for another purpose such as agriculture , recreation areas, or golf courses

Bump up Method- ( a progressive method of building a fire line on a wildland fire with out changing relative postions in the lline, work is begun with a suitable space between the workers, whenever one worker overtakes another all workers ahead move one space forward and resume work on the uncompleted part of the line, the last worker does not move ahead unill completeting his or her space

Burn out -( setting fire inside a control line to widen it or consume fuel between the edge of the fire and the control line

Burning ban- ( a declared ban on open air burning with in a specific area usallly due to to sustained high fire danger

Burning Conditions -( the state of the combined factors of the environment that affect fire behavior in a specitic fuel type

Burning Index- ( an estimate of the potential difficulity of the fire containment as it relates to the flame lenght at the most rapidly spreading portion of a fire ring ( permeter)

Burning Period-( that part of each 24 hour period when fire spread most rapidly typically from 10am to sundown

C
Camp fire ( as used to classify the cause of a wild land fire , a fire that was started for cooking or warming that spreads from its source to require action by a fire contol agency

Candeling or Candle-( a single tree or a very small clump of trees which is burning from the bottom up

Carrier Fuel-( fuels that allow a tree or spread and carry thru the forest , thsee are generally lighter fuels such as conifer needles , leaves, cured grass and small twigs

Catface-( general term used to descrive the triangular wound found at the base of a tree and often the couse of a fire , , form one to many fire scar lesions caused by individuals fire events can be found with in the cat face

Chain-( a unite of linear measurement equal to 66 feet or approx 20 meters

Clousure -( legal restriction but not necessarly elimination of specified activites such as smoking, camping or entry that might cause fires in a given area

Cold Front -( the leading edge of a relatively cold air mass that displaces warmer air

Cold Trailing -( a method of controlling a partly dead fire edge by carefully inspecting and feeling with the head for heat to decet any fire , digging out ever live spot and trenching any live edge

Command Staff-( the command staff consists of the information officer, satefly officer, and liaison offier , they report directly to the icident commander and may have assistants

Complex-( 2 or more individual icidents located in the same general area

Conduction-( the movement of heat from one molecule to another

Contained fire -( a fuel break around the fire has been completed , this break man include natuaral barriers , or manually and or mechanically

Controled fire -( this completed extinguishment of a fire includeing hot spots, fire line has been strenghted so that flare-ups from with in the perimenter of the fire will not break thru

Control line -( all built or natural fire barrier and treated fire edge used to control a fire

Cooperating Agency-( an agency supplying assistance other than direct suppression rescue, support of service functions to the incidnt control efforts, like the red cross, law enforcement agencey or the telephone company etc

Coyote Tactics-*( a progressive line constuction duty involving self suffecent crews that buld fire line untill the end of the operational period, remain at or near the point while off duty, and begin building fire line again, the next operational period where they had left off

Creeping fire -( fire creeping with low flame and spreading slowly

Crew boss -( a person in supervisiory charge of usualy 16-21 ffs and responsible for their performance , safety and welfare

Crowing or Crown fire -( the movement of fire thru the crowns of the trees or shrubs, more or less independly of the surface fire

Curing -( drying and browing of herbaceous vegation or brush

D
Dead fuels-( fuels with no living moisture contect is governed almost entirely by atmospheric moisture , dry - bulb temperature and solar heat

Debris Burning - ( a fire spreading from any fire burning set for the purpose of clarning land and or rubbish, garbase , range , stubble or meadow burning

Detection-( the act of system of locating fires

Direct Attack-( any treatment of burning hot fuel , such as by wetting , smothering , or chemically quenching the fire or by physicaly separating burning from un burned fuel

Dispatch-( the implementation of a command decision to move a rescource or equiptment to another location..

Dispatch Center-( a facility from which rescources are directly assigned to an icident

Dispatcher -( a person employed who recieves reports of discovery and status of the location of fires and confims the location, takes action, promptly to provide people and equiptment likely to be needed for control in the first attack, and sends them to the proper place

Divisions-( divisions are used to divide an incident into areas of operations, divisions are estabilished with the number of resources exceedes the span of control of the operations chief,, a divison is located with in the incident commander system orgazation bwtween the branch and the task force or strke team

Dozer-( any tracked vehical with a front mounted blade used in exposeing mineral soil

Dozer line -( fire line constructed by the front blade of a dozer

Drip Torch-( hand held device for igniting fires by driping flame liquid fuel on the materials to be burned , consists of a fuel fount , burner arm and lgnited, fuel used is usally a mix of gasoline and diesel fuel

Drop Zone - ( target area for air tankers, helitankers and cargo dropping

Drought Index-( a number representiing net effect of evaporation , transpiration and prcipitation in producing cumulative moisture depletion in deep duff or upper soil layers

Dry Lightning Storm-*( thunderstorm in which no moisture reaches the ground, also called a dry storm

Duff-( the lay er of decomposing organic materials lyning below the litter latyer ofr freshly fallen twigs, needles, and leavels and immediately above the mineral soil

E
Energy Releashe Componet ( ERC the computed total heat releashed per unit area
with in the fire front at teh head of a moving fire

Engine(a ground vehical providing specifed levels of pumping , water and hose capacity

Engine crew-( ffs assigned to a engine,

Entrapment -( a situation where personnel are unexpectly caught in a fire , behvaior - related life - threatening position, where plannned excape routes or saftly zones are absent,

Environmental Assessment ( Ea
Eis`s were aurthorized by the National Environmental Policy Act in 1969 ( NEPA)
They are concise , analytical documents prepared with public participation that determine if an Environmental impact statement ( EIS) is needed for a particular project or action.. if an EA determins an EIS is not needed the EA becomes the document allowing agency compliance with NEPA requirements

Environmental Impact Statement -( EIS)
EIS were authorized by the National Environmental Policy Act Nepa of 1969 , prepared with public partication , they assist decision makers by providing information , analysis and an array of action alternatives, allowing managers to see if the probable effects of decisions on the environment , generally EIS are written for large scale actions or geographical areas

Equilibrium Moisture Content -(Moisture contect that a fewl paricle wiill attain if exposed for an infinite period in an environment of specified constant temperture and humidity , when a field partical reaches equilibruim moisture content next exchange of moisture between it and the environment is zero

Escape Route -( a preplanned and understood route ffs take to move to a safely zone , or other low risk area, such as an already burned area, a meadow that wont burn, a previously constructed saftly area a natuaral rocky area that is large enought to take refuge with out being burned

Escaped Fire -( a fire which has excceded or is expected to eo exceed initial attack capabilities or prescription

Extended Attack Incident -( a wildland fire that has not been contained or controled by initial attack forces and for which more fire fighting rescources are arriving , or in route, or are being ordered by the initial attack commander

Extreme FIre Behavior-( Extreme implies a level of fire behavior characteristics that ordinarily precludes methods of direct control action.. one of more of the following is usually involved , high rate of spread-
present of fire whirls-strong evection colum, -
prolific crowning and of spotting , Preictability is difficult because each fire oftern exercise some degree of influence on their envionment and behave erratically and some times dangerously

F
Faller -( a person who fells trees, they also go by a cutter or sawyer

Field Observer-( person responsible to the situation unit leader for collecting and reporting information about an incident obtained from personal observations and interviews

Fine Lite Fuels-( fast drying fuels- generally with a comparatively high surface area to volume ratio
which are less than 1/4 inch in diameter and have a time lage of one hour or less, these fuels redily ignite and are rapidly consumed by fire when dry..

Fingers of a fire -( the long narrrow extensions of a fire projecting from the main body

Fire Behavior ( the manner in which a fire reacts to the influences of fuel, weather , and topography

Fire Behavior Forecast -( prediction of a probable fire behavior
usually prepared by a fire behaviorist officer in support of fire suppression or prescribed burning operations

Fire Behavior Specialist -( a person responsible to the planning secton chief for estabilishing a weather data collection system and developing fire behavior predictions based on fire history , fuel , weather and togography,,

Fire Break -( a natural or constructed barrier used to stop or check fires that many occure, or to probide a control line on which to work,

Fire Cache-( a supply of fire tools and equiptment assembled in planned quantities or standard unites at a strategic point for exclusive use in fire suppression

Fire Crew -( an organzied group of fire fighters under the leadership of a crew leader or other designated offical

Fire Cycle-( a fire -retur nn interval calculated using a negative exponential or well bull )) distribution , applied using current age - glass structure on level of flames are not considered , this distance is less than the flame lenght if flames are tilted due to wind or slope

Flame Lenght-( the distance between the flame tip and the midpoint of the flame dept oat the base of the flame ( generally the ground surface, ) an indication of fire intensity

Flaming Front-( the zone of a moving fire where the combustion is primaryily flaming ,, behind this flaming zone combustion is primarly glowing , lite fuels typically have a shallow flaming front where as heavy fuels have a deeper front , also called a fire front

Flanking fire -( FIre that is moving perpendicular to the wind

Flanks of a fire -( the parts of a fire that are roughly parelle to the main direction of the spread

Flare -up-(any sudden acceleration of fire spread or intensification of a fire .. unlike a blow up a flare up usually just lasts a short time and doesnt radically change contol plans

Flash Fuels-( fuels such as grass, leaves , draped pine needles, fern, tree moss, that ignite readily and are consumed rapidly when dry

Foam-( Water in which a surfactant has been added at the pump, Foam insulates fuels against heat , incereases the penetration of water into fuels and decreases evaporation

Foehn Wind -( a dry wind associated with windflow down the lee side of a plateau , or mountain range and with adiabatic warming , also called a santa ana , ( southern california) Mono or North wind ( north or central california ) east wind ( western washington and oregon or chinooks ( east side of the rockies

Forb-( a plant with a soft , rather than permanent woody stem, that is not grass or grass like

Fuel -( combustible material includes vegation, such as grass , leaves, ground litter, plants, shrubs and trees, that feed a fire

Fuel bed-( an array of fuels usually constructed with specific loading , dept and particle side to meet experimental requirements also commonly used to describe the fuel compostion in natural settings

Fuel loading -( the amount of fuel present expressed quantitatively in terms of weight of fuel per unite area

fuel Model -( simulated fuel complex or combination of vegatation types , for which all fuel descriptors required for the solution of a mathematical the landscrape , @- length of time rewuied to burn an area equal in size to a specified area

Fire event-( a single fire or series of fires with in an area at a articular time

Fire extent-( the area burned per time period or event

Fire Frequence -( the return interval or recurrence interval of fire in a given area over a specific time

Fire front -( the part of a fire with in which continious flaming conbustion is taking place.. unless other wise specificed the fire front is assumed to the be the leading edge of the fire perimeter , in gorund fires the fire front mabe be mainly smoldering combustion

Fire Intesity -( a general term relating to the heat energy releashed by a fire

FIre load-(the nuber and size of fires historically experienced on a specificed unit ove a specified period ( usually one day ) at a specified index of fire danger

Fire Management Plan ( FMP ) a strategic plan that defines a program to manage wildland and prescribed fires , and documents the fire management program in the approved land use plan, the plan is supplemented by operational plans such as preparedness plane , preplanned dispatch plans, prescribed fire plans, and prevention plans

Fire Names -( the normal procedure or protocol is that a fire is named by the icident commander , the name is taken from some local geological feature

Fire Perimeter -( the outer edge or boundary of a fire

Fire Regime -( a meaure of variation of fire frequency , redictabilty , intensity , seasonality and size characteristices of fire in a particular exosystem

Fire Rotation -( the lenght of time necessary to burn an area the size of a specific area , for example a watershed

Fire Season -( times of the year when wildland fires are likely to ocur, spread and affect resource values sufficient to warrant organized fire management activites. 2- a legally enacted time during which burning activities are regulated by state and local authority

FIre Severity -( the effect of fire on plants, It is independent on intesity and residence of the burn ,An intense fire may not necessary be severe , for trees, severity is often measured as percentage of basal area removal

Fire shelter-( an aluminized tent offering protection by means of reflecting radiant heat and providing a volume of breathable air in a fire entrapment situation , fire shelters should only be used in life threatening situations as a last resort

Fire Shelter Deployment -( the removing of a fire shelter from its case and using it as protection from a fire

Fire Storm-( Volient convention caused by a large continuous area of intense fire ,, Often characterized by destructively violent surface in drafts, near and beyond the perimeter and sometimes by tornado - like wind whirls

Fire Triangle -( instructual aid in which the sides of a triangle are used to represent the 3 factors of oxygen, heat and fuel)necessary for combustion and flame protection, removal of any of the 3 factors causes flame production to cease

Fire Use Module ( Prescribed Fire Module -( a team of skilled and mobil personnel dedicated primarly to prescribed fire management ,these are national and interagency resources,a nd avaiable throughbout the prescribed fire season ,that can ignite and hold , and monitar prescribed fires..

Fire Weather -( weather conditions that infuence fire ignition , behavior and suppression

Fire Weather Watch-( a term used by fire weather forecasters to notify using agencies , usually 24-72 hours ahead of the event . that current and developing meteorological conditons may evolve into dangerous fire weather

Fire - FIre Interval -( time between 2 successive fire events at a specific site and an area of a specific size

Fire - Return Interval -( the number of years between 2 successive fire events at a specific sita or an area of specific size

FIre Fighting Resources-(* all people and major items of equiptment that can or potetially can be assigned to fires

Fire Line -( a linear fire barrier that is scraped or dug to mineral soil

Fire LIne Intnsity-*( the rate of heat releashed along a unit lenght of fire line , measured in Kw-m-1

Flame Height-( the average maxium vetical extension of flames at the leading edge of the fire front .. occassional flashes that rise above the general rate of spread models hve been specified

Fuel Reduction -( `manipulation , including combustion or removal of fules to reduce the likelihood of ignition and or to lessen potential damage and resistance to control

Fuel Types-( an identifable association of fuel elements of an distincitive plant species , form , size , arrangement , or other characteristic that will cause a predicitable rate of fire spread or difficulty of control under specified weather conditions

Fusee-( a colored flare designed as a railway warning device and widely used to ignite prescription fires and back fires

G
General Staff -( the group of icident managment personnel reporting to the icident commander, they may each have a deputy , as needed, stff consists of operations section chief, planning section chief, logistics section chief, and finance / administration section chief

Geographic Area-( a political boundary designated by the wildland fire protection agencies , where these agencies work together in the coordination and effective utiliation fire managment resources

Ground FIre or Surface Fire-( fire burning in the ground or thru the understory and not reaching thru the forest canopy

Ground Fuel-( all combustible materials below the surface litter , including duff, tree, or shrub roots, punchy wood , peat and sawdust that normally support a glowing combustion without flame

H
Haines Index-( an atmospheric index used to indicate the potentialfor wildland fire growth by measuring the stability and dryness of the air over a fire Hand Line -( a fire line built with hand tools

Hazard Reduction-( any treatment of a hazard that reduces the threat of ignition and fire intensity or rate of spread..

Head of Fire -( the side of a fire that is having the fastest rate of spread

Heading Fire-( fire that is moving with the wind

Heavy Fuels-( fuels of large diameter such as snags, logs and large limb wood that ignite and are consumed slowly than flash fuels

Helibase-( the main location win in the general icident area for parking , fueling , maintaining , and loading helicopters, the helibase is ususally located at or near the icident base

Helispot-( a tempory landing spot for heliocopters

Helitack-( the use of helicopters to transport crews, equiptment and fire retardants or suppressions to the fire line during the first stages of a fire

Helitack crews-( a groujp of ffs trained in technical and logistical use of helicopters for fire suppression

Holding Actions-( planned actions required to achieve wildland fire or prescribed fire management objectivies, these actions have specific implemention time frames for fire use actions, but can have less sentitive implemention demands for suppression actions ..

Holding Resources-( fire fighting personnel and equiptment assigned to do all required fire suppression work following fire line construction but generally not including extensive mop up

Hose Lay-( arrangement of connected lenghts of fire hose and accessories on the ground , beginning at the first pumping and ending at the point of delivery

Hotshot crew-( a highly trained fire crew used to mainly build a fireline by hand

Hotspot -( a particularly active part of the fire

Hotspotting -( reducing or stopping the spread of fire at points of particularly rapid rate of spread or special threat generally the first step in prompt control with emphasis on the first prorities

I
Incident -( a human caused or natural occurance such as wildland fire that requires emergency service action to prevent or reduce the loss of life or damage to property or natural recources

Icident Action Plan-( IAP) contains objective reflecting the overall incident strategy and specific tactical actions and supporting infomation for the next operational period. The plan mabe oral or written , when written the plan may have many attachments including :incident objectivies, organization assignment list , division assignment , incident radio communications plan, medical plan, traffic plan, safety plan, and incident plan

Incident command Post ( ICP) location at which primary command functions are excuted, the ICP mabe be located with the incident base or other incident facilities .

Incident command system-( the combo of facilities equiptment personnel , procedure,and communications operating with in a common organizational structure with responsibility for the management of assigned rescources to effectly accomplish stated objectives pertaining to an incident

Incident Commander-(individual responsible for the management of all incident operations at the incident site

Incident Management Team -( the incident commander and appropriate general or command staff personnel assigned to manage an icident

Incident Objectivties-( statements of guidance and direction necessary for selection of appropriate stategyles- and the tactical direction of resources
incident objectives are based on realistic expectations of what can be accomplished when all allocated rescourcs have been effectly deployed

Infared Detection-( the use of heat sensing equiptment known at infrared scanners for dectecton of heat sources that are not visually detectable by the normal surveillance methods of either ground or air patrols.

Initial Attack-( the actions taken by the first resources to arrive at a wildland fire to protect lives and property and prevent futher extension of the fire

Inversion -( under high pressure and stable air conditions, warm air may cap cooler air forming an inversion that traps smoke in valley bottoms particulary at nite

J
Jackpot -( a pocket of heavy fules, like downed logs, that may flare up in an area where the fuel load is otherwise

Job Hazard Analysis -( this analysis of a project is completed by staff to identify hazards to employess and the public, It identifies hazards, corrective actions, and the required safetly equiptment to ensure public and employee safely

Jump Spot -( selected landing area for smoke jumpers

Jump Suite-( approved protection suite worn by smoke jumpers

K
Keech Byram Dought Index-( KBDI) commonly used drought index adapted for fire management applications with a numerical range from 0 to 800 ( maxium drought)

L
Ladder Fuels-( fuels which provide vertical continuity between strata , thereby allowing fire to carry from surface fuels into crowns of trees or shrubs with relative ease, they help to initatite and assure the continuation of crowning

Large Fire-( for statistical purpose- a fire burning more than a specified area of land say a 300 acre fire also a fire that is burning with size and intensity such that its behavior is determinded by interaction between its own convection colum and weather conditions above the surface

Lead Plane-( air craft with pilot used to make dry runs over the target area to check wing and smoke condtions and topography and to lead air tankers to targets and supervise their drops

Light Fine Fuels-( fast drying fuels generally with a comparatively high surface area to volum ratio which is less than 1/4 inch in diameter and have a time lage of 1 hour or less, these fuels readily ignite and are rapidly consumed by the fire when dry

Lightning Activity Level-( a number on a scale from 1- 6 that reflects the frequency and character of cloud to ground lightning ,

Line Scout-( a fire fighter who determines the location of the fire line

Litter-( top layer of the forest , scrubland, or grass land floor , directly above the fermentation layer,, composed of loose debris, of dead sticks, branches, twigs, and recently falled leaves, or needles alittle altered in structure by decomposition

Live Fuels ( living plants such as trees, grasses and shrubs, in which seasonal moisture content cycle is controlled largly by internal physiological mechanisms rather than by external weather influences..

Look Out-( a member of a fire crew whose job it is to monitar local weather conditions and to identify and report potential dangers resulting from a change in fire behavior or weather. a look out mabe be also refered to as a lookout tower, or to the employess stationed there whose job is to dected fire starts

M
Mass Transfer-( as used in the fire literature , the movement of heat by burning fire brands

Master Fire Chronology-( a chronology of all documented fire dates in a designated area determined by cross dating

Mean Fire - Return Interval -( arithmetic average of all fire - return intervals for a specific site for a specific interval of time ..

Micro Remote Environmental Monitoring System -( micro mobil weather monitoring station A micro - Rems usually accompaines an icident meteorologist and ATMU to and icident

Mineral Soil-( soil layers below the predominatly organic horzions soil with little combustible material

Mobiliization-( the process or procedure used by all organizations , federal, state and local for activating assembling and transporting of all rescources and that have been requested to respond to of to support an icident

Modular Airborn Fire Fighting System ( MAFFs- a manufactured unit consisting of 5 interconnecting tanks- a control pallet and a nozzle pallet, with a capacity of 3,000 gallons designed to be rapidly mounted inside an unmodified c-130 ( hercules ) cargo air craft for use in dropping retardant on wildland fires

Mop Up- ( to make a fire safe or reduce residual smoke after the fire has been controlled by extinguishing or removing burning material along or near the control line felling snags, or removing logs so they will not roll down hill..

Multi Agency Coordination ( MAC)
a generalized term which describes the functions and activities of respresentatives of involved agencies and or juridictions who come together to make decisions regarding the priortizing of incidents and the sharing and used of critical resources , the MAC organization is not a part of the on scene ICS and is not involved in developing incident strategy or tactics

Mutual Aide Agreement -( written agrement between agencies and or jurisdictions who come together to make decisions regarding regarding the priortising of incidents and the sharing and used of critcal resources , The MAC organization is not a part of the on-scene ICS ans is not involved in developing incident strategy or tactics

N
National Fire Danger Rating System-( a uniform fire danger rating system that focuses on the environmental factors that control the moisture content of fuels

National Wildfire Coordination Group-( a group formed under the direction of the Secretaries of Agriculture and the interior and comprised of representivites of the U.S. Forest Service bureau of Land Management , Burea of Indian

Affairs National Park Service , U. S Fish and Wildlife Service and Association of State Foresters, The groups purpose is to facillate coordination and effectiveness of wildland fire activities and provide a forum to discuss recommed action or resolve issues and problems of substantive nature , NWCG is the certifying body of all courses in the National Fire Curruculum

Nomex ( same as aramid material

Normal Fire Season-( a season when the weather fire danger and number and distribution of fires are about average , 2- period of year that normally comprises the fire season

O
Operational Period-( the period of time for excution of a given set of tactical actions as specified in the Incident Action Plan, Operational periods can be of various lenghts , although usualy not more then 24 hours

Operations Branch Manager-( person under the direction of the operations section chief who is responsible for implementing that portion of the incident acting plan apporiate to the branch

OverHead-( people assigned to the supervisory positions , including incident commanders, command staff, general staff, directors, supervisors and unit leaders

P
Pack Team-( used to determin the aerobic capacity of the fire suppression and support personnel and assign physical fitness scores, The test consists fo walking, a specified distance, with or with out weighted pack, in a predeterminded period of time , and with atitude corrections

Paracargot -( anything dropped or intended for dropping from a air craft byt parachute, or other retarding devices by free fall

Peak Fire Season-( the period of fire season which fires are expected ignite more readily to burn with greater than average intensity and to create damage at an unacceptable level

Personnel Protective Equiptment -( all fire fighting personnel must be equipted with proper equiptment and clothing in order to migrate the risk of injury from or expousure to hazardous conditions encountered while working , PPE includes but is not limited to :8 inch high leather boots, with lug soles fire shelter , hard hat, with chin strap, goggles, ear plugs, aramid shirts and pants, leather gloves, and individual first aide kids

Preheating -( an increase in the flammability of fuels due to exposure to heart and convective wind ahead of the fire

Preparedness-( condition or degree of being ready to cope with a potential fire situation

Prescribed Fire -( any fire ignited by management actions under certain predeterminded conditions to meet specific objectives , related to hazardous fules or habitat improvement , a written approved prescribed fire plan must exist and NEPA requirements must be met prior to ignition

Prescribed Fire Plan ( Burn Plan) this document provides burn boss fire information needed to implement an individual prescribed fire project

Prescription-( Measurable criticeria that define conditions under which a prescribed fire may be ignited , guide selection of of appropriate management responses and indicate other required actions, Prescription criteria may include safety , economic , public health, environmental geographic , adminstration , social or legal considerations

Prevention-( activites directed at reducing the incidence of fires including public education , law enforcement , personal contact and reduction of fuel hazards

Project Fire- ( a fire of such size or complexity that a large organization and prolonged activity is required to suppress it

Pulaski-( a combo of chopping and trenching tool , which combines a single - bitted axe -blade with a narrow adze - like trenching blade fitted to a straight handle,, usefull for grubbing or trenching in duff and matted roots, well - balanced for chopping

Q
R
Radiant Burn -( a burn recieved from a radiant heat source

Radiant Heat Flux-( the amount of heat flowing thru a given area in a given time

Rappelling -( a techinque of landing specially trained fire fighters from hovering helicopters involves slidding down ropes

Rate of Spread-( this is when the fire extends its horizontal dimensions , it is expressed as the increased forward spread of the fire,, usually its expressed in chains or acres per hour ,

Reburn -( the burning of an area that has been previously burned but that containes more flammable fuel that ignites when burning conditions are more favorable in a area that has been already burned

Red Card-( fire qualifications card issued to fire rated persons showing their training needs and their qualifications to fill specific fire suppression and support postions in large fire suppression or incident organization also some time refered to as a IQC card

Red Flag Warning -( term used by fire weather forecasters to alert forcast users to an on going or imminent critical fire weather pattern

Rehabilitation -( the activities necessary to repair damage or disturbance caused by wildland fires or the fire suppression actvity

Relative Humidity -( Rh)- ( the ratio of the amount of moisture in the air , to the maxium amount of moisture that air would contain if it were saturated , the ratio of the actual vapor pressure to the saturated vapor pressure

Remote Automatic Weather Station (RAWS)-( an appartus that automatically accuries , processes and stores local weather date for later transmission to the GOES satelite from with the date is re- transmitted to the earth recieving staton for used in the National Fire Danger Rating System

Resource Management Plan-( a document prepared by field office staff with public participation and approved by field office managers that provide general guidance and direction for land management activites at a field office . RMP identified the need for fire in a particular area in for a specific benifit

Resource Order-( an order placed for fire fighting or support resources

Resources-( personnel, equiptment , services available or potentially available for assignment , retardant -( a substance or chemical agent wihich reduced the flammabiltiy of combustibles

Run ( of a fire ) - ( the rapid advance of the head of a fire with a marked change in fire line intensity and rate of spread from befor and after the advance

Running -( a rapidly spreading surface fire with a well defined head

S
Smoldering Fire -(a fire with out flame and and barely spreading

Snag-( a standing dead tree or part of a dead tree from which at least the smaller branches have fallen

Spot Fire-( a fire ignited outside the perimeter of the main fire by flying sparks or embers

Spot Weather Forecast-( a special forecast issued to fit the time , topography and weather of each specific fire ,

Spotter-( in smoke jumping the person responsible for selecting drop targets , and supervising all aspects of dropping smoke jumpers

Spotting -( behavior of a fire producing sparks or embers that are carried by the wind and starts new fires beyond the zone of direct ignition by the main fire..

Staging Area-( locations set up at an incident where resources can be placed while awaiting a tactical assignment on a 3 minute available basis , staging areas are managed by the operations section

Stand Replacement Fire -( a fire of such intensity an serverity that nearly all the trees in a stand are killed - forest succeding a stand replacing fire are generally composed of trees that quickly re estabilished and are consequently evenly aged

Strategy -( its the science and art of command as applied to the over all planning and conduct of an icident

Strike Team-( specific combos of the same kind or type of resources with common communications and a leader

Strike Team Leader- ( person responsible for a divsion or group supervisor for performing tactical assignments given to the strike team leader

Structure Fire -(a building burning can be a shelter , or other structure as a home, or it can be only part of the structure

Suppression-( an agent such as foam or water use to estingish the flames or glowing phase of combustion when directly applied to burning fuels

Surface Fire -( this is a fire that burns along the surface of the ground with out major movement and the flame lenght usually below 1 meter

Surface Fuels - ( loose surface litter such as fallen branches, leaves, twigs , bark , cones, that have not decayed enought to lose their identify , grasses and down logs along with tree seedlings replace the litter

Swamper -( a worker who assists fallers and sawyers by clearing away brush , limbs and small trees also carries tools, equiptment , fuel , oil, and watches out for dangerous situations he /she is also a worker on a dozer crew who pulls the winch line and helps maintain the equiptment also to speed suppression on a fire

T
Tempory Flight Restrictions-( a restriction requested by an agency and put into effect by the Federal Aviation Adminstration in the vicinty of an incident which restricts the operation of non essential air craft in the airspace around the incident

Terra Torch-( device for throwlng a stream of flamming liquid used to faciliate rapid ignition during a burn out operation on a wildland fire or during a prescribed fire operation

Timelage-( time needed under specific condtions for a fuel paticle to lose about 63% of the difference between its initial moisture content and its equilibrium moisture content , if conditions remain unchanged a fuel will reach 95% of its equilibrium moisture content after 4 time lag periods

Torching-( the ignition and flare up of a tree or small group of trees usually from the bottom up to the top

2 Way Radios-( radio equiptment w/ transmitters in mobil units on the same frequency as the base station permitting conversation in 2 directions using the same frequency

Type -( the capability of fire fighting resource n comparision to another type 1 usually means a greater capability due to power size or capacity

U
Uncontrolled Fire -( any fier which threatens to destroy life , propety, or natural resources and either is not burning wih in the confines of fire breaks or is burning with such intensity that it cannot be readily distinguished with ordinary tools commonly availible

Underburn-( a fire that consumes surface fuels, but not trees or shrubs

Understory Fire -( a fire burning in the understory is more intense than a surface fire with flame lenghts of 1-3 meters

V
Vectors -( directions of fire spread as related to rate of spread , calculations ( in degrees from upslope

Vegation type -( a standarize description in which a fire is burning , the type is based on the dominated plant species and the age of the forest and indicated how moist a site may be, and how much fuel is likely present

W
Water Repellancy- ( the resistance to soil wetability wihich can be increased by intense fires

Water Tender-( a ground vehical capable of transporting specific quantites of water

Weather Information and Management System ( WIMS ) an interactive computer system designed to accomadate the weather information needs of all the Federal and State natural resources management agencies , it provides timely access to weather forecast - current and historical weather data , the National Fire Danger Rating System ( NFDES) and the National Interagency Fier Management Intergrated Database -( NIFMID

Wetline-( a line of water or chemical retardant - sprayed alng the ground that serves as a temporary control line from which to ignite or stop a low intensity fire

Wildland Fire -( any non structure fire other than a prescribed fire that occures in the wildland

Wildland Fire Implementation Plan-( WFIP-( a progressively developed assessment and operational management plan that documents the analysis and selection of stragies and describes the apporiate management response for a wildland fire being managed for resource benifit

Wildland Fire Situation Anaylsis -( WFSA)
a decision making process that evaluates alternative suppression strategies against selected enviromental - social- political- and economic - criteria - also provides a record of decisions

Wildland Fire Use-( the management of naturally ignited wildland fire s to accomplish specific prestated resources management objectiven predefined geographic area outlined in fire management plans

Wildland Urban Interface-( the line area - or zone where structures and other human development meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland or vegative fuels

Wind Vectors-( wind directions used to calculate fire behavior )

Feel free to finger point. It's flipping STUCK ON STUPID not to be allowed to drain someone's swimming pool in order to save their neighborhood. All you have left, in the end, is a bunch of debris, with dried, crackly, black and blue depressions in the ground after it's all over.

As for not checking the houses...it's Kaleeforneeah, where the unions rule. The unions probably deemed it too dangerous for first responders to respond.