NWCG Glossary of Wildland Fire, PMS 205

The front that is formed when and where a cold front overtakes a warm front or a stationary front.

A number in the National Fire Danger Rating System related to potential fire incidence within a protection unit.

Any motorized vehicle designed for, or capable of, cross-country travel on or immediately over land, water, sand, snow, ice, marsh, swampland, or other terrain.

Non-compensable time, e.g., eating, sleeping or other activities of a personal nature.

Work performed by an individual employee in support of an incident while remaining at the employee’s duty station or other designated off-site location.

The Federal office, under the Department of Labor, charged with administering the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, which authorizes medical care and compensation for periods of disability for Federal employees who sustain traumatic injuries and occupational diseases in the performance of duty.

The ICS title for a member of the Command Staff authorized to make decisions and take action related to his/her area of responsibility.

The following categories of personnel are official passengers: Officers and employees of the federal government traveling on official business. Members of Congress and employees of congressional committee staffs whose work relates to the agency’s programs. Non-federal passengers when engaged in missions which enhance accomplishment of an agency program such as personnel of cooperating state, county, or local agencies; representatives of foreign governments; and contractors’ representatives to include those employed by such agencies; and private citizens.

Wind blowing from land to water.

Status of a federal casual or federal regular government employee used for timekeeping purposes. An employee will be considered off duty and time spent in an on-call status shall not be considered hours of work if: 1) The employee is allowed to leave a telephone number or to carry an electronic device for the purpose of being contacted, even though the employee is required to remain within a reasonable call-back radius; or 2) The employee is allowed to make arrangements such that any work which may arise during the on-call period will be performed by another person. (Reference 5 CFR 551.431(b) (1-2)). Specific state pay guidelines for non-pay status shall apply for state employees.

Time of actual work, ordered standby, or compensable travel with a specific start and ending time.

An event dealing with a person's experience and proficiency while performing assigned duties while performing a job.

A progressive system of building a fireline on a wildfire without changing relative positions in the line. Each worker does one to several "licks", or strokes, with a given tool and then moves forward a specified distance to make room for the worker behind.

Moisture content of one-hour timelag fuels.

Fuels consisting of dead herbaceous plants and roundwood less than about one-fourth inch (6.4 mm) in diameter. Also included is the uppermost layer of needles or leaves on the forest floor.

The moisture content of the 100-hour timelag fuels.

Dead fuels consisting of roundwood in the size range of 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.6 cm) in diameter and very roughly the layer of litter extending from approximately three-fourths of an inch (1.9 cm) to 4 inches (10 cm) below the surface.

The moisture content of the 1,000-hour timelag fuels.

Dead fuels consisting of roundwood 3-8 inches in diameter and the layer of the forest floor more than about 4 inches below the surface.

Wind blowing from water to land.

Burning of any fuel outdoors without the use of mechanical combustion enhancements.

Refers to open fire front where no line has been constructed.

For helicopters, the equipped weight plus weight of the crew and fuel.

The exercise of authority over initiating, conducting, or terminating any operation. Often associated with aviation operations.

The CURRENT common operational reference to a Resource, the name of the resource and/or call sign. This value will be updated for equipment, crews, modules, and teams based on how the resource is currently being utilized through a filled request.

The time scheduled for executing a given set of operation actions, as specified in the IAP. Operational periods can be of various lengths, but are typically 12 to 24 hours.

The state of a resource as it is utilized by an incident. 

The speed and intensity of actions relative to the speed and intensity of the unfolding events in the operational environment.

An area over an incident, whether within an FTA or TFR, where aviation operations are taking place.

Primary facility of the Multi-agency Coordination System (MACS); houses staff and equipment necessary to perform the MACS function.

The ICS Section responsible for implementing tactical incident operations described in the IAP. In ICS, the Operations Section may include subordinate branches, divisions, and/or groups.

A circular holding pattern of an aircraft around a fixed location often related to a wildland fire. For example, the circular pattern of an airtanker in the vicinity of a wildland fire, waiting to make a retardant drop.

An employee is on duty, and time spent on standby duty is hours of work if, for work-related reasons, the employee is restricted by official order to a designated post of duty and is assigned to be in a state of readiness to perform work with limitations on the employee’s activities so substantial the employee cannot use the time effectively for his or her own purposes. A finding that an employee’s activities are substantially limited may not be based on the fact that an employee is subject to restrictions necessary to ensure that the employee will be able to perform his or her duties and responsibilities, such as restrictions on alcohol consumption or use of certain medications (5 CFR 551.431(a) (1)).

That fraction of the soil that includes plant and animal residues at various stages of decomposition, cells and tissues of soil organisms, and substances synthesized by the soil population.

Any soil or soil horizon containing at least 30% organic matter (e.g., muck, peat).

The organizational element having responsibility within a functional area in the incident command structure such as operations, planning, logistics or finance.

Three to four alpha-numeric characters specific to a unit existing within the agency’s official organizational structure. The organizational unit code identifies the unit within the interagency incident management community in a common manner.

The full name of the organization found on official documents or web sites.

The type of organizational unit within the interagency incident management community represented by the Unit ID.

Pertaining to, or caused by mountains.

Photograph obtained from the orthogonal (i.e., horizontal) projection of a correctly oriented stereoscopic model formed by two overlapping aerial photographs; an orthophoto is free of tilt and relief displacements.

Aerial photographs corrected to scale such that geographic measurements may be taken directly from prints. They may contain graphically emphasized geographic features and may be provided with overlays of such features as: water systems, facility location, etc. 

A sighting device used by lookouts to determine the horizontal bearing and sometimes the vertical angle of a fire from a lookout.

A constructed building not designed for continuous human occupancy, such as barns, commercial buildings, etc.

The total number of structures, other than residences, threatened by the fire. Other structure is defined as a constructed building not designed for continuous human occupancy, such as barns, commercial buildings, etc. Other structures are threatened if they are at risk of loss or damage, or endangered during the course of the fire. This typically includes other structures subject to mandatory evacuation.

Courses defined as containing supplemental knowledge and skills not required for safe and tactical operations success on a wildfire.

All observable combustion has ceased and there is no risk of the fire again becoming active and requiring additional control or management actions.