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Wildland Firefighting > Wildland Firefighting > Flashcards

Wildland Firefighting Flashcards

1
Q

What are the four common denominators on fatal fires?

A
  1. Incidents occurred on small fires
  2. Flareups generally occurred in deceptively light fuels
  3. Chimneys, steep slopes
  4. Wind shift
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2
Q

Never work within 35 of high voltage wires and don’t spray water within 100’ of power poles.

A

Statement

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3
Q

Weather is the primary driving force behind the changes in fire behavior

A

Statement

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4
Q

Atmosphere closest to the ground is what

A

troposphere

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5
Q

What are the four primary factors that influence temperature?

A
  1. Amount of moisture or pollution in the air
  2. Angle between the surface and the sun
  3. The lag time between when solar radiation strikes the earth and when the heat is radiated back into space
  4. The surface properties of the terrain an vegetation
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6
Q

What is the greatest impact on fire behavior of any weather factor

A

Wind

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7
Q

A passage of a weather front is usually accompanied by a shift in wind direction

A

Statement

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8
Q

A passage of a warm front will usually do what to the wind direction? A cold front?

A

Warm shifts the wind 45 to 90 degrees

Cold shifts direction from less than 45 to as much as 180 degrees

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9
Q

What are the 4 types of winds?

A
  1. General winds - affect large areas / reported daily weather forecasts
  2. local winds - featured by terrain
  3. Surface Winds - measured 20’ above the ground
  4. Mid flame winds - measured at midpoint of the flame
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10
Q

The force of the earths rotation on the moving air causes the wind to move counter clockwise and clockwise south of the equator. What is this called

A

Coriolis force

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11
Q

What is pressure gradient?

A

The difference between the high and low pressure system

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12
Q

An area of low pressure is called a ?

A

Trough

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13
Q

What are some types of local winds

A

Sea breeze, land breeze, slope and valley winds

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14
Q

What is the difference between upslope and upvalley winds?

A

Upvalley winds do not start until most of the air in the valley is warmed.

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15
Q

What are the 4 types of problem winds?

A
  1. Cold front winds
  2. Foehn (fane) winds
  3. Thunderstorm downdrafts
  4. Whirlwinds / dust devils
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16
Q

As a cold front passes, winds shift rapidly to what direction

A

West… then northwest

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17
Q

As foehn wind flows downslope in the atmosphere it is compresses, becoming warmer and drier

A

Statement

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18
Q

How are Santa Ana winds created?

A

When a strong high pressure area in the Great Basin and a low-pressure area located above the Pacific Ocean along the Southern California coast

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19
Q

What are the four Foehn winds

A
  1. Santa Ana
  2. Chinook wind
  3. North winds
  4. Eastern winds
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20
Q

Where do the Chinook winds occur?

A

Rocky mountains

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21
Q

Thunderstorms have a life expectancy of about ____ hrs?

A

Less than 12 hrs

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22
Q

Whirlwinds are a sign of air being unstable

A

Statement

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23
Q

Eastern winds are over Washington State and Oregon near the Cascade mountain range

A

Statement

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24
Q

Gusty winds, good visibility and clouds growing vertically are all signs of what?

A

Unstable air

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25
Q

What is virga an indicator for?

A

thunderstorm has matured

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26
Q

Winds that influence the direction of the fire the most are which type of flames?

A

Mid flame

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27
Q

Relative humidity is the ratio of the amount of water vapor present in the air compared to the greatest amount possible at the same temperature

A

Statement

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28
Q

RH represents how wet or dry the air actually is

A

Statement

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29
Q

Dew point is the temperature at which the air is 100% saturated with water vapor

A

Statement

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30
Q

Southern aspects are generally how many degrees hotter than northeast aspects?

A

5 degrees

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31
Q

Thick cloud cover can lower summer temps by how many degrees

A

15 to 20 degrees

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32
Q

What are the 3 types of lapse rates and how many degrees per 1000’ of elevation change?

A

5.5 degrees per 1000’ ft

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33
Q

What is the Haines index for?

A

Determine relative fire danger. Calculates the temp, dew point, and dryness at two levels in the atmosphere

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34
Q

A 5 or 6 on the Haines scale would indicate?

A

moderate to high fire danger

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35
Q

An inversion layer is a layer of very stable air where, contrary to normal behavior, the temperature rises as the altitude increases

A

Statement

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36
Q

Temperatures in an inversion layer may increase as much as ___ degrees per 1000’

A

15

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37
Q

A thermal belt is the “warm area”on a mountain slope associated with an inversion layer

A

Statement

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38
Q

Inversion layera acts like a lid or blanket over cooler air.

A

Statement

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39
Q

Cooling from below promotes stable air; heating from below promotes unstable air

A

Statement

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40
Q

What are the 6 cloud types

A
  1. Cumulonimbus - thunder storm
  2. Cirrostratus - wispy clouds possible rain in a day or two
  3. Altocumulus castellanus - mid level. little towers
  4. Altocumulus floccus - whit gray tufts
  5. Lenticularus - lens shaped. lee side usually stationery
  6. Stratus - uniform, featureless low level
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41
Q

Four ways a thunderstorm is created

A
  1. Thermal lifting
  2. Orographic lifting
  3. Frontal lifting
  4. Convergence lifting
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42
Q

Three stages to a thunderstorm

A

Cumulus, mature, dissapating phase

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43
Q

Expect downdrafts with thunderstorm

A

Statement

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44
Q

3 principal elements affecting wildland fires

A

weather , fuels and topography

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45
Q

Fire will run ___ faster at a 30 degree slope. It will also run ___ times faster at 55% slope

A

2 times

4 times

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46
Q

Define aspect

A

The direction a slope is facing

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47
Q

Northern slopes heavy fuels with high moisture content. Eastern slope transitional. first to receive solar and first to cool in late afternoon. Southern have lighter flashy fuels with lowest moisture content. Western are transitional heating occurs in afternoon

A

Statement

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48
Q

Which type of heat transfer plays the biggest role in spread of wildland fire

A

Convection

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49
Q

What are the 3 types of fuels?

A

Ground fuels, surface fuels, aerial fuels

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50
Q

Surface fuels are fuels to about what height

A

6 ft

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51
Q

Aerial fuels are fuels from about what height and higher

A

6 ft and higher

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52
Q

Fuel loading is usually measured in tons per acre

A

Statement

53
Q

Grassy fuels measure 1 to 5 tons per acre; Brush is 20 to 40 tons per acre; and slash is roughly 30 to 200 tons; timber is 100 to 600 tons per acre

A

Statement

54
Q

Fuel loading is divided into 4 classes, what are they?

A
  1. Grasses 0 to 1/4”
  2. Twigs 1/4” to 1”
  3. Branches 1 to 3”
    4 Large branches more than 3”
55
Q

Dead fuel moisture is the moisture content that is in dead material.

A

Statement

56
Q

What are the 3 factors of fuel that spread fire

A

Moisture content, size and shape, and fuel loading

57
Q

The smaller the fuel, the quicker the change in fuel moisture.

A

Statement

58
Q

What is time lag?

A

The time it takes for moisture content of fuels and the surrounding air to equalize

59
Q

What is the dead fuel moisture time lag in relationship to the 4 sizes of files?

A

1 hr less than 1/4” grass
10 hr 1/4”-1” coastal sage
100 hr fuel 1”-3” logging slash
1000 hr 3”-8” logs - timber

60
Q

What are the two types of living files?

A

Herbaceous and woody

61
Q

Moisture content can range from 2-30% in dead fuels and 30-300% for live fuels.

A

Statement

62
Q

Generally more than 1/3rd of grass has to be dead for a fire to be carried

A

Statement

63
Q

What are the three most important weather components/

A

Wind, temperature and relative humidity

64
Q

What are the most important topographic components

A

steepness of slope and aspect

65
Q

What are the most important factors of fuel components

A

fuel moisture and temperature

66
Q

Combustion usually occurs at about 500 degrees in wildland fuels

A

Statmente

67
Q

A chain is how many feet per hour

A

66

68
Q

There are 7 factors that constitute the fire environment.

A
  1. Fuel charactreistics
  2. Fuel moisture
  3. Fuel temperature
  4. Topography
  5. Wind
  6. Atmospheric stability
  7. Fire behavior
69
Q

In most areas, when the relative humidity gets below ___% in fine fuels fire burns with intensity. 10 hr fuels need less than 7% to burn intensly. 1000 hr fuel are 20% and they wil burn

A

25%

70
Q

Generally wind of just ___ mile per hr can cause rapid rates of spread

A

10 mph

71
Q

Indrafts winds move in to replace heated air that is lifted by the convetive action of the fire.

A

Statement

72
Q

Downdrafts occur below the convective column.

A

Statment

73
Q

One volume of water will cool 300 volumes of burning fuel

A

Statement

74
Q

Utilizing foam breaks down 3 sides of the fire triangel… Cool, smother, and insulate

A

Statement

75
Q

What is a long-stringed “super absorbent polymer that can absorb water at a ratio of at least 50 to 1

A

firefighting gel

76
Q

What are some examples of a control line

A

streams, lakes, ponds, rock slides, roads

77
Q

What is a cleared strip or portion of a control line from which falmmable material has been removed by scraping or digging down to mineral soil

A

Fireline

78
Q

What is the running edge of the fire that is spreading with the greatest speed

A

head

79
Q

What is the general rule for fireline width

A

1 1/2 times as wide as the predominant fuel is tall

Extreme fire behavior should be 2 times the width

80
Q

Guidelines for width of firelines..

A

Grass 2 to 3 ft
Medium brush 4 to 6 ft
Heavy Brush 9 ft

81
Q

What is it called with you use fire to remove the unburned fuels between the fire’s edge and the control line

A

Burning out or firing out

82
Q

What is it when you indirectly attack tactic used to slow a fast burning fire.

A

Backfire

83
Q

What is the key to backfiring?

A

The main fire draws in the backfire into it

84
Q

Buring out is the most commonly used firing operation.

A

Statement

85
Q

Buring out is a direct method of attack to secure holding lines, reduce mop up, to cut across fingers, incorporate spot fires.

A

Statement

86
Q

For backfiring, fire from the top down in steep terrain, fire into the wind, from the lee side or tops of ridges, from the bottom of wide canyons

A

Statement

87
Q

A backing fire is a low intensity fire that is allowed to back into the wind from the fireline. one of the safest ways to fire, draw back are wind shift, spotting, and amount of time it takes to comlete.

A

Statement

88
Q

What are some watch out situations for firing operations

A
  1. Adverse location with sharp bends
  2. narrow canyon through saddles
  3. Heavy fuels and snags near the line
  4. Weather is changing
  5. High value assets close
89
Q

What is it called when you set a fire along the flanks of the fire. The wind is more of a fin this fire. Usually burn a little more than a backing fire

A

Flanking fire

90
Q

What type of fire is ignited at a control line with the wind

A

Head Fire

91
Q

What firing technique is used when you want to widen a fireline quickly. It’s set in parallel to the fireline in strips

A

Strip firing

92
Q

Strip firing can be used in the 1-2-3 method. The firing order is dictated by the direction of slope and wind. Basically the strip furthest from the wind starts first.

A

Statement

93
Q

What type of firing is used when you are trying to save a valuable resource

A

Ring firing

94
Q

What are some general rules for firing operations.

A
  1. Always begin firing from an anchor point except ring fire
  2. Begin at the head working down the flanks to the heel if you can
  3. Burn downhill if you can
    Burn from back side of ridges ( not the top)
  4. Burn into saddles simultaneously from both directions
95
Q

An acre is how many square feet?

A

43,560

209 on each side

96
Q

Determining rates of fire spread. a low, moderate, high and extreme move how fast?

A
  1. Low 100 ft per hour
  2. Moderate 100-400 ft per hour
  3. High 400-1800 ft per hour
  4. Extreme over 1800 ft
97
Q

How do you calculate acreage using square footage

A
  1. Take average width
  2. Multiply that number by length
  3. take that number and divide by 43,560
98
Q

Besides using the square footage for calculating acreage, what is the other method called

A

Dot grid

99
Q

Direct attack method is working on the fire’s edge, the paralles attack method is where you contruct the fireline 6-50 ft away from fire’s edge. Indirect is where firline is constructed some distance from the fire

A

Statement

100
Q

If the flame length is burning more than ___ ft its probably too intense for a direct attack.

A

4’

101
Q

Direct attack is usually used on smaller fires and in the rear of larger fires

A

Statement

102
Q

What are the 4 direct attack deployment strategies

A
  1. Flanking attack
  2. Tandem action
  3. Pincer action
  4. Envelopment action
103
Q

What is flanking action

A

Picking an anchor point and extinguishing one side of the fire

104
Q

What is a Tandem attack

A

When an attack involves two or more resources to fight fire

105
Q

What is Pincer attack

A

Both flanks are attacked at the same time working together from opposite sides to cut the head off

106
Q

What is envelopement attack

A

When the fire is attacked from all different sides

107
Q

The parrallel attack method constructs line close to the fires edge (6 to 50 ft). The line is immediately burned-out after construction. You carry the fire with you as you go.

A

Statement

108
Q

The indirect attack differs from the parallel attack in that the line is not bured-out as you go.

A

Statement

109
Q

What is hot spotting

A

A dangerous tactic for helitac crews to cut a scratch line around the hot spots or fingers to slow the fire down

110
Q

What is cold trailing

A

Working along a partially dead line looking for hotspots or improving the existing or cutting new line when necessary

111
Q

Minimum standards for strike teams engine GPM and water tank size

A

Type 1 1000 GPM 400 gallons

Type 3 150 GPM 500 gallons

112
Q

For every 1000’ in elevation, there is a loss of one foot in suction or lift. + or - 43 psi for change of 100 of elevation

A

Statement

113
Q

When are airtankers most effective of a wildland fire

A

Initial attack phase

114
Q

Airtankers can carry 3000 gallons of retardant and Siskorkies sky crans cary 2000 gallons of water

A

Statement

115
Q

Airtankers should have less than a ___ minute turno around time and helicopters should have less than a ____ turn around time

A

30 minutes

10 minutes

116
Q

The national guard MAFFS can drop ____ gallons of retardant

A

3000

117
Q

What is the best drop height for retardant

A

150 ft

118
Q

Type I, II, III, and IV tankers can drop how many gallons?

A

Type 1 3000 or more
Type 2 1800 to 3000
Type 3 800 to 1799
Type 4 100 to 799

119
Q

The approach clearance and departure clearance fo a helicopter on a water point is

A

100’ and 300’

20x20 pad with 100’ safety circle

120
Q

Type I handcrews have min of 80 hrs and have 18-20 personnel.

A

Statement

121
Q

As a rule of thumb, a 15-person crew should be able to construct a 3 ft wide fireline around a one acre fire in one hour

A

Statement

122
Q

Best place for dozer work is on ridge tops.

A

Statement

123
Q

A safeety circle of ___ ft around a dozer

A

50’

124
Q

The topographic map is a graphic representation of the 3 dimesions of the the earths surface. Vertical dimension being indicated by contour lines

A

Statement

125
Q

Three elements to fire prevention components

A

Education, enginering, and enforcement

126
Q

Hand crew in grass can cut 3’ wide at 900’ per hour

A

Statement

127
Q

Hand crew medium brush can cut 6’ wide at 450’ an hour

A

Statement

128
Q

Hand crew heavy brush can cut 9’ wide at 300’ per hour

A

Statement

Wildland Firefighting (1 decks)

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