2005-1227-Minutes for Meeting June 08,2005 Recorded 11/1/2005DESCHUTES COUNTY OFFICIAL
NANCY BLANKENSHIP, COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS' JOURNAL
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DESCHUTES COUNTY CLERK
CERTIFICATE PAGE
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G { Deschutes County Board of Commissioners
1130 NW Harriman St., Bend, OR 97701-1947
(541) 388-6570 - Fax (541) 388-4752 - www.deschutes.ora
MINUTES OF DEPARTMENT UPDATE — COUNTY FORESTER
DESCHUTES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 89 2005
Commissioners' Conference Room - Administration Building - 1300 NW Wall St.., Bend
Present were Commissioners Tom De Wolf, Michael M. Daly and Dennis R. Luke.
Also present were Mike Maier, County Administrator; Tom Blust, Road
Department; and Joe Studer, County Forester. No representatives of tine media or
other citizens were present.
A copy of the agenda and backup documentation is attached for reference. The
meeting began at 1:25 p. m.
Most of the discussion involved a proposed vacant lot and defensible space
ordinance.
No formal action was taken by the Board.
Being no further items discussed, the meeting ended at 1:35 p.m.
DATED this 8t' Day of June 2005 for the Deschutes County Board of
Commissioners.
Tom DeWolf, Chair
ATTEST:
Recording Secretary
Daly,
R. Luke,
issioner
issioner
N
adnnie Baker
Page 1 of 1
From:
Joe Stutter
Sent:
Tuesday, June 07, 2005 8:36 AM
To:
Bonnie Baker
Cc:
Mark Amberg; Tom Blust
Subject: Monthly Meeting Agenda
Bonnie: For the meeting tomorrow (June 8th) I have only one agenda
item:
Mark Amberg and I will be sharing language and the proposed strategy
for the Vacant Lot and Defensible Space Ordinance for Deschutes
County.
Of course if the BOCC has any additional items for discussion, we can do
that too.
Thanks, Joe
Joe Stutler
Forestry Specialist
Deschutes County
(541) 322-7117 office
(541) 388-2719 fax
61150 SE 27th St.
Bend, OR 97702
joest@co.deschutes.or.us
0
6/7/2005
DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT
Deschutes County
Vacant Lot and Unprotected Lands
ORDINANCE
June 2005
An ordinance requiring that hazardous/flammable vegetation be removed or
cut on private lands with improvement and vacant properties to reduce the
wildland fire hazard.
(1) It shall be the responsibility of every landowner in Deschutes County
unless otherwise protected by a City, Rural Fire District or Federal
Wildland Agency to reduce the wildland fire hazard created by
flammable weeds, grass, brush, trees and other combustible
vegetation on their property by complying with the requirements of
the County ordinance.
(2) The purpose of the reducing the wildland fire hazard by treating
hazardous fuels shall be to protect the property from the spread of
wildland fire from other properties; as well as confining any fire on
the property by preventing its spread to other properties.
(3) Every landowner in the area described in (1) above with structural
improvements will meet the requirements of the Oregon Forestland -
Urban Interface Fire Protection Act of 1997. The Default Standards
apply which are as follows:
a. Step 1: Establish a 30 -foot primary fuel break around the
home, and any other structure on the property.
b. Step 2: Determine whether a secondary fuel break is necessary.
There are two determining factors, first is the fire risk
classification of the home and second is whether the roofing
material is flammable or nonflammable material.
c. Step 3: Determine whether it is necessary to create a fuel break
around the driveway. If the driveway on the property is shorter
than 150 feet, a fuel break does not need to be created. If the
driveway is 150 long or longer, a fuel break must be
established.
d. Steps 4 & 5: Remove any portion of a tree that is within 10 feet
of a chimney, and remove all dead vegetative material
overhanging the roof.
e. Step 6: Clear flammable material out from beneath decks.
Step 7: Move firewood and lumber piles at least 30 feet from
structures, unless properly protected from adjacent fuels and
flying brands during a fire. Properly protected means to provide
a woodshed (a structure) that has a roof and walls with
protected openings to prevent sparks and brands blowing
within. This could mean that doors, windows, properly screen
vents. This must be done during the months of fire season.
(4) Every landowner in the area described in (1) above, shall treat vacant
lot property in the following manner:
(a) Lot Size, 5 acres or less, the following standard will apply:
• Timber Fuel Types: Individual and groups of trees shall
be separated by a distance equal to the diameter of the
crowns adjacent to each other, or 15 feet, whichever is
greater. Trees will be limbed to remove ladder faels up to
3 times the height of the ground vegetation.
• Grass and Brush Fuel types: Fuel beds will me :mowed
or trimmed to a height not greater than 4 inches. Where
sparse fuel loading is present i.e. will not sustain fire
spread, exemptions will be accepted.
• In all cases dead fuels shall be removed or burned. Fuel
treatment shall be completed prior to the beginning of
each fire season.
(b) Lot Size, Greater than 5 acres, the following standard will apply:
• All Fuel types: A 50 -foot fuel break completely surrounding
the property will be constructed utilizing the following
standards:
o Timber Fuel Types: Individual and groups of trees
shall be separated by a distance equal to the diameter
of the crowns adjacent to each other, or 15 feet,
whichever is greater. Trees will be limbed to remove
ladder fuels up to 3 times the height of the ground
vegetation.
o Grass and Brush Fuel types: Fuel beds will me
mowed or trimmed to a height not greater than 4
inches. Where sparse fuel loading is present i.e. will
not sustain fire spread, exemptions will be accepted.
o In all cases dead fuels shall be removed or burned.
Fuel treatment shall be completed prior to the
beginning of each fire season.
The fuel breaks shall be located along the boundaries of the
property. Where irregular lot sizes prevent the 50400t fuel
break construction, exceptions will be accepted.
(c) A violation of this ordinance by any person, firm or corporation
shall be a ??????? Infraction. In addition, any person, firm or
corporation not complying with the provisions of this ordinance
shall be subject to abatement procedures.
..__..._........
Glossary of Wildland Fire Terms
A
Aerial Fuels: All live and dead vegetation in the forest canopy or above surface
fuels, including tree branches, twigs and cones, snags, moss, and high brush.
Agency: Any federal, state, or county government organization participating with
jurisdictional responsibilities.
Anchor Point: An advantageous location, usually a barrier to fire spread, from
which to start building a fire line. An anchor point is used to reduce the chance of
firefighters being flanked by fire.
Aspect: Direction toward which a slope faces.
W
Backfire: A fire set along the inner edge of a fire line to consume the fuel in the path
of a wildfire and/or change the direction of force of the fire's convection column.
Blow-up: A sudden increase in fire intensity or rate of spread strong enough to
prevent direct control or to upset control plans. Blow-ups are often accompanied by
violent convection and may have other characteristics of a fire storm. (See Flare-up.)
Brush: A collective term that refers to stands of vegetation dominated by shrubby,
woody plants, or,low growing trees, usually of a type undesirable for livestock or
timber management.
Brush Fire: A fire burning in vegetation that is predominantly shrubs, brush and
scrub growth.
Buffer Zones: An area of reduced vegetation that separates wild lands from
vulnerable residential or business developments. This barrier is similar to a
greenbelt in that it is usually used for another purpose such as agriculture, recreation
areas, parks, or golf courses.
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 within a specified area, usually
due to sustained high fire danger.
Burning Conditions: The state of the combined factors of the environment that
affect fire behavior in a specified fuel type.
Burning Index: An estimate of the potential difficulty of fire containment as it relates
to the flame length at the most rapidly spreading portion of a fire's perimeter.
Burning Period: That part of each 24-hour period when fires spread most rapidly,
typically from 10:00 a.m. to sundown.
C
Campfire: As used to classify the cause of a wildland fire, a fire that was :started for
cooking or warming that spreads sufficiently from its source to require action by a
fire control agency.
Candle or Candling: A single tree or a very small clump of trees which is burning
from the bottom up.
Closure: Legal restriction, but not necessarily elimination of specified activities such
as smoking, camping, or entry that might cause fires in a given area.
Contain a fire: A fuel break around the fire has been completed. This break may
include natural barriers or manually and/or mechanically constructed line.
Control a fire: The complete extinguishment of a fire, including spot fires. Fire line
has been strengthened so that flare-ups from within the perimeter of the fire will not
break through this line.
Control Line: All built or natural fire barriers and treated fire edge used to control a
fire.
Creeping Fire: Fire burning with a low flame and spreading slowly.
Crown: That portion of a tree or shrub which is either the needles or leaves. Tree
needles generally stay green and remain on the tree; leaves are generally deciduous
and fall from the tree in autumn.
Crown Fire (Crowning): The movement of fire through the crowns of trees or
shrubs more or less independently of the surface fire.
Curing: Drying and browning of herbaceous vegetation or slash.
E
Dead Fuels: Fuels with no living tissue in which moisture content is governed
almost entirely by atmospheric moisture (relative humidity and precipitation), dry-
bulb temperature, and solar radiation.
Debris Burning: A fire spreading from any fire originally set for the purpose of
clearing land or for rubbish, garbage, range, stubble, or meadow burning.
Defensible Space: An area either natural or manmade where material capable of
causing a fire to spread has been treated, cleared, reduced, or changed to act as a
barrier between an advancing wildland fire and the loss to life, property, or
resources. In practice, "defensible space" is defined as an area a minimum of 30
feet around a structure that is cleared of flammable brush or vegetation.
Detection: The act or system of discovering and locating fires.
Dispatch: The implementation of a command decision to move a resource or
resources from one place to another.
Dispatcher: A person employed who receives reports of discovery and status of
fires, confirms their locations, takes action promptly to provide people and
equipment likely to be needed for control in first attack, and sends them to the
proper place.
Dispatch Center: A facility from which resources are directly assigned to an
incident.
Dozer Line: Fire line constructed by the front blade of a dozer.
Drought Index: A number representing net effect of evaporation, transpiration, and
precipitation in producing cumulative moisture depletion in deep duff or upper soil
layers.
Dry Lightning Storm: Thunderstorm in which negligible precipitation reaches the
ground. Also called a dry storm.
Duff: The layer of decomposing organic materials lying below the litter layer of
freshly fallen twigs, needles, and leaves and immediately above the mineral soil.
L
Energy Release Component (ERC): The computed total heat released per unit
area (British thermal units per square foot) within the fire front at the head of a
moving fire.
Environmental Assessment (EA): EA's were authorized by the National'
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. 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 determines an
EIS is not needed, the EA becomes the document allowing agency compliance with
NEPA requirements.
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS): EIS's were authorized by the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. Prepared with public participation, they
assist decision makers by providing information, analysis and an array of action
alternatives, allowing managers to see the probable effects of decisions on the
environment. Generally, EIS's are written for large-scale actions or geographical
areas.
Equilibrium Moisture Content: Moisture content that a fuel particle will attain if
exposed for an infinite period in an environment of specified constant temperature
and humidity. When a fuel particle reaches equilibrium moisture content, net
exchange of moisture between it and the environment is zero.
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, prolific crowning and/or spotting,
presence of fire whirls, strong convection column. Predictability is difficult because
such fires often exercise some degree of influence on their environment and behave
erratically, sometimes dangerously.
F
Fine (Light) Fuels: Fast -drying fuels, generally with a comparatively high surface
area -to -volume ratio, which is less than 1/4 -inch in diameter and has a time lag of
one hour or less. These fuels readily ignite and are rapidly consumed by fire when
dry.
Fingers of a Fire: The long narrow 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 probable fire behavior usually prepared by a
Fire Behavior Officer, in support of fire suppression or prescribed burning
operations.
Fire Behavior Specialist: A person responsible to the Planning Section Chief for
establishing a weather data collection system and for developing fire behavior
predictions based on fire history, fuel, weather and topography.
Fire Break/Fuel Break: A natural or constructed barrier used to stop or check fires
that may occur, or to provide a control line from which to work. In either case,
sufficient vegetation (fuel) is removed or absent from the area.
Fire Front: The part of a fire within which continuous flaming combustion is taking
place. Unless otherwise specified the fire front is assumed to be the leading edge of
the fire perimeter. In ground fires, the fire front may be mainly smoldering
combustion.
Fire Intensity: A general term relating to the heat energy released by a fire.
Fire Line: A linear fire barrier that is scraped or dug to mineral soil.
Fire Load: The number and size of fires historically experienced on a specified unit
over 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 plans, preplanned dispatch plans, prescribed fire plans, and
prevention plans.
Fire Perimeter: The entire outer edge or boundary of a fire.
Fire Season: 1) Period(s) of the year during which wildland fires are likely to occur,
spread, and affect resource values sufficient to warrant organized fire management
activities. 2) A legally enacted time during which burning activities are regulated by
state or local authority.
Fire Storm: Violent convection 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 whirls.
Fire Triangle: Instructional aid in which the sides of a triangle are used to represent
the three factors (oxygen, heat, fuel) necessary for combustion and flame
production; removal of any of the three factors causes flame production to cease.
Fire Use Module (Prescribed Fire Module): A team of skilled and mobile personnel
dedicated primarily to prescribed fire management. These are national and
interagency resources, available throughout the prescribed fire season, that can
ignite, hold and monitor prescribed fires.
Fire Weather: Weather conditions that influence fire ignition, behavior and
suppression.
Fire Weather Watch: A term used by fire weather forecasters to notify using
agencies, usually 24 to 72 hours ahead of the event, that current and developing
meteorological conditions may evolve into dangerous fire weather.
Fire Whirl: Spinning vortex column of ascending hot air and gases rising from a fire
and carrying aloft smoke, debris, and flame. Fire whirls range in size from less than
one foot to more than 500 feet in diameter. Large fire whirls have the intensity of a
small tornado.
Firefighting Resources: All people and major items of equipment that can or
potentially could be assigned to fires.
Flame Height: The average maximum vertical extension of flames at the leading
edge of the fire front. Occasional flashes that rise above the general level of flames
are not considered. This distance is less than the flame length if flames are tilted due
to wind or slope.
Flame Length: The distance between the flame tip and the midpoint of the flame
depth at the base of the flame (generally the ground surface); an indicator of fire
intensity.
Flaming Front: The zone of a moving fire where the combustion is primarily flaming.
Behind this flaming zone combustion is primarily glowing. Light fuels typically have a
shallow flaming front, whereas heavy fuels have a deeper front. Also called fire front.
Flanks of a Fire: The parts of a fire's perimeter that are roughly parallel to the main
direction of spread.
Flare-up: Any sudden acceleration of fire spread or intensification of a fire. Unlike a
blow-up, a flare-up lasts a relatively short time and does not radically change control
plans.
Flash Fuels: Fuels such as grass, leaves, draped pine needles, fern, tree moss and
some kinds of slash, that ignite readily and are consumed rapidly when dry. Also
called fine fuels.
Forbs: A plant with a soft, rather than permanent woody stem, that is not a grass or
grass -like plant.
Fuel: Combustible material. Includes, vegetation, such as grass, leaves, ground
litter, plants, shrubs and trees, which feed a fire. (See Surface Fuels.)
Fuel Bed: An array of fuels usually constructed with specific loading, depth and
particle size to meet experimental requirements; also, commonly used to describe
the fuel composition in natural settings.
Fuel Break/Fire Break: A natural or constructed barrier used to stop or check fires
that may occur, or to provide a control line from which to work. In either case,
sufficient vegetation (fuel) is removed or absent from the area.
Fuel Loading: The amount of fuel present expressed quantitatively in terms of
weight of fuel per unit area.
Fuel Model: Simulated fuel complex (or combination of vegetation types) for which
all fuel descriptors required for the solution of a mathematical rate of spread model
have been specified.
Fuel Moisture (Fuel Moisture Content): The quantity of moisture in fuel expressed
as a percentage of the weight when thoroughly dried at 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
Fuel Reduction: Manipulation, including combustion, or removal of fuels to reduce
the likelihood of ignition and/or to lessen potential damage and resistance to control.
Fuel Type: An identifiable association of fuel elements of a distinctive plant species,
form, size, arrangement, or other characteristics that will cause a predictable rate of
fire spread or difficulty of control under specified weather conditions.
M
Geographic Area: A political boundary designated by the wildland fire protection
agencies, where these agencies work together in the coordination and effective
utilization
Ground Fuel: All combustible materials below the surface litter, including duff, tree
or shrub roots, punchy wood, peat, and sawdust, which normally support a glowing
combustion without flame.
V
Haines Index: An atmospheric index used to indicate the potential for wildfire growth
by measuring the stability and dryness of the air over a fire.
Hand Line: A fireline 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 a Fire: The side of the fire having the fastest rate of spread.
Heavy Fuels: Fuels of large diameter such as snags, logs, large limb wood, that
ignite and are consumed more slowly than flash fuels.
Holding Actions: Planned actions required to achieve wildland prescribed fire
management objectives. These actions have specific implementation timeframes for
fire use actions but can have less sensitive implementation demands for
suppression actions.
Holding Resources: Firefighting personnel and equipment assigned to do all
required fire suppression work following fire line construction but generally not
including extensive mop -up.
Hose Lay: Arrangement of connected lengths of fire hose and accessories on the
ground, beginning at the first pumping unit and ending at the point of water delivery.
Hotspot: A particular active part of a fire.
Hot spotting: 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 first priorities.
Incident: A human -caused or natural occurrence, such as wildland fire, that requires
emergency service action to prevent or reduce the loss of life or damage to property
or natural resources.
Incident Action Plan (IAP): Contains objectives reflecting the overall incident
strategy and specific tactical actions and supporting information for the next
operational period. The plan may be oral or written. When written, the plan may have
a number of attachments, including: incident objectives, organization assignment list,
division assignment, incident radio communication plan, medical plan, traffic plan,
safety plan, and incident map.
Incident Command System (ICS): The combination of facilities, equipment,
personnel, procedure and communications operating within a common
organizational structure, with responsibility for the management of assigned
resources to effectively 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 incident.
Incident Objectives: Statements of guidance and direction necessary for selection
of appropriate strategy (ies), and the tactical direction of resources. Incident
objectives are based on realistic expectations of what can be accomplished when all
allocated resources have been effectively deployed.
Initial Attack: The actions taken by the first resources to arrive at a wildfire to
protect lives and property, and prevent further extension of the fire.
J
K
Keech-Byram Drought Index (KBDI): Commonly -used drought index adapted for
fire management applications, with a numerical range from 0 (no moisture
deficiency) to 800 (maximum drought).
Knock Down: To reduce the flame or heat on the more vigorously burning parts of a
fire edge.
L
Ladder Fuels: Fuels which provide vertical continuity between strata, thereby
allowing fire to carry from surface fuels into the crowns of trees or shrubs, with
relative ease. They help initiate and assure the continuation of crowning.
Large Fire: 1) For statistical purposes, a fire burning more than a specified area of
land e.g., 300 acres. 2) A fire burning with a size and intensity such that its behavior
is determined by interaction between its own convection column and weather
conditions above the surface.
Light (Fine) Fuels: Fast -drying fuels, generally with comparatively high surface
area -to -volume ratios, which is less than 1/4 -inch in diameter and have a time lag of
one hour or less. These fuels readily ignite and are rapidly consumed by Fire when
d ry.
Lightning Activity Level (LAL): A number, on a scale of 1 to 6, which reflects
frequency and character of cloud -to -ground lightning. The scale is exponential,
based on powers of 2 (i.e., LAL 3 indicates twice the lightning of LAL 2).
Litter: Top layer of the forest, scrubland, or grassland floor, directly above the
fermentation layer, composed of loose debris of dead sticks, branches, twigs, and
recently fallen leaves or needles, little altered in structure by decomposition.
Live Fuels: 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.
M
Mineral Soil: Soil layers below the predominantly organic horizons; soil with little
combustible material.
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 moving logs so they won't roll downhill.
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA): NEPA is the basic national law for
protection of the environment, passed by Congress in 1969. It sets policy and
procedures for environmental protection, and authorizes Environmental Impact
Statements and Environmental Assessments to be used as analytical tools to help
federal managers make decisions.
National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS): A uniform fire danger rating
system that focuses on the environmental factors that control the moisture content of
fuels.
Normal Fire Season: 1) A season when weather, fire danger, and number and
distribution of fires are about average. 2) Period of the year that normally comprises
the fire season.
Peak Fire Season: That period of the fire season during which fires are expected to
ignite most readily, to burn with greater than average intensity, and to create
damages at an unacceptable level.
Preparedness: Condition or degree of being ready to cope with a potential fire
situation
Prescribed Fire: Any fire ignited by management actions under certain,
predetermined conditions to meet specific objectives related to hazardous fuels 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 the prescribed fire burn
boss information needed to implement an individual prescribed fire project.
Prescription: Measurable criteria that define conditions under which a prescribed
fire may be ignited, guide selection of appropriate management responses, and
indicate other required actions. Prescription criteria may include safety, economic,
public health, environmental, geographic, administrative, social, or legal
considerations.
Prevention: Activities 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.
R
Rate of Spread: The relative activity of a fire in extending its horizontal dimensions.
It is expressed as a rate of increase of the total perimeter of the fire, as rate of
forward spread of the fire front, or as rate of increase in area, depending on the
intended use of the information. Usually it is expressed in chains or acres per hour
for a specific period in the fire's history.
Re -burn: The burning of an area that has been previously burned but that contains
flammable fuel that ignites when burning conditions are more favorable; an area that
has re -burned.
Red Flag Warning: Term used by fire weather forecasters to alert forecast users to
an ongoing or imminent critical fire weather pattern.
Rehabilitation: The activities necessary to repair damage or disturbance caused by
wildland fires or the fire suppression activity.
Relative Humidity (Rh): The ratio of the amount of moisture in the air, to the
maximum amount of moisture that air would contain if it were saturated. The ratio of
the actual vapor pressure to the saturated vapor pressure.
Resources: 1) Personnel, equipment, services and supplies available, or potentially
available, for assignment to incidents. 2) The natural resources of an area, such as
timber, crass, watershed values, recreation values, and wildlife habitat.
Resource Management Plan (RMP): A document prepared by field office staff with
public participation and approved by field office managers that provides general
guidance and direction for land management activities at a field office. The RMP
identifies the need for fire in a particular area and for a specific benefit.
Retardant: A substance or chemical agent which reduced the flammability 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 that noted before and after the advance.
Running: A rapidly spreading surface fire with a well-defined head.
S
Safety Zone: An area cleared of flammable materials used for escape in the event
the line is outflanked or in case a spot fire causes fuels outside the control line to
render the line unsafe. In firing operations, crews progress so as to maintain a safety
zone close at hand allowing the fuels inside the control line to be consumed before
going ahead. Safety zones may also be constructed as integral parts of fuel breaks;
they are greatly enlarged areas which can be used with relative safety by firefighters
and their equipment in the event of a blowup in the vicinity.
Slash: Debris left after logging, pruning, thinning or brush cutting; includes logs,
chips, bark, branches, stumps and broken understory trees or brush.
Smoke Management: Application of fire intensities and meteorological processes to
minimize degradation of air quality during prescribed fires.
Smoldering Fire: A fire burning without flame and barely spreading.
Snag: A standing dead tree or part of a dead tree from which at least the :smaller
branches have fallen.
Spark Arrester: A device installed in a chimney, flue, or exhaust pipe to stop the
emission of sparks and burning fragments.
Spot Fire: A fire ignited outside the perimeter of the main fire by flying sparks or
embers.
Spotting: Behavior of a fire producing sparks or embers that are carried by the wind
and start new fires beyond the zone of direct ignition by the main fire.
Strategy: The science and art of command as applied to the overall planning and
conduct of an incident.
Structure Fire: Fire originating in and burning any part or all of any building, shelter,
or other structure.
Suppressant: An agent, such as water or foam, used to extinguish the flaming and
glowing phases of combustion when direction applied to burning fuels.
Suppression: All the work of extinguishing or containing a fire, beginning with its
discovery.
Surface Fuels: Loose surface litter on the soil surface, normally consisting of fallen
leaves or needles, twigs, bark, cones, and small branches that have not ,yet decayed
enough to lose their identity; also grasses, forbs, low and medium shrubs, tree
seedlings, heavier branch wood, downed logs, and stumps interspersed with or
partially replacing the litter.
T
Tactics: Deploying and directing resources on an incident to accomplish the
objectives designated by strategy.
Test Fire: A small fire ignited within the planned burn unit to determine the
characteristic of the prescribed fire, such as fire behavior, detection performance
and control measures.
Time lag: Time needed under specified conditions for a fuel particle to lose about 63
percent of the difference between its initial moisture content and its equilibrium
moisture content. If conditions remain unchanged, a fuel will reach 95 percent of its
equilibrium moisture content after four time lag periods.
Torching: The ignition and flare-up of a tree or small group of trees, usually from
bottom to top.
hJ
Uncontrolled Fire: Any fire which threatens to destroy life, property, or natural
resources, and
Under burn: A fire that consumes surface fuels but not trees or shrubs. (See
Surface Fuels.)
Unprotected Lands: Improved and unimproved lands where no formal structural
and/or wildland response is planned in the event of fire. These lands are not
claimed by wildland or structural fire agencies and by default, County Government is
responsible for fire protection.
V
Vectors: Directions of fire spread as related to rate of spread calculations (in
degrees from upslope).
Volunteer Fire Department (VFD): A fire department of which some or all members
are unpaid.
W
Wet Line: A line of water or water and chemical retardant, sprayed along 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 prescribed fire, that occurs in the
wildland.
Wildland Urban Interface: The line, area or zone where structures and other
human development meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland or vegetative
fuels.
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