1. Teacher Information! Necessary materials: PowerPoint Guide
Presentation (ppt.)
Teacher Information!
Necessary materials:
PowerPoint Guide
*All relevant terms are bolded.

2. Wildland Fire Types and Fighting Fire
Range Plants -- OBJ 1: PPT
Wildland Fire Types and Fighting Fire
Modified from:
Chad Bass, December 5, 2001 available at
Forestry Revison Team May 2007, available at:
Camp and Camp 2009
Pgs in Ch.22 of Managing Our Natural Resources
Rangelands, Forests, & Fire
There are 14 slides in this presentation

3. Students will be able to…
Presentation (ppt.)
Students will be able to…
Describe the types of wildland fires.
Discuss fire suppression.
There are

4. Who started the fire? Wildfires may be Natural  mainly lightning or…
Human-caused
Incendiary-the unlawful setting of fire
Includes arson and escaped planned fires
Unattended campfires

5. Types of Wildland Fires
3 types based on fire intensity
Ground fire
Surface fire
Crown fire
Fire intensity  the rate a fire produces heat
measured as temperature or heat yield

6. Ground Fires
Burn the organic materials beneath the surface litter of the forest floor
Fuels like peat, coal, tree roots
Common in wet, boggy areas
Smoldering fire, usually no flames
Very high heat kills root systems

7. Surface Fires Burn surface litter and small vegetation
Forest canopy is not generally burned
Most fires begin as surface fires
Easiest to control
Surface fires burn the readily combustible materials found in a forest.

8. Crown Fires Burn from top to top of trees or shrubs
Most dangerous type of fire
Can easily spread due to wind
Crown fires release intense heat as it takes very high heat to combust the green portions of trees. Many conifers are highly flammable.  Why is this so? –They depend on fire to cause their seeds to germinate (break seed dormancy).

9. Anatomy of a Fire
Head the most active part of a fire; a fire can have more than one
Rear: the slowest burning part of a fire
Flank: the sides of the fire, between the head and the rear
The head, rear, and flanks make up the fire perimeter—the outmost area of the blaze.
Burned area
Wind
Head
Rear
Flank

10. Fire Anatomy Influenced by:
Air movement  horizontal & vertical movement of air & wind speed
Fire season July-September in Idaho
Topography
Steeper slopes = faster fire, more updrafting winds
Presences of roads, streams = fire barriers
Air movement  can carry sparks from the fire into unburned areas creating spot fires. Spot fires increase the spread and intensity of the fire.
Fire season the period of the year when fires are most likely to occur. This is usually when a region experiences it’s ‘dry’ season. In the western states this is often summertime. Fires usually burn much more rapidly uphill because of the updrafting winds created by the fire. Also, heat rises so fire can preheat its fuel as it moves upslope.

11. Fire Behavior
These factors that affect fire anatomy result in fire behavior 
The rate of spread or speed of a fire
Fire intensity
Some conditions can decrease the rate of spread
Rain
Wind reversal
Increased relative humidity
Wind reversal—the wind blows the fire back over the burned area where there is no fuel.

12. Fuel Types Influence fire behavior Two types
Ground fuels  peat, duff, tree roots, leaves, dead grass, weeds, low shrubs
Aerial fuels  burnable material in canopies above 6 ft from the ground

13. Wildfire Detection Lookout towers Telephone reports from motorists
An alidade  determine the azimuth of a detected fire from two lookout towers
Triangulation  2 azimuths taken from two towers pinpoints fire location
Telephone reports from motorists
Azimuth = direction

14. Wildfire Detection Fire-watch planes Remote sensing equipment
Satellite imaging systems
Azimuth = direction

15. Preventing Wildfire Education campaigns Thinning Prescribed burning
Smokey Bear
Keep America Green
Thinning
Prescribed burning
National Fire Danger Rating System
Fire danger indices
Educational programs spread awareness about tending campfires, matches, cigarettes and the danger of accidentally starting a fire. Thinning and prescribed burning can reduce fuel loads and thus reduce the risk of wildfire. When the fire danger index is high, forests may be closed. Logging operations work at low risk times.

16. Suppressing Wildfire Direct attack
The flames are attacked
Fire lanes
Indirect attack Removes fuel from the fire triangle
Fire barriers
Backfire
Mopping up  Patrolling the fire line after the fire is under control
Direct attack—works best for small, slow-moving fires. Flames are smothered with soil, wet clothes or swatters.
Water can be used to cool the fuel below its ignition point. Fire retardant may be dumped on fires from airplanes.
Fire lanes can be dug ahead of the fire—a narrow strip dug with a hand tool (shovel, rake, hoe) to remove fuel from the fire’s path.
Indirect attack  Existing barriers used with quickly constructed barriers. Bulldozers or plows are used to create fire lanes/firebreaks. Barriers are created before the head of the fire first. Backfires are used to widen fire lanes and rob the oncoming fire of fuel. Backfires usually burn from a fire break toward the head of the fire. Mopping up—firefighters patrol the fire putting out spot fires and fires in the burned out area.

17. Review Describe the types of wildland fires. Discuss fire suppression.
Presentation (ppt.)
Review
Describe the types of wildland fires.
Discuss fire suppression.
There are