Volusian County, Florida Wildfire in Pines

Fire is a fundamental process in southern ecosystems. Wildfires are uncontrolled fires in forests, grasslands, and scrublands. They are often caused by lightning, but can also be caused by human carelessness and arson.

• Fire in Todays South: Many of the South’s primary ecosystems, including its once vast longleaf pine forests, are adapted to fires occurring frequently and extensively.

• Wildfire Mitigation: Decreasing the incidence of wildfires and problems caused by them requires risk assessment, risk reduction, and prevention of unwanted fires.

• Fire Control and Suppression: Fire control and suppression operations include pre-season preparations, planning, organization, tactics and strategies, initial attack, extended attack, ground control, aerial control, mop up, communications, and firefighter safety.

• Wildland Fire Rehabilitation and Restoration: Wildfire rehabilitation is the emergency measures taken to mitigate potential increases in runoff and erosion that can occur immediately after a wildfire. Efforts are often made to protect valuable resources, such as water quality, fragile habitat, houses, roads, and bridges, from the increased risk of flooding, debris flows, and sedimentation.

• Fire Control History: The history of fire control in the United States begins in the 1800s and continues to develop in the 21st century.

• Current Federal Policy’s Impact On Fire Suppression And Control In The South: Numerous federal mandates -- including laws governing wilderness areas, ecosystems, and endangered species -- create special challenges to fire control and suppression.

• Current issues related to the Souths urbanizing landscape: Lessons learned from large fires in various parts of the U.S. from the 1980s to the 2000s have resulted in the development of complex new requirements for managing wildfire in the nation’s urbanizing landscape.

• Wildfire Occurrence in the Southern States

Volusia County, Florida Wildfire with Firefighter Profile

Many of the South’s primary ecosystems, including its once vast longleaf pine forests, are adapted to fires occurring frequently and extensively. Upland pine forests, oak-hickory forests, pine and oak savannas, and palmetto grasslands of the region are fire-adapted, as are hardwood and cypress swamps, peat scrublands (pocosins), and extensive marshlands.  The ecosystems with organic soils sometimes burn for years at a time during periodic droughts.

Today, more than half of the area burned annually from wildfire in the United States and roughly 75% of all controlled burning take place in the South (Pyne 1997).  Most of these fire acres occur on public land and industrial pine plantations (Pyne 1997).  Long growing seasons and rapid growth rates of vegetation in the warm, humid climate of the South continue to result in rapid and unrelenting accumulation of underbrush.  Aided by abundant lightning in some areas, the naturally rapid fire return intervals (1-3 years) that are characteristic of many southern ecosystems make it possible for managers and researchers alike to observe the impacts of excluding multiple fires within a single decade.  Even in swamps and other areas having longer fire return intervals, managers have observed the effects of multiple fires.  For example, approximately 234,000 acres of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge burned in 1953-1954 (Trowell 2002; Line 1999); and 117,816 acres burned in 2002 (US Fish and Wildlife Service 2005). Numerous smaller fires were recorded in between (US Fish and Wildlife Service 2005).

Despite the relentless growth of flammable vegetation, both public and private land managers are facing a fire situation of increasing complexity. As the risks associated with prescribed burning increase, some landowners elect not to burn.  Some are using more expensive herbicides and mechanical treatments as an alternative, but others are simply enduring higher fuel loads. Inter-agency fire councils, increased use of the Incident Command System, routine aerial reconnaissance for fire detection, prescribed burner certification, and cross training among structural and wildland firefighters are some of the tools being used to address the situation.

Wildfire mitigation is accomplished through the assessment of fire risks, the reduction of fire risks, and the prevention of unwanted fires.  Loss of life, property, and resources can be reduced if planners, developers, fire agencies, and homeowners work together to define, enforce, and maintain reasonable fire safety standards. 

Risk Assessment:  Wildfire risks for communities and homeowners can be assessed by following the procedures that are provided in standardized guidebooks.  Risk assessments in the southern wildland urban interface evaluate land development, home and landscape design, allocation of fire control and suppression resources, and fuel treatments.

Risk Reduction:  The main strategies for risk reduction are 1) hazardous fuel reduction and 2) the implementation of programs and standards for risk reduction. 

Fire Prevention: Two main strategies for fire prevention are 1) fire education and 2) managing development in the wildland urban interface.   

Risk assessment

Risk is defined as the likelihood that a particular home or community will experience a fire in the foreseeable future (Long and Randall 2004). The assessment of risk helps establish priorities for: 1) guiding community development, 2) assisting landowners with their landscaping and home design, 3) planning fuel management, and 4) allocating fire suppression resources.

Regional and state level risk assessments

Remove Excess Fuels from Roadsides

The Southern Wildfire Risk Assessment (SWRA) is a regional effort commissioned by the Southern Group of State Foresters that allows agencies and organizations to assess the overall potential for wildfire and its associated problems (Southern Group of State Foresters 1998). The SWRA establishes a process to assess fire hazards and the values to be protected. The assessment provides managers with a strategic view of the region to improve public safety and protect homeowners from property losses. The SWRA uses Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to create data layers that are analyzed to classify and identify areas of relative danger from wildfire risk. The GIS layers include: population density, historic fire occurrence, values at risk, topography, fuel types, available suppression resources and response times, and structural density (Space Imaging 2003).

The Florida Division of Forestry’s Fire Risk Assessment System (FRAS) completed in 2003 is an information system that assists fire managers in prioritizing mitigation projects throughout the state and also functions as a planning tool for local fuel reduction efforts (McLellan and Brenner 2003). FRAS is composed of the following GIS layers: wildfire susceptibility, population density, land value, and fire response accessibility. These factors are weighed, ranked, and combined to develop levels of concern. FRAS is flexible to allow the adjustment of input values and can be run iteratively to produce new estimates of risk.

The Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) developed a similar GIS model that incorporates maps of wildfire risk with areas of moderate to high population, and forest cover. The wildfire risk map input layers include: slope, aspect, landcover, distance to railroads, distance to roads, population density, and historical fire occurrence. Synthesizing the spatial relationship of these and other features allows VDOF to concentrate their prevention education, resource allocation, and emergency response efforts where fire poses the greatest risk.

Risk assessment for communities

The most efficient and cost-effective time to make the preparations to protect the home from fire is during the initial development of a wildland property. Florida’s DOF distributes a helpful guide for home protection to developers and fire departments that suggests how to plan access routes, utilities and fuelbreak zones.

Standards and rating systems for the different factors that influence community susceptibility to a fire have been developed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the Firewise program, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the International Fire Code Institute, and a number of different states. Many community risk assessments developed by individual states or local governments follow the NFPA standards or have modified them to fit particular situations.

NFPA 1144 Standard for Protection of Life and Property from Wildfire was developed to provide minimum planning, construction, maintenance, fire education, and management elements for the protection of life, property, and other values that could be threatened by wildfire (NFPA 2002). NFPA 1144 recommends a numerical rating system to define the relative contributions to hazard severity of the following factors, listed by the possible score each individual factor can contribute to the severity rating with 0 being the lowest severity:

• 0 - 25 points each: roofing materials, vegetation (types and defensible space)

• 0 - 10 points each: slope, water sources, siding, and deck construction

• 0 - 7 points each: subdivision design (ingress, road width, grade, turnarounds, lot size, signs)

• 0 - 5 points each: special topographical and weather features; utility placement

Risk assessment for individual homes

Whether or not a wildfire ignites a home depends on the length of time it is exposed to high heat or firebrands, direct flames, and the home’s properties as a fuel (Long and Randall 2004). Firebrands that land on a roof, attached structure (e.g. deck) or vegetative fuels adjacent to a structure account for the majority of homes burned in the wildland urban interface (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service 2003).

Homeowners can assess and rank their individual levels of risk from an approaching wildfire by using one of several risk assessment programs. These programs focus on only those factors over which individual homeowners have control:

Reducing Fire Risks Around the Home

• The Wildfire Risk Assessment Guide for Homeowners in the Southern United States focuses on two sets of risk factors: the vegetative fuel component and the structural component. The fuel component includes ratings for the natural plant communities and defensible space around homes. The structural component includes ratings for firebrand ignition factors (i.e., wood shingles, wood deck); indirect ignition factors (i.e., slope, wood fence); and heat-related or direct ignition factors (i.e., wood siding, vinyl siding). A numeric score is determined for each factor and the total risk rating is related to four levels of fire risk (low to very high) (Long and Randall 2004).

• The USDA Forest Service’s Structure Ignition Assessment Model (SIAM) uses an analytical approach that relates the potential for sustained structure ignitions to the location (rather than the potential for structural survival) and characteristics of adjacent fires and the structure’s materials and design (Cohen 1995). The model is based on research and the principle that a homes characteristics and the 100 to 200 foot area immediately surrounding a home determine a homes ignition potential during a severe wildfire.

• The University of Florida developed a simple system in 1999 that allows landowners unfamiliar with risk assessment to determine the ignition risk to their home using a checklist of risk factors (Monroe and Long 1999). A home is then ranked as being at low, medium, or high risk of wildfire.

• The USDA Forest Service has also developed the NED DSS (Decision Support System) fire risk program for homeowners and landowners across the South to evaluate and mitigate their particular landholding. The NED DDS applies to both wildland urban interface and rural forest situations and is based on vegetation conditions, local topography, and structural characteristics.

The main strategies for the reducing the risks of wildfires and damage from them are:

1. hazardous fuel reduction
2. implementation of programs and standards for risk reduction

In the expanding wildland urban interface, developers can reduce fire risks by following appropriate design standards, building well-marked roads, and insuring that there is an adequate water supply. It is also essential that there are nearby well-equipped fire departments and well-trained firefighters.

Builders and individual homeowners can reduce fire risks by using nonflammable siding and roofing materials, improving structure placement and design, incorporating defensible space between structures and wildland fuels, and appropriate low-flammable landscape materials.

National standards for creating low fire risk conditions in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) have primarily come through the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) and Firewise Communities Program. Those standards are then implemented through various state or local programs that promote voluntary actions, community action programs, or governmental ordinances and other regulatory mechanisms. The NFPA maintains standards for infrastructure, water supply, and utility lines in residential developments that aim to reduce fire risks.

A House in a Firewise Community in Oden, Arkansas

Some of the NFPA fire safety standards for infrastructure are:

• adequate access routes for subdivisions, preferably two entrances to the subdivision

• right-of-ways maintained with a minimum width of 60 feet

• dead ends limited to 800 feet in length

• cul-de-sacs with not less than 45 feet radius driveways present with a minimum 10 feet width and clear of vegetation.

• bridges must have a minimum 20-ton gross weight load capacity

• roads must be identified with non-combustible signs at all intersections and clearly visible within 100 feet of the intersection

• roads must be maintained for all weather travel

NFPA water supply fire safety standards include:

A Dry Hydrant

• water distribution mains on which fire hydrants are located should have a minimum diameter of 6 inches

• fire hydrants meet the standards of the responsible fire authority with regards to type, size, and location

• individual private water supplies should have a minimum water storage capacity of 2500 gallons within 500 feet of the structure

• tanks and cisterns have a 4.5" diameter capped male hose connection

• garden hose bibbs available near the house that can reach all parts of the structure

Electrical power system fire safety standards set by NFPA include:

• electrical lines installed underground in new developments

• underground power cables at least 30 inches below the surface

• overhead power cables free of encroaching vegetation within 6 feet

These and other NFPA 1144 standards have been adopted by both state and local organizations for community development. As new communities are developed and older ones are retrofitted to create fire-safe communities, fire prevention managers emphasize that meeting fire-safe standards can still be aesthetically pleasing to residents.

Community action programs

A Home with Firewise Landscaping
in Upper Bluff Mountain, Tennessee

Firewise Communities USA is a fire education project of the NWCG (National Wildfire Coordinating Committee), administered by the NFPA whose goals are to prevent and reduce losses to WUI fire and foster community participation in applying Firewise principles. Firewise Communities USA was developed as a way to help stop the wildfire disaster cycle which is the phenomena where fire risks in the WUI remain just as high after a fire as they were before because people who have lost a home in a WUI fire re-build it in the same spot as the original home using money from homeowners insurance or low-cost loans. The Firewise Communities USA program provides citizens with the knowledge necessary to maintain an acceptable level of fire readiness and ensures that firefighters will be able to make efficient use of their equipment during a wildland fire emergency. The national Firewise program has conducted workshops in many states to promote local planning for fire safety. The collaborative workshops include local citizens, financial and insurance organizations, local government officials and fire agency representatives.

Firewise Communities USA recognizes communities or neighborhoods that demonstrate the spirit, resolve, and willingness to take responsibility as a partner in wildfire protection. As of 2004, 20 Firewise Communities had been recognized in the South. Firewise Communities representatives visit recognized communities to assess the site, establish a committee consisting of homeowners and local fire agency officials, create site-specific plans, and implement solutions. Common practices recommended by the Firewise Communities USA program include: removing excess vegetation from road shoulders, replacing wood shake roofs with a non-flammable Class-A alternative (such as asphalt shingles or metal), removing highly flammable trees and shrubs and planting low flammable trees and shrubs, stacking firewood away from homes, and creating a minimum three foot fuel-free area on all sides of structures.

Governmental actions

A Firewise Workshop in Austin, Texas

The fire management policies and regulations of state, county, and local governments guide land use decisions. Local governments exercise their authority over land use through zoning ordinances (Kundell and others 2002) which are increasingly used to apply fire safety standards to new and existing residential developments. In 2004, Louisa County, Virginia approved subdivision guidelines/ordinances for communities in wildfire sensitive areas. The guidelines apply to any new subdivision or construction and are designed to protect the life, safety, and welfare of citizens and property. The guidelines address design and development plans, defensible space, fuel modification, liquified petroleum gas installations, roads, driveways, overhead power lines, and fire hydrants. Recommended fuel modification treatments include the removal of any pine or cedar trees within 20 feet of any residential dwelling and the removal or pruning of vegetation or woody growth under trees.

In 2003, Alachua County, Florida, added an amendment to its Comprehensive Plan that incorporates wildfire mitigation to “protect life, property, and the economy by eliminating or minimizing the present and future vulnerability to wildfire hazards” (Alachua County 2003). The amendment addresses current areas of wildfire hazard and requires new developments to complete a wildfire mitigation plan to include defensible space, fuel breaks, plant material suggestions, and the placement of structures. This plan is subject to review and approval by the Alachua County Fire Rescue Department. Other requirements include outdoor sprinkler systems, fire-resistant building materials or treatments, landscaping with appropriate vegetation, appropriate roads for access by fire fighting equipment, and increased public awareness of the benefits of prescribed burning.

Fuel management modifies the hazard posed by vegetation and structures by:

• reducing the available fuel (dead and living) in broad areas using prescribed fire or other method
• creating defensible space by converting the vegetation to a less-flammable type and distribution that is less hazardous
• by modifying structural features

Despite the availability of programs and options for reducing hazards, there are many barriers to fire mitigation.

Fuel reduction methods

A Wildland Urban Interface Home
That Needs to Reduce Fire Risks

Fuel reduction techniques are used to decrease hazardous fuels (i.e., flammable vegetation). Fuel management is especially critical in forest ecosystems located adjacent to residential areas because of the increased risks to people and property, enhanced resource values, and the increased difficulty of fire control and suppression (Kalabokidis and Omi 1998). Fuel modifications may be broadcast across large areas, applied to small selected lots, or designed as strips of various widths to impede fire spread into a developed area. Mechanical, chemical and biological methods are used to reduce hazardous fuel loads. Some examples of common fuel reduction methods follow:

• Prescribed burning is the careful application of fire to achieve land management goals. Fire is a natural component of most southern ecosystems that encourages the growth of some native plants and enhances wildlife habitat in addition to reducing accumulated fuels. Prescribed fire can usually be completed at comparatively low-cost. Disadvantages to using prescribed fire include smoke management and public health issues, limitations on the number of acres that can feasibly be burned each year, the necessity for repeat treatments as vegetation grows back, and the risk of fire escapes. Smoke problems from a prescribed burnin the wildland urban interface are minimized by burning during favorable, daytime, smoke dispersal conditions.
• Herbicides have longer lasting effects on the vegetation than other methods, and they may be the only treatment for invasive exotic species. Herbicides do not modify the soil structure, nor do they enhance the regeneration of most fire dependent organisms unless chemical treatments are combined with prescribed burning. Herbicides do not reduce dead biomass accumulations; in fact, they temporarily increase dead fuels and the potential fire danger for one to three years. Herbicides have comparatively moderate costs and generally low public acceptance.
• Mechanical fuel treatments such as mowing, disking, roller chopping, and hand removal are generally risk free, have a high level of public acceptance, and are the only methods that modify or disturb soil, if that is needed. Disadvantages to using mechanical treatments include the necessity of repeat treatments, moderate to high costs, limitations on wet sites and steep slopes, follow-up burning is often required, and personal safety concerns associated with the use of hand tools such as machetes and chainsaws.
• Using livestock to maintain fuels at an acceptable level is an uncommon, but effective method. Livestock grazing offers a semi-natural alternative that is usually lower cost and safer than other methods. Pastures that have recently been converted to pine plantations are often still dominated by grasses and grazing cattle reduce competition and fuel load. Disadvantages to using livestock include the need for fencing and water supply for the animals, local grazing restrictions, and re-sprouting vegetation.

Defensible space

A Wildland Urban Interface Home
That Needs to Reduce Fire Risks

Arkansas Firewise Home of the Month
(February 2004)

Defensible space is the area of modified vegetation between wildland fuels and structures that can reduce the intensity of fires close to structures, provide firefighters the chance to stop a wildfire quickly and efficiently, and reduce a structure fire when firefighting personnel and equipment are not immediately available to help (Bailey 1991; Randall 2003). Homeowners need to take proactive, preventative actions to reduce the wildfire risk to their property by modifying structures and creating a defensible space. Materials for roofing, siding, decks, and vents, plant selection, landscape design, and maintenance are the most critical elements for a fire-safe home (Hagen 1993). Defensible space can be a 30-foot clearing with tree islands or a greenbelt surrounding a planned community. A study in Florida showed that structures with less than 10 feet of brush clearance were 60% more likely to burn during a wildfire than homes with at least 30 feet of cleared brush (Abt and others 1987). Homes with non-flammable roof coverings (asphalt shingles, metal, tile) that are surrounded by 30 to 60 feet of modified vegetation are over 85% more likely to survive a wildfire than homes with flammable roofs and no vegetative clearance (Foote and others 1991). Defensible space can include firewise plants and native species that are low in flammability. Firewise plantshave a high moisture content in the leaves and branches, broad and thick leaves, open and loose branching patterns, deciduousness, low amounts of dead materials, and low amounts of resin. Some less flammable plants are dogwood, viburnum, redbud, sycamore, magnolia, oaks, red maple, wild azalea, sweetgum, winged elm, black cherry, persimmon, wild plum, and ferns. Fire-prone plants to avoid near structures are junipers, young pine trees, cedars, palmetto, wax myrtle, rhododedendron, mountain laurel, tall ornamental grasses and yaupon holly (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service 2003). Landscaping tips for mitigating fire hazard and creating defensible space include:

• Space plants carefully - use shrub islands or patches of perennials rather than continuous beds or plantings.
• Prune plants regularly - thin trees so branches do not touch each other.
• Remove all ladder fuels- trim lower branches up to 10 feet on tall trees, remove vines from trees and keep shrubbery away from pine trees so a fire in surface fuels cannot climb up these ladder fuels to the treetops.
• Remove dead leaves and other litter from around trees, shrubs and vines, and from a 3-5 foot strip next to the structure.
• Provide the landscape with sufficient moisture when fires are imminent

Fire resistant construction tips

Cedar Shake Roofs Replaced with
Non-Flammable, Class-A Roofing

Structural modifications to improve fire resistance include:

• metal, asphalt shingle, or tile roof
• balconies and decks constructed of materials approved for 1-hour fire resistance in accordance with the American Society of Testing Materials Standard E 119
• attic vents, soffit vents, foundation openings and other such openings covered with 1/8" mesh noncombustible corrosion-resistant metal screen
• street address clearly posted on the main street
• dual or triple pane thermal or tempered glass windows and glass doors, or fireproof shutters for windows
• sprinkler systems installed on roof or around eaves.

Two main strategies for fire prevention are 1) fire education and 2) managing development in the wildland urban interface. 

The prevention of unwanted fire in the wildland urban intermix  is achievable through risk assessment, risk reduction, and education. 

The purpose of fire prevention is to decrease the possibility that unwanted fires will damage human health, property, and the environment.  Federal and state agencies, inter-agency programs, and non-governmental organizations have educational programs whose purpose is to provide appropriate information to communities and homeowners on ways to prevent fire.   

The Southern states have as colorful and dynamic history of wildfire control as any region of the United States. Three primary influences give fire suppression in this part of the nation its particular character:

• the naturally rapid fire return interval in most of its ecosystems
• its continuous history of active burning by private landowners
• rapid urbanization amid fast-growing flammable vegetation

Although the science of fire control has advanced considerably over the years, the success of suppression efforts often depends as much on fortuitous breaks from the weather, as BROKEN-LINK BROKEN-LINK on firefighter knowledge and skills. The mechanics of firefighting are fairly straightforward, involving activities that essentially break a leg on the fire triangle. Numerous options exist, including depriving the fire of oxygen using soil or water, or cooling heat and flames with water and retardant chemicals.

Every fire presents unique challenges and learning opportunities for fire practitioners. The organization of fire control operations depends on the present and future fire danger, fuel types, values at risk, and land management objectives. These same considerations along with the fire’s behavior will dictate fire tactics and strategies. Managing fire control operations requires careful preparations, planning, and training before a fire breaks out. The proper equipment is an essential part of wildland firefighting.

Fire management plans are written to distinguish areas where fires will be fought most aggressively; plans also distinguish lower priority areas where responses might be less critical. Sensitive zones(such as cultural resource sites or wildernesses) also are identified. Minimal impact suppression guidelines reduce human impacts on the post-fire landscape. These guidelines advocate less reliance on mechanized equipment, tree cutting or other caustic activities that might endanger sensitive species or damage historic sites and artifacts. For example, felling of large trees or snags might be discouraged in red cockaded woodpecker habitat. Increasingly, firefighters are instructed to pay attention to archaeological or cultural resources that might be damaged by suppression activities. Also, firefighter safety considerations may sometimes dictate the need for less aggressive suppression strategies. For example, instead of confronting a raging inferno in a deeply dissected canyon, firefighters will back off BROKEN-LINK BROKEN-LINK and take a stand on a safer ridgeline. Managers may sometimes exercise a more nuanced approach to controlling a fire (Omi, In Press).

Early in the 20^th century, the primary tools of firefighting included shovels, axes, and manual saws. By the mid-20^th century, chainsaws, motorized vehicles (including tractors, bulldozers), and compressed-air water pumps improved firefighter capabilities. And today ground control techniques are augmented by aerial control using air tankers, helicopters, and sophisticated fire engines. Firefighters use soil and water as smothering and dousing agents, and often rely on chemical retardants for assistance.

Although the fire suppression arsenal has expanded considerably since the late 19^th century and early 20^th century, the basic tools of the trade haven’t changed much, as firefighters still rely on shovels, axes, and saws to build firelines and put the fire out. Regardless of the organizational complexity of the incident, firefighters on the ground are needed to carry out and complete suppression of any fire. Even as technologies for detecting, mapping, and monitoring fires become increasingly sophisticated, for example involving satellite or remote links to computers in fire camps, the brunt of the firefighting effort still relies on people with hand tools on the ground monitoring and controlling the fire.

Wildland firefighters are required to carry a certain set of tools.  In addition, each firefighter has some ability to select the particular equipment that he or she prefers to carry.  Firefighters have themselves invented a number of innovative tools when they needed a special piece of equipment to do their jobs.  Some of these tools have been adopted into the cache system.

This section of the encyclopedia highlights several types of wildland firefighting equipment and safety tips for using hand tools. 

• BROKEN-LINK BROKEN-LINK A Firefighters Gear is the core equipment that firefighters wear plus additional items that they need to perform their duties.
• Hand Tools are mainly used to construct fireline.
• Navigation Equipment are technologies that guide firefighters to a fire and through the surrounding landscape.
• Chopping Tool Safety Guidelines
• Grubbing Tool Safety Guidelines

Wildland firefighters use a basic set of equipment.

Personal protection equipment (PPE) puts a safety barrier between the firefighters body and flames or related hazards, reducing the possibility of injury. The barrier is created by bulk, chemicals, color, or design.  PPE has saved firefighters from injury, discomfort, and even death.

• Fire Resistant Clothing protects firefighters skin from radiant heat and prevent embers from igniting their clothing.
• Fire Shelters are fire resistant tents that each firefighter is required to carry.
• Line Packs are used to carry fire shelters, water, and other gear.

There are some firefighting duties that require very specific tools that are needed in additional to the standard gear.  A Lookout, for example, needs to carry a radio, compass, map, binoculars, and a fire weather kit.  A Crew Leader needs a radio, compass, map, and a GPS.  Some of the additional personal equipment used in wildland firefighting operations are:

• Fire Weather Instrument Kit
• Chain Saw Protection Equipment 
• Hearing Protection
• Binoculars
• Head Lamp

Fire Resistant Shirts and Pants

Nomex Shirt

Nomex Pants

The main items in the personal protection equipment (PPE) that firefighters are required during duty are a loose-fitting long-sleeved shirt and loose-fitting, cuffless pants. Both shirt and trousers must be made of fire resistant fabric. Fire resistant clothing protect firefighters skin from radiant heat and prevent embers from igniting their clothing. The shirts are a bright yellow color to improve the ability of air personnel and other ground staff to locate firefighters when they are working in heavily vegetated places.

It is recommended that firefighters wear a short-sleeved t-shirt, underwear, and socks under fire clothing and boots. T-shirts and underwear should be 100% cotton or a 100% flame-resistant blend. Socks should be cotton, wool, or a blend of flame-resistant fibers. Undergarments and socks should not be made of 100% or a high percentage of polyester, nylon, or acrylic.

Gloves

Fireman V Gloves

Heavy leather gloves are essential for protecting hands from burns and cuts. Firefighting gloves should be a nongauntlet style so as not to funnel hot embers into the glove. Some agencies require their firefighters to wear specific types of gloves. Gloves that have holes or tears should be discarded and another pair placed into service. Often leather gloves get wet on the fireline because of leaking water hoses. If wet, lay out flat to dry.

Goggles

Goggles

Goggles the eyes from dirt, debris, metal shards from tools, and hot ashes. Wildland firefighters are exposed to many hazards to the eyes. These hazards include, but are not limited to, debris in the air from wind gusts; dirt and debris propelled from chopping and grubbing operations with a hand tool; metal shards broken off hand tool edges after striking a rock; and hot ash reacting to application of cool water. Some styles of goggles protect eyes from smoke. Without goggles the eyes typically water profusely and blur the field of vision of the firefighter. Blurry eyes may have other safety hazards to firefighters who continue travelling or using his or her tool.

Boots

Wildland Fire Fighting Boots

Wildland firefighters are required to wear specially engineered boots that meet the NFPA 1977 certification.

Hard Hats

Helmet and Head Lamp

Wildland firefighters are required to wear hard hats when they are on duty.

All firefighters are required to carry a fire shelter when they are on duty.  An essential part of the certification requirements for firefighers is to attend annual refresher training where they must successfully deploy a fire shelter. 

Fire Shelter

The highest priority for firefighters is to avoid being entrapped by a fire.  If a firefighter is accidentally entrapped, he must protect his lungs and airways.  The firefighter must dispose of all flammable items and get inside the shelter and on ground before the flames reach him.  The fire shelter should be deployed in a spot where there are no fuels on the ground.

The greatest threats to the firefighter who is trapped by a fire are burns to the body and inhalation of hot gases which can cause asphyxiation.  A person can survive for a short period if the air temperatures are at 149°C  (300°F).  The environment outside the fire shelter will easily exceed these limits, but the fire shelter may save the life of a person inside.  Experiments on fire shelters show that the air temperature inside the shelter rose 80°C (176°F) when radiant heat is applied for 300 seconds.  When direct flames were applied to the shelter for 40 seconds, the temperature inside the shelter rose an additional 50°C (122°F).  Heat flux of 5 kilowatts per square meter will lead to a second degree burn in about 40 seconds on bare skin.  Heat flux from 300 seconds of radiant heat and forty seconds of direct flame produced peak heat fluxes of 1.5 and 1.3 killowatts per square meter, respectively.

Wildland Pack

Detachable Fire Fighting Back Pack

Wildland Fire Day Pack

BROKEN-LINK BROKEN-LINK

Firefighters must carry almost everything they need with them while they are on duty during a wildfire. Firefighters wear their packs throughout their shifts as they move across the landscape fighting the fire.

Firefighters carry a mixture of items they are required to carry and materials that they choose based on their own preferences. Typically, their packs hold water, food, a headlamp, extra batteries, matches, a space blanket, a signal mirror, compass, whistle, knife, extra socks, personal first aid kit, rain gear, extra clothing, maps, operational period plan, and toilet paper. Beside these items many line personnel also pack extra radio batteries, GPS receiver, weather monitoring instuments (sling psychrometer and wind meter or electronic psychometer with wind meter, relative humidity charts, recording book, pencil), fusees, fire shelter, fireline handbook, incidence reponse pocket guide, extra gloves, binoculars, sun screen, sun glasses, reading glasses, fuel bottles, chain oil bottles, extra spark plugs for saw, file with guard and handle, eye protection, hearing protection, and allergy medication.

The average weight of packs is about 40-50 pounds. Some firefighters prefer to carry this weight in back packs that hang from the top of the shoulders while others choose hip backs that rest on the lower back. Hip packs are better for people who are digging hand line and are bent over most of the day because back packs tend to slide over the head. Firefighters spending their day in an upright position usually opt for a pack that sits closer to the top of their shoulders.

Fire Weather Kit

Firefighters use fire weather kits to monitor wind direction, wind speed, and relative humidity, the 3 critical weather patterns that help them determine suppression tactics and strategies.

The core tools in a fire weather instrument kit are:

• a wind meter
• a compass to calculate wind direction and fire location
• tools to calculate relative humidity that measures dry and wet bulb temperatures (e.g., psychrometer, slide rule)

Additional kit items might include a notebook and pencil to record weather measurements and related data such as location, exposure (ridgetop, slope), vegetation density, elevation, aspect, and cloud cover. Firefighters can buy a pre-assembled weather kit or build their own.

Wind Meter

Pocket Wind Meter

The wind meter has an operational range from 2-60 mph. Wind speed and direction are measured at eye-level. The user faces the wind and holds the instrument so the wind speed can be watched. Thsi instrument requires the operator to constantly watch the instrument to determine average speed and strength of wind gusts. The data should be recorded separately because there is no storage for this information on the instrument.

The electronic instrument specification sheet that accompanies the wind meter lists the minimum and maximum wind speeds, the units of measurement, and the accuracy of those measurements. Wind meters have several measurement units to choose from (feet/second, miles per hour, kilometers per hour). The wind meters can recall average speed and maximum wind speeds for the time the instrument is powered on.

Psychrometer

Sling Psychrometer

Psychrometric Slide Rule

The two most common types of psychrometers are the sling psychrometer and the electronic psychrometer.

The sling psychrometer is the standard instrument used to determine relative humidity. It consists of two glass thermometers with ranges of 30-110°F. One thermometer, the dry bulb, is unmodified and measures the current air temperature. The other thermometer, the wet bulb, has a muslin wick tied around the bulb that is moistened with water. The frame holding the two thermometers is swung in a circlular motion until the wet bulb temperature stops declining. With these two measurements a person can use a slide ruler to calculate relative humidity and/or the dew point.

The electronic psychrometer displays current air temperature and relative humidity. The electronic psychrometer is a 5-ounce hand held, all-in-one, instrument that measures current air temperature, relative humidity (not adjusted for elevation or latitude) and wind speed. The limitations on the operational range of the electronic psychrometer are listed on the specification sheet that accompanies its purchase. Not all electronic psychrometers have the same operational ranges. Operational ranges must be known and carefully considered before operating this type of instrument.

Both types of psychrometers need to adjust to current air temperatures prior to taking measurements. These instruments are usually carried inside packs or pockets until used and as such are subjected to radiant heat from the body, fire, and sun. The sling psychrometer consists of glass thermometers which adjust quickly to temperature changes. However, the electronic psychrometers components are contained within a closed plastic shell that may take several minutes to adjust to the changing air temperatures. If the current air temperature (dry bulb) is 90°F but the temperature inside the case is 95°F, with a wet bulb temperature of 60°F, the relative humidity will be 13% and 8% respectively. It is important to use both instruments in the shade to derive current air temperature and allow the instruments to adjust to the temperature of the air they will be measuring.

The psychrometric slide rule and tables determine relative humidity to the nearest degree from 0-100%. The psychrometric slide rule has a dry bulb range of 60-110°F and a wet bulb range of 40-120°F. Tables generally mimic the operational range of the psychrometric slide rule for both dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures. The slide rule, however, is not adjustable to differences in air pressure that result from changes in elevation and latitude. For instance, a slide rule will report a 10% relative humidity for all elevations with a dry bulb temperature of 90°F and a wet bulb temperature of 58°F. Tables accurate to the nearest 2000 feet evelation will display a relative humidity with the same dry and wet bulb measurements given previously as 15% at 6,000 feet. A 5°F difference in relative humidity may have important implications to firefighters when temperatures are high and fuel moisture is low.

Chain Saw Chaps

In many cases, chain saw operators who work on wildfires or prescribed fires are required to wear PPE. Chain saw protection gear includes eight items of personal protection equipment (PPE): chaps, a hardhat, eye protection, hearing protection, gloves, fire resistant shirts and pants, a fire shelter, and firefighting boots.

Chain saw chaps are designed to clog a running chain saw upon contact to prevent the operator from sustaining large jagged lacerations. They are typically made of several layers of Kevlar sandwiched between outer layers of a Cordura nylon cover. The Kevlar is designed to clog a running chain saw to make it stop. The Cordura is designed to resist water, mildew, oil, and abrasions. Chaps are fastened about the waist and legs with adjustable straps.

The chaps should be long enough to overlap a persons boots by at least 2 inches. Chaps are available in standard coverage that protects 180 degrees of the legs or extended coverage that protects 220 degrees of the circumference of the legs.

Earmuffs for Hearing Protection

Foam Ear Plugs

People who work near noisy equipment should wear hearing protection.  Hearing protection comes in a variety of styles such as soft foam earplugs inserted into the ear canal and earmuffs that cover the entire ear.  There are a variety of push-in foam earplugs.  These earplugs are small for easy storage, light weight, quick insertion and removal, and provide enough hearing capacity to understand radio transmissions and crew communication.

Wildland firefighters use head lamps to see in darkened conditions as well as to be seen by others. 

Helmet and Head Lamp

There are numereous styles of head lamps on the market today.  Whatever style is chosen it must be able to attach to an approved hard hat without causing the hard hat to shift on the firefighters head.  It should also have a spare bulb stored somewhere within the lamp housing for easy assess.  It is also desirable that batteries last through the operational period without having to be changed in the dark.

Firefighters should carry head lamps with them during the day as well as at night.  One reason for having a head lamp during the day is that often a crew ends up walking off the fireline following the end of the operational shift.  In many cases, part of this hike invovles travelling cross-country in the dark.  Another reason for carrying a head lamp is that often firefighters are delayed until after dark from leaving the fireline. 

Since head lamps are often stored and transported in day pack, the firefighter should employee a method to prevent battery drainage.  This might include inserting batteries into the battery housing improperly or placing a paper barrier between batteries and light connections.  Firefighters should also carry extra batteries to fit their head lamps.

The prudent firefighter will check their head lamp before each operational period to assure that eveything is in working order.

Hand tools are non-mechanical tools used by firefighters to build and hold a fireline.  Handtools are used to clean fuels on a fireline, which is a pathway around the perimeter of a fire.  When a flaming fire reaches a fireline it runs out of fuel to burn and, under the right conditions, is reduced to a smoldering phase until all available fuel burns up or firefighters cool and/or smother the remaining flames.

Hand tools have various uses and many have multiple functions.  The general categories of hand tools are: burning, swatting, scraping, chopping, or grubbing.  This section contains brief descriptions of the hand tools listed in the following table.  It also contains tips on Chopping Tool Safety and Grubbing Tool Safety.

Fuel Bottles	Firing Devices
Firefighting Shovel	Council Fire Swatter Flap
Firefighting Broom	McLeod Rake
Council Rake	Fire Rake
Pulaski	Brush Axe
Double Bit Axe	Single Bit Axe
Hazel Hoe	Bush Hook

Fuel Bottles

Fire crews have to carry fuel to remote locations to operate mechanized equipment and build firelines. Most fuel bottles are aluminum because it is lightweight and strong. Firefighters carry fuel bottles in their packs along with other sharp metallic equipment. Fuel bottles that are made out of aluminum are more resistant to

Fuel Container

Two common uses of the fuel are to power chain saws and for bar oil. Another benefit to carrying fuel is the control the crew can exercise over the fuel mix. The gasoline and the 2-cycle engine oil that are used to power chain saws are usually carried separately and mixed on the spot. Sawyers can better control the ratio of gas to oil and avoid using an incorrect ratio that could damage their chain saws.

Swedish Safety Brush Axe

Although the brush axe is not a common firefighting tool, it can be useful for cutting small diameter material. Other tools, such as the Pulaski and chain saw, are more durable, versatile, and efficent for cutting larger materials.

The blade on the brush axe should be sharpened regularly to prevent glancing.

The brush axe has a wooden handle. The handle should be smooth and kept tight. Handles with splinters, cracks, excessive twist or warp should be replaced or reconditioned.

Double Bit Ax

The Double Bit Axe is an effective, well-balanced, chopping tool. This is no longer a common tool; it has been replaced by more versatile tools. However, they are still occasionally used during fire suppression and prescribed burns by workers from private industry. Firefighters can use 1 bit to chop through the types of tough roots which quickly dull axe edges and use the other bit for cutting tree limbs, seedlings, saplings and other lighter matterial.

Since the axe has 2 bits instead of 1, it does not have to be sharpened as often. The axes bit should be maintained by grinding with an even taper at least 2.5 inches back from the cutting edge. The wooden handle should be smooth. Handles with splinters, cracks, excessive twist or warp should be replaced or reconditioned.

Single Bit Axe

The Single Bit Axe is a tool for chopping trees and removing branches. The flat portion of the axe head, opposite the blade, is ideal for setting and creating a back cut on a tree. The back cut wedges are made opposite the face cut to make sure that the tree falls in the desired direction.

The Single Bit Axe is not used very often for building firelines because they are not as versatile as other hand tools such as Pulaskis and McCleod Rakes. Single Bit Axes are useful for chopping through roots, limbing trees, removing seedlings and saplings, and bucking small diameter trees that are crossing the fireline.

The blade on the Single Bit Axe must be sharpened when it becomes dull. The axe bit should be maintained by grinding with an even taper at least 1.5 inches back from the cutting edge.

The wooden handle should be smooth and kept tight. Handles with splinters, cracks, excessive twist or warp should be replaced or reconditioned.

Hazel Hoe

The Hazel Hoe is an effective grubbing tool that cuts through deep duff layers and tight root mats.

This hoe is often used after Pulaskis during fireline construction. Overall the tool is fairly light weight even though the head of the hoe is twice the width of a Pulaski and quite heavy.

The wooden handle should be smooth and tightly fastened. Handles with splinters, cracks, excessive twist or warp should be replaced or reconditioned.

Bush Hooks

Bush hooks are most effective if the edges are sharpened regularly.  To sharpen the edges, grind both sides of the long portion of cutting edge in an even taper at least 1-inch back from the cutting edge.  Maintain the circular pattern at the throat.  Carefully grind the throat back 1-inch on an even bevel.  Grind the hook to point to a bevel approximately 3/4-inch deep.

Bush hooks have wooden handles that should be kept smooth.  Handles with splinters, cracks, excessive twist or warp should be replaced or reconditioned.

array('c')

Fusees

Firing devices such as fusees and drip torches are widely used in both wildfire control and suppression and prescribed fire tactics.

In fire suppression tactics both devices are commonly used to burn wildland fuels that remain between the fire and the indirect fireline to secure that fireline. If the area between the fire and fireline is relatively small, then firefighters burn these areas out as fireline is being constructed. However, if the unburned area adjacent to the fireline is large, burn out operations may be delayed until a section of fireline is complete. This delay allows firefighters to reorganize and concentrate on lighting the unburned fuels and containing the fire within the fireline.

Adequate communication between all personnel involved in the operation is necessary during a firing operation. Whichever firing devise is used, communication is required with adjacent resources before and during lighting operations. Both suppression and prescribed fire operations require good planning before burning operations begin.

Selecting the firing device

Availability

Drip Torch

The selection of a firing device is based upon availability, fuel moisture and arrangement, and the size of the fire.

Fusees are much lighter and more portable than drip torches. A half dozen are easily carried by a firefighter. When safe, firefighter can use a fusee to light fuels between the fire and the fireline. Burning off the fuels can prevent the fire from jumping the fireline and make a safer environment for firefighters. If the fire does happen to cross the fireline, the firefighters have the option of stepping into the adjacent burned area.

If a fire crew does not have any firing devices on hand, embers can be retreived from the fire itself and scattered throughout the unburned fuels as the crew builds fireline.

Fuel moisture

Fusees can be ineffective if fuels are too wet; for instance, early in the morning and late in the afternoon. During those times when fusees are ineffective firefighters have to either wait until the fuels dry out to light unburned sections between the fire and the fireline or use a different firing device. If the decision is to continue to burn the fuels, then a drip torch is an appropriate tool. The advantage of the drip torch is that it is a mix of 2/3 diesel to 1/3 gasoline. Diesel burns slowly, allowing the heat to dry the fuels and also heat the fuels enough to start the fire. Gasoline is used because it ignites the diesel more easily. The diesel-gasoline mixture is often very effective at burning out even the most troublesome fuels, because a large mass of heat can be quickly created which then effectively preheats adjacent fuels.

Fire size

The size of area with unburned fuels is another consideration for deciding between fusees and drip torches. Drip torches spread diesel-gasoline on wildland fuel and is more efficient than fusees when the area covered by fuels is relatively large. With a fusee, a firefighter must often stop and hold the heat from the fusee on the fuels for a minute or two until it is self-sustaining, whereas the drip torch leaves a diesel-gasoline mix on the fuels long enough to initiate a self-sustainiing fire.

In a prescribed burn, drip torches are the tool of choice since relatively large areas are treated. By applying a variety of burn patterns and having either a backfire spreading downhill or a backfire spreading into the wind, or running uphill or with the wind, fire spread and fire intensity can be controlled.

The use of drip torches in fire suppression or prescribed fire operations requires a lot of planning and more complex logistics. First, it can take several days to obtain the necessary number of drip torches. Second, a supply of fuel cans, of a size that can be carried in firefighters packs into the operation area, with appropriate backpack frames will also be needed if there is no helicopter support available. Third, in some cases the fire managers have to find a helicopter that is available and affordable to sling fuel to the fire location. Fourth, a ready supply of fuel, both diesel and gasoline, and the personnel to mix and transport it is needed. The igition crew and support personnel must have the appropriate training and briefing to complete the operation safely and efficiently.

In a really large prescribed burn, where it is ineffective, not feasibly possible, or unsafe to have personnel walk through an area with drip torches, a drip torch may be used to burn adjacent to the fire boundary while a specially equipped helicoper lights the interior.

Shovel

Shovels are probably the most durable tool in wildland fire service. A shovels longevity is probably due to its many uses. It is useful for digging and removing fuel along the fireline, occassional cleaning of a fireline by scraping off small combustible material after fireline construction, throwing soil to smother fire on the ground as well as up a tree bole, swatting the fire, and cutting through small roots and branches.

Fre shovels are different from typical garden shovels. Compared to common shovels, it has a smaller blade (#1 rather than #2), a longer handle, and a neck that is bent to make scooping dirt and scraping easier for firefighters. Additionally, the edges of the fire shovel blade are sharpened to within one-and-a-half inches of the top of the blade. The sharpened bevel is on the inner face of the blade. The fire shovel handle is made of wood. The handle should be smooth and kept tight. Handles with splinters, cracks, excessive twist or warp should be replaced or reconditioned.

Rather than digging into plant detritus with a shovel, lifting the material, and throwing or carrying it out of the fireline it is more effective to scrape the combustible material off the fireline. This is accomplished by bending the body forward until the outside of the arm nearest the blade of the shovel is in contact with the inside of the leg on the same side of the body. The body pivots with the arm and leg working in tandem to scrape combustible material off the fireline while the shovel blade is slightly tilted upward and only deep enough to scrape the surface. This action is repeated until all the combustible material is removed in a section of fireline.

When building a direct handline (a fireline immediately adjacent to the fire), shovels are sometimes used to throw soil on the fire to reduce its intensity until the firefighters move past that spot in their attempt to build the fireline. In this case a shovel is used with a side arm throw. This throwing action spreads the soil rapidly and evenly across a wide section of fire. The action moves oxygen away from the fire for a brief moment and the fire falters. If done in light fuels the fire may not recover and stay in a smoldering stage until it goes out. Most times this fanning action by soil causes the fire to falter for the amount of time it takes for the crew to finish the line in that area. The fire then regains its intensity until it runs out of fuel at the newly constructed fireline.

Sometimes fire travels up the boles of trees aided by sap or lichens on the bole. It is usually desireable to keep fire from reaching the crown of trees. To accomplish this a shovel may be used in an overhand throw to cast dirt onto the target.

Council Fire Swatter Flap

Fire swatters are useful for working in light fuels when flame lengths are less than 2 feet high. Fire swatters are most effective for extinguishing small embers that have been blown across a fireline into an unburned area. Quick slaps with the fire swatter deprive the fire of oxygen and can quickly extinguish small fires.

A swatter is a nice addition to the firefighters tool box. However, in areas where there are accessible green conifer tree boughs they are used just as effectively as a swatter. In may cases, hand crews are already carrying 40 or 50 lbs of equipment per person along the fireline and the 5 lb swatter is often not carried.

The swatter is typically made of fabric-reinforced rubber. The wooden handle should be kept smooth and replaced if there are slivers, cracks, and excessive warp or twist. The swatter should be tightly fastened to the handle.

Broom

Firefighting brooms are useful for working in light fuels when flame lengths are less than 2 feet high. Firefighting brooms are most effective for extinguishing small embers that have been blown across a fireline into an unburned area. Quick slaps with the firefighting broom deprive the fire of oxygen and can quickly extinguish small fires.

Often a fire line is hand dug using tools such as Pulaskis and shovels. These larger, and heavier, tools are not very effective scraping small light combustible materials surrounding the fireline whereas the light weight firefighting brooms effectively clean smaller combustible materials away from firelines.

A broom is a nice addition to firefighters tool boxes, but green conifer tree boughs may be equally as effective as a broom. Although the broom weighs a mere 3 lbs, firefighters who are already carrying 40 or 50 lbs of equipment, will choose not to carry it.

Firefighting brooms are typically made of fire resistant fibers. The wooden handle should be kept smooth and replaced if there are slivers, cracks, and excessive warp or twist. The broom fibers should be tightly fastened to the handle.

McLeod Rake

The McLeod Rake is designed to clear loose litter fuels such as needles, leaves, and sloughed bark plates in open pine and hardwood forests. The large rake and wide hoe blade enables firefighters to build more fireline with less effort than any of the other tools available. The large strong teeth are useful raking litter and also pulling cut brush away from the fireline. The hoe blade is also useful for cutting through deep litter and scraping smaller combustible materials from the fireline.

Maintain the sharp cutting blade by sharpening at a 45° angle. The wooden handle should be smooth and tightly fastened. Handles with splinters, cracks, excessive twist or warp should be replaced or reconditioned.

Council Rake

• raking light brush, duff, and small roots
• cutting and digging
• pulling or pushing burning material deeper into the body of the fire
• scraping charred bark from boles of trees and snags
• cutting small trees or brush and raking it away from fire
• moving soil to stumps and logs and it mixing with charred material to cool surface
• raking embers and mixing them with soil to cool

To sharpen the council rake, stabilize it in a council tool slide and clamp.  An ordinary emory wheel should not be used.  Rakes that have square, rather than pointed tines, are ground with a straight stone.  This is done after the sloping edges have been ground with a beveled rock.  A straight stone is then placed on the grinder and the square tines are ground again.  The rakes handles are not removed during the sharpening process.

Fire Rake

Fire rakes are used to clear away small, light combustible materials when constructing firelines.

Fire rakes are used in combination with other hand tools.

The rake head is typically made of rigid heavy gage steel wire tines. The wooden handle should be kept smooth and replaced if there are slivers, cracks, and excessive warp or twist. The rake head should be tightly secured to the handle.

These types of rakes come in several sizes from handles that are 5 feet long with 12-to-16 inch tines to handles which are 24 inches long and tines about 8-to-10 inches long. Smaller rake can be easily carried on a line pack.

Pulaski Axe

The Pulaski is a versatile tool with a long history of use in wildfire control and suppression. Pulaskis and other grubbing tools are designed to cut through roots and deep mats of plant detritus packed tightly above the soil. Many firefighters prefer to use a Pulaski because it can be used like an axe and a grub hoe. The Pulaski is named for Ranger E.C. Pulaski who designed it for use in the types of fuels found in the Northern Rockies of Montana and Idaho, but it can be used in other fuel types as well.

The axe bit is sharpened by grinding it with an even taper at least 2.5 inches back from the cutting edge. The hoe side should also be ground to a good cutting edge with the bevel approximately 3/8ths of an inch deep on the side facing the handle. The wooden handle should be smooth and tightly fastened. Handles with splinters, cracks, excessive twist or warp should be replaced or reconditioned.

Wildfires are often in areas with very few roads or trails. Navigation equipment is necessary to guide firefighters as they travel through wildlands and to enable firefighting staff to deliver resources to the locations where they are needed.  The following items are common navigation tools:

• Compass
• Flagging
• Altimeter/Barometer
• Global Positioning System Receivers
• Signal Mirror
• Stereoscope

Compass

• to orient a map
• to aid navigation to a specific location
• as a protractor to plot and measure the crosscountry path between 2 points
• as a guide to maintain bearing along a travel route
• as a means for determining location

The compass itself is a measuring instrument with five important features:

1. it is pocket-sized
2. it has a magnetized needle that points to magnetic north
3. it is a dial housing with azimuth (or quadrant) degree markings in 2º increments from 0º to 360º (or in the case of a quadrant compass 0º at north and south and 90º at west and east) around its circumference and needle orienting arrow
4. a baseplate with direction of travel arrow and various scales
5. a built-in declination adjustment.

Other features that a compass may have are liquid dampening to reduce needle movement, luminous features for use after sunset, clinometer to measure slope, a sighting feature, and a lanyard to reduce loss. Azimuth is the most prevalent designation on compasses today.

Global positioning systems (GPS) do not necessarily eliminate the need for wildland firefighters to carry a compass and a map. A GPS unit is usefull for identifing precise locations, quickly noting elevation, charting routes, and plotting record of travel, but it may be difficult to use under a tree canopy or in dense smoke.

Using Compasses with Maps

Probably the best map a wildland firefighter has available to use with a compass is a United States Geological Survey (USGS) 7.5 minute, 1:24,000-scale, quadrangle series (topographic) map. An example of this map series is shown below. For compass work this map provides numerous scales to measure distance and declination (magnetic norths relationship to geographic north). Since this map is printed with true north on top and a compass must be adjusted to read geographic north, this map provides the appropriate declination to correct a compass.

A compass and a map can not be directly used together because a map is oriented to geographic north and the needle of a compass points to magnetic north. Only in certain areas of the country is no correction is necessary to either map or compass because geographic north and magnetic north align. In most areas in North America, firefighters will need to either have magnetic north lines drawn across the face of a map or the compass needs to be adjusted for declination ito read geographic north. If the compass is adjustable it is easiest to change.

Orienting a Map with a Compass

Orienting a map is done with a compass. Adjust the compass for map declination. Align north on the compass housing to the direction of travel arrow. With the compass direction of travel arrow pointing toward north end of map, place the long edge of the compass adjacent to any north-south line on the map. Turn the map and compass as a unit until the north end of the compass needle is within orienteering arrow on the floor of the compass housing. The map will then be oriented to the landscape. With a map in this position firefighters can identify landmarks around him or her.

Finding a Location with a Compass and Map

With landmarks identified, a map and compass can be used by the firefighter to find their location. This is done by taking a bearing to a couple of identified landmarks that are about 90º apart and writing those bearings down. Place north on the compass housing and align it with the direction of travel arrow. Using the compass as a protractor (forget the compass has a needle for the time being), place the center of the compass over one landmark with protractor north oriented to the north end of the map. Subtract 180º from the bearing taken to this landmark. Make a small tick mark next to this new bearing heading. Use the straight edge of the compass to draw a line from the landmark, through the tick mark, back toward where the firefighter is located. Use the same process for a second landmark. The point where the two lines intersect is the location of the firefighter. It is always wise to double check by reorienting the map and deciding if the firefighter is indeed in the location they have plotted or following the above procedure from a third landmark to see if the three lines intersect in the same location. This technique is often referred to as triangulation.

Once the firefighter has determined his or her location on a map through orienting the map, or triangulation, they can now identify and plot a course to another location. Begin by identifying the destination point of the firefighter. Draw a line between the two locations (from where they are to where they want to go). Refer to the compass as a protractor again and place the center over present location. Make sure the north end of protractor is pointed to the north end of map. The bearing the firefighter will need to travel is where the line intersects the compass housing. Read the degrees and set those degrees to the back of the direction of travel arrow. Lift the compass off of the map, align north end of needle with north orienteering arrow on the floor of the compass housing and travel in the direction that the arrow is pointing.

The compass itself is very accurate and provides a mechanism for firefighters to navigate in unfamiliar territory. However, firefighters can make errors in reading bearings or carelessly setting a bearing on the compass that will lead him or her away from the location they are attempting to find. The cost of carelessly setting the bearing 1º off will lead to an error of 92 feet (28 meters) over the course of 1 mile.

New methods will be developed, and existing methods will be improved in the area of risk assessment. We suggest that using the proposed framework for comparing tools will assist tool selection for a given situation and to improve understanding of the differences between tools in terms of precision, uncertainty, and resources required. In addition to ensuring that the set of tools forms a cohesive toolkit, it will also be important to improve the application of tools. That is, evaluating the applicability of a tool in a given situation needs to be easy, and usage of the method should be as straightforward and transparent as possible.

Although the examples we present focus on mountain pine beetle in lodgepole pine forests, the concepts underlying the risk-assessment methods and the classification gradient apply to other bark beetle species and forest systems. Susceptibility rating systems have been developed for MPB in ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa Laws. (Chojnacky and others 2000; Negron and Popp 2004) and whitebark pine, P. albicaulis Engelm. (Perkins and Roberts 2003). Dodds and others (2004) and Negron (1998) examined risk rating for Douglas-fir beetle (Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopk.). Susceptibility rating systems have been developed for spruce beetle (D. rufipennis Kby.) in Alaska (Reynolds and Holsten 1996). Connectivity analysis for risk assessment is not very common at present. We have ongoing work to explore risk of spruce beetle (across a large area of southwestern Yukon, Canada, using connectivity methods. In addition to susceptibility rating, statistical methods to examine spatial and temporal autocorrelation of environmental factors (Gumpertz and others 2000) and simulation-based approaches (Mawby and Gold 1984) have been applied to the southern pine beetle (D. frontalis Zimm.).

Applying methods in new systems presents a number of challenges and high levels of uncertainty. MPB have been expanding the northeastern limit of their range and are approaching boreal jack pine (P. banksiana Lamb.) forests in Alberta, Canada (H. Ono, pers. comm.). These changes increase uncertainty due both to the dynamic character of the changes and because little information is known on MPB—host interactions in these forests. Nonetheless, managers of these systems are faced with challenging decisions, and risk-rating systems can provide some insights. In conjunction with climatic suitability work (Taylor and others 2006), we have ongoing work to adapt and apply susceptibility and connectivity methods in the boreal forest of BC and Alberta, Canada.