CVFD Training – Ground Cover Firefighting

SFFMA Training Objectives:25-01.01 – 25-01.02

Training Overview• 25-01.01 Trainee shall correctly define wildfire terms as used in the fire service:

– mop-up – fire behavior – direct attack– incident commander – indirect attack – incendiary fire – fuel – mutual aid – backfire/burnout – fire season – barrier – convection column – topography – tools used in ground cover fires – suppression

• 25-01.02 Trainee shall, given a specific wildland fire situation, describe the effect of fuel, weather and topography on wildland fire, and predict the direction and speed of the fire spread.

Common Terminology

• Mop Up:– Process of making a controlled fire safe by means

of extinguishing all remnants of fire within a specified strip adjacent to the control line. On small fires, the entire burned area should be gone over. On larger fires, a definite strip, usually 100 feet wide and adjacent to the control line should be made safe

Common Terminology

• Fuel:– Substances upon which the fire feeds. In the case of a

wildland fire, it is the flammable materials in the forest or rangeland

• Backfire:– A fire backs into the wind it is set between the wildfire and

the control line to create a barrier• Burnout:– A fire set between the main fire and control line or barrier

to burnout any unburned fuels between the wildfire and control line

Common Terminology

• Direct Attack:– A series of related actions to cool, drown,

smother, starve, beat out, or otherwise extinguish the flames of a going fire. All control action is carried on directly against the fire edge

• Indirect Attack:– Control action conducted a variable distance from

and usually parallel to the edge of a wildland fire in such a manner as to deprive the advancing fire of fuel thereby halt its further progress

Common Terminology

• Barrier:– Any obstruction, natural or man-made, to the spread of

fire, typically, an area or strip devoid of flammable fuel

• Topography:– The physical features of the land surface – both natural

and man-made. Ex: rivers, mountains, roads, swamps, etc.

• Suppression:– Any action take to extinguish a wildfire

Common Terminology

• Fire behavior:– The manner in which fuel ignites, flames develop, fire

spreads and other exhibits other phenomena. The combined effects of the fire’s environment on how the fire acts or behaves

• Incident Commander:– The person responsible for all suppression and service

activities on a fire• Incendiary Fire:– A fire set deliberately by someone to burn property not

owned or controlled by him, without the consent from the owner or his agent

Common Terminology

• Mutual Aid:– In fire fighting situation, two-way assistance freely given

under pre-arranged plans or agreements by fire departments/agencies of two or more areas on the basis that each will aid the other in time of emergency. Providing joint or cooperative response to alarms near their boundaries

• Fire Season:– The period or periods of the year during which fires are

likely to occur and do sufficient damage to warrant organized fire control

Common Terminology

• Convection Column:– The thermally produced ascending column of gases,

smoke, and debris produced by the fire

• Anchor Point:– Point from which a fire line has begun. Usually a natural

or man-made barrier that will prevent fire spread and the possibility of the crew being flanked while construction the fire line

• Snag:– A standing dead tree

Common Tools

• Brush Trucks (B82 / B83 / B85)• Hand Tools:– Shovel– Rake– Axe– Backpack Pump– Drip Torch– Flap

Understanding Wild Fires

Factors that influence ignition and spread

• Fuels:– Fuel Moisture: Primary factor that influences the ease of

ignition and the rate of combustion. The more moisture a fuel contains, the more heat required to ignite. Moisture within the fuel must be vaporized and driven from the fuel before it can be raised to ignition point

– Fuel Size: Ease of ignition and the rate of combustion are influenced by the size of the fuels• Small: fuels ignite quickly• Large: fuels take longer to ignite and fire spread is slower and will

burn longer

Factors that influence ignition and spread

• Weather:– One of most important factors affecting fire

behavior• Temperature:

– Fuels that are pre-heated by the sun burn more rapidly that do cold fuels

– Temperature of the ground affects the movement of air currents. As heat from the sun warms the ground, the air next to the ground is heated and rises

• Relative Humidity:– Moisture in the form of water vapor is always present in the

air.

Factors that influence ignition and spread

• Weather:– Wind:• Of all influences on fire’s behavior, wind has the

greatest influence on both the rate and directions of spread. It does this by increasing oxygen supply causing more intense burning. The wind bends the flames and moves heat in advance of the fire, pre-heating fuels. It carries burning embers beyond the fire, causing spot fires.

Wild Land Notes• Head:

– part of wildfire with greatest forward rate of speed• Fingers:

– Long, narrow strips of fire that extend from main body• Perimeter:

– Outer boundary or distance around the outside edge of the burned or un-burned area• Rear:

– End opposite to the head. Generally, down wind and burns with low intensity, rate of speed, and easier to control.

• Flanks:– Sides of wild land fire roughly parallel to the head

• Islands:– Unburned areas inside the perimeter of fire

• Green:– Unburned fuels

• Black:– Burned fuels