Fire Management

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• Fire Management
• History
• Fire Management Planning
• Fire Prevention
• Fire Suppression
• Wildland Fire Use
• Prescribed Fire

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How have people used fire? How do people
interact with fire today?
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Large fires followed landclearing and forest
exploitation. Dark days are recorded in New
England in 1716 and Black Friday, May 19, 1780.
In 1825 nearly 3 million acres burned in Maine
and New Brunswick, mostly slash fires following
logging and landclearing. The spread of
railroads brought fire from locomotives
(smokestacks and brakes). Settlement of the
Lake States brought logging and fire. The first
railroad came into Wisconsin in 1870 1871 was
the Black Year of fire in Wisconsin and
Michigan. Over 2,000 people died in the Peshtigo
and Humboldt fires (WI). Severe fires
continued through the early decades of the
twentieth century.
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Historical Large Fires
K. Davis, Forest Fire Control and Use, 1959
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Pynes Administrative History of Fire Management
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Structure of US fire management Federal
Agencies US Forest Service, Bureau of Land
Management, National Park Service, Bureau of
Indian Affairs, Fish Wildlife Service,
Department of Defense. Forest Service is in
unique position in addition to management of
NFS lands, also responsible for cooperative
fire/forestry programs, conduct research, and US
representative for international
forestry. Interagency Institutions National
Wildfire Coordinating Group (standards
guidelines, training), National Interagency Fire
Center (coordinates logistics). These
organizations ensure mobility of fire personnel
and techniques across agencies. Fire Weather
Service provides detailed fire weather
forecasts, can send mobile equipment and
personnel to large fires. State Agencies more
variable policies, but integrated under Forest
Service cooperative umbrella. Interstate
compacts let states join forces for protecion.
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• Laws
• Executive orders important in establishing
  reserves (National Forests, National Monuments)
• Legislation Weeks Act (1911) and Clarke-McNary
  Act (1924) established cooperative fire
  protection National Forest Management Act (1976)
  required forest plans for National Forests, basis
  for developing fire plans Wilderness Act (1964)
  prohibited certain fire practices National
  Environmental Policy Act (1969) requires review
  of environmental effects of fire programs Clean
  Air Act (1963) establishes air-quality standards
  state boards for permitting.
• Variety of laws can overlap examples include
  historic preservation, endangered species, clean
  water.
• Conflicts laws can conflict with each other
  and with the mission of an agency. Nonetheless,
  fire forces decisionsprescribed fires can be
  deferred but wildfires must be responded to.

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Planning for Fire Management Fire management
plans are a subset of resource management plans.
The agency identifies fire-related issues and
goals, then the fire management plan is designed
to meet these objectives. The central model for
fire management planning in the Forest Service is
the National Forest Management Analysis System
(NFMAS). A rudimentary spatial analysis is
achieved by dividing the protected area into
generally homogeneous sections. A representative
location within each section is the object of
analysis of response time, fuel conditions, and
historical fire occurrence, intensity, and
weather. Preparedness levels, staffing plans,
and required equipment and supplies are
determined from this analysis. NFMAS
incorporates analysis of presuppression costs,
fuel treatments, expected suppression costs,
expected net resource value change from wildfire,
and expected acres burned by intensity class to
identify the most economically efficient wildfire
protection program which meets Forest Plan
objectives for land and resource management.
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Example plan Grand Canyon National Park (1992,
currently in revision) The plan starts with a
review of management policy recognize natural
role of fire, prevent/suppress human-caused
fires, "protect the outstanding scenic, natural,
and scientific values of the Grand
Canyon Overview of the management area
vegetation fire ecology, climate, soils,
historic fire data
1914
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• Typically the plan divides the jurisdiction into
  fire management zones, which may have similar
  characteristics or require similar response.
• For example, GRCA has a zone for developed areas,
  a zone below the rim, a rim zone with open
  forests/light fuels, and a rim zone with dense
  forests/heavy fuels.
• Zones are different sizes a few hundred acres in
  the developed area, about a million acres below
  the rim.
• In each zone there are options for fire
  management, including
• full suppression (contain all fires at minimum
  size as quickly as possible)
• modified suppression (contain/confine fires to
  certain geographical boundaries)
• prescribed natural fire (permit lightning fires
  to burn under prescription)
• prescribed fire (ignite fires under
  prescription)
• Decision matrices and detailed weather and
  resource conditions guides are written to support
  choices. Rules for appropriate actions may be
  spelled out aircraft, equipment, archeological
  procedures.
• Now wildland fire use for resource benefits.

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http//www.fireplan.gov/overview_1_28_02.cfm
The National Fire Plan is a long-term investment
that will help protect communities and natural
resources, and most importantly, the lives of
firefighters and the public. It is a long-term
commitment based on cooperation and communication
among federal agencies, states, local
governments, tribes and interested publics. The
federal wildland fire management agencies worked
closely with these partners to prepare a 10-Year
Comprehensive Strategy, completed in August 2001.
An implementation plan will be developed by May
2002, to provide consistent and standard
direction to implement the common purposes
articulated in the Strategy and the National Fire
Plan.
Thinning in Parks, AZ
Congress continues to demonstrate support, as
evidenced by funding provided for the National
Fire Plan in the FY2002 Interior and Related
Agencies Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2002.
Over 2.26 billion is allocated for National Fire
Plan and base program funding. Allocations
include 1,590,712,000 for the Forest Service and
678,421,000 for the Department of the Interior.
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Fire prevention Objective of fire prevention is
to avoid unwanted ignitions. Clearly more
efficient economical to avoid fires rather than
putting them out. Prevention is an integral part
of fire management strategy, together with fire
suppression and fire use. Some accidental or
unwanted fires will always occur cannot reduce
fire starts to zero (always have natural
lightning fires also). Idea of prevention is
to separate the risk of ignition from the hazard
of fuels. Separation can occur in (1) space
(Pyne place) by creating barriers or physical
modifications (example burning or mowing a
right-of-way) (2) time by trying to keep
ignition sources separated from fuels during high
fire danger (example forest closures) or (3)
source by trying to find long-term approaches to
reduce fire risks (example spark arrestors for
chain saws). The environment for fire
prevention is constantly changing. Through the
early 20th century, trains were a great source of
fire. Now recreationists and arsonists are
growing fire sources.
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Once causes have been identified, prevention
strategies focus on the Three Es education,
engineering, and enforcement. Education is
designed to persuade people to modify their
behavior to prevent fires. Smokey Bear is one
the most successful advertising icons in history.
The approach is simple, short, repetitive, and
graphic. It has been adopted by other countries.
Part of the effectiveness of the message is its
simplicity, perhaps causing some difficulties
when agencies seek to use fire in certain
circumstances. Other forms of education include
information on proper methods of building and
putting out campfires or appropriate ways of
smoking.
www.smokeybear.org
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Engineering involves reducing risk by modifying
fire-causing machinery, such as locomotives,
chain saws, or logging equipment. Technical
guidelines have been developed to reduce sparks.
However, new technology can also increase risk
Pyne cites the catalytic converter which gets
hot enough to start fires when cars are driven
into dry grass. Enforcement is required to
ensure that people comply with fire regulations
or to punish negligence or arson. Agencies can
restrict fire risks during high fire dangerfor
example by prohibiting smoking or campfires, or
by closing forests. Typically some forest
technicians and firefighters receive a basic
level of law enforcement training so that they
can issue citations for improper activities law
enforcement officers are charged with
investigating more serious offenses, like arson.
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Detection Objectives fire suppression is
most efficient when the smallest possible crew
can contain the fire at the smallest possible
size. Therefore the earliest possible detection
of the smoke is important. At the same time, the
detection system must be economical agencies
cannot put a permanent lookout on every
mountaintop. Detection forces therefore vary
through the fire season, with staffing increases
during high fire danger. Methods usually a
mixture of several complementary
methods. Patrols pass through forest lands,
especially effective when crews can also provide
education and law enforcement services, such as
when forests are crowded on holiday
weekends. Aerial detection is very effective, by
both planes and helicopters. Costs are high,
however, especially for a dedicated aircraft.
Smokes are often also reported by commercial and
private pilots.
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Fixed ground detection (lookout towers) are built
on strategically located high points to provide
overlapping coverage of the forest. Lookouts can
report the direction and approximate distance to
fires multiple reports can be triangulated.
Tree towers (trees with wood or iron treads for
climbing) were the first towers in many forests.
Many steel towers were built by the mid-20th
century today staffing is less and aerial
detection is more efficient, so a lesser number
of towers are staffed during fire season,
although additional towers can be staffed as
needed. Being a lookout is often a
nontraditional occupation and apparently
conducive to writing (Edward Abbey, Donna
Ashcroft).
ANDERSON BUTTE LOOKOUT 6 miles northeast of Elk
City ID Nez Perce National Forest 6847' http//www
.firelookout.com/
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Remote sensing technologies can supplement human
observers. Infrared (IR) sensors can penetrate
smoke, used to locate hot spots or to map fires
from aircraft. Lightning detection systems were
developed by the Bureau of Land
Managementcharged with fire management over vast
unpopulated areas with low resource values, where
a human lookout network was impracticable.
SW RAWS and ASOS (Automated Surface Observation
System)developed for aviation
Lightning detection and remote automated weather
stations (RAWS) provide long-distance information
about lightning incidence and weather conditions.
Note you can also detect local lightning by
tuning to the low end of the AM radio band during
storms.
http//www.fs.fed.us/r3/fire/swapredictive/swaweat
her/swa-raws.htm
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Fire Suppression Fire triangle concept oxygen,
fuel, and heat. Basic suppression concept is to
break the triangle. Fireline segregates fuels,
water dirt cool the fire. Removing oxygen is
least feasible. Sizeup matches suppression
resources with the characteristics of the fire.
Related to triage conceptfocus on most important
areas where you can make a difference. Some
areas may be uncontrollable, so attack is
wasteful. Key to initial attack on the
fire. Suppression by direct control Advantages
immediate control, minimal size of fire, escape
route (black). Disadvantages long perimeter with
irregular contours, poor control over line
location, need to work in heat smoke. Indirect
attack offers less line construction better
location, better work conditions, but
disadvantages are larger area burned, need to
burn out fuels between fire and line, and chance
of changes in fire behavior. Generally use
direct attack for initial attack, then indirect
attack for fires which escape initial attack.
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Firefighters Guide (NWCG)
Fireline is a break in fuel continuity, usually
by digging down to mineral soil but also tying in
to natural fuelbreaks and extinguished portions
of the fire (coldtrailing). Handline is put in
by fire crew scratch line is initial rapid line,
later improved wetline (retardant line, foam
line) put down by strips of water/retardant/foam
machine lines are called tractor line, catline,
or plow line. When fuels are burned out next to
the line, called blackline.
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http//www.wildlandfire2.com/ppt/1
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Fire Use Wildland Fire Use is the management of
naturally ignited fires to achieve resource
benefits, where fire is a major component of the
ecosystem. Many natural resource values can be
enhanced by allowing fire to play its natural
role where private property and social values can
be protected. Prescribed Fire is used to
approximate the natural vegetative disturbance of
periodic fire occurrence. This vegetative
management tool is used to maintain fire
dependent ecosystems and restore those outside
their natural balance. Generally, low intensity
prescribed fire, is applied by trained experts
to clear ground of dangerous fuels like dead wood
and brush. http//www.fs.fed.us/fire/fireuse/
http//www.fs.fed.us/fire/fireuse/ wildland_fire_u
se/ref_guide/index.html
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Prescribed Fire The real prescription is the
entire burn plan objectives, context,
assessment. But the term prescription usually
applied more narrowly to weather conditions.
Pyne (p. 574) gives the following general range
of prescription conditions for underburning in
ponderosa pine in AZ
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Firing Methods Strip Headfire
United States Department of Agriculture, Forest
Service Southern Region, February 1989 Technical
Publication R8-TP 11. Online version at
http//www.bugwood.org/pfire/techniques.html
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Smoke Air Quality Resources ADEQ
(www.adeq.state.az) RMRS-GTR-42 (5) --
(http//www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr42_5.pdf)
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Ft. Valley, Coconino National Forest, 2001
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Prep equipment, review burn plan safety, check
weather/wind
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Strip ignition with drip torch
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Note woody fuels, smoke, possible fire scarring
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What is the objective? How successful?
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Effects of burning heavy fuels? How to mitigate?
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PPE (personal protective equipment). Note
cleanliness of firefighter.
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Use of equipment within fire perimeter monitor
burn, transport fuel.
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Note use of shovel for support during
implementation of coffee consumption
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Research burn, Penstemon clutei, 1995, OLeary
Peak, Coconino NF
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Note line around small research plot
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Research burn, Gus Pearson Natural Area, forest
restoration experiment 1994
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Whats on the tree?
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Antelope burn, Coconino National Forest
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Note surface fuels and crown scorch
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Flagstaff Fire Department, urban interface burn
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Outreach Education
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Night burning
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Fire effects?
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Fire effects?