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The Art of Reading Smoke for Rapid Decision Making
The Art of Reading Smoke for Rapid Decision Making Dave Dodson teaches the art of reading smoke. This is an important skill since fighting fires in the year 2006 and beyond will be unlike the fires we fought in the 1900’s. Composites, lightweight construction, engineered structures, and unusual fuels will cause hostile fires to burn hotter, faster, and less predictable. Concept #1: “Smoke” is FUEL! Firefighters use the term “smoke” when addressing the solids, aerosols, and gases being produced by the hostile fire. Soot, dust, and fibers make up the solids. Aerosols are suspended liquids such as water, trace acids, and hydrocarbons (oil). Gases are numerous in smoke – mass quantities of Carbon Monoxide lead the list. Concept #2: The Fuels have changed: The contents and structural elements being burned are of LOWER MASS than previous decades. These materials are also more synthetic than ever. Concept #3: The Fuels have triggers There are “Triggers” for Hostile Fire Events. Flash point triggers a smoke explosion. Fire Point triggers rapid fire spread, ignition temperature triggers auto ignition, Backdraft, and Flashover. Hostile fire events (know the warning signs): Flashover: The classic American Version of a Flashover is the simultaneous ignition of fuels within a compartment due to reflective radiant heat – the “box” is heat saturated and can’t absorb any more. The British use the term Flashover to describe any ignition of the smoke cloud within a structure. Signs: Turbulent smoke, rollover, and auto-ignition outside the box. Backdraft: A “true” backdraft occurs when oxygen is introduced into an O2 deficient environment that is charged with gases (pressurized) at or above their ignition temperature. -
Respirator Usage by Wildland Firefighters
United States Department of Agriculture Fire Forest Service Management National Technology & Development Program March 2007 Tech Tips 5200 0751 1301—SDTDC Respirator Usage by Wildland Firefighters David V. Haston, P.E., Mechanical Engineer Tech Tip Highlights ß Based on a 7-year comprehensive study by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG), a 1997 consensus conference concluded that routine use of air purifying respirators (APRs) should not be required. ß APRs provide protection against some, but not all harmful components of wood smoke, and may expose firefighters to higher levels of unfiltered contaminants, such as carbon monoxide. In addition, APRs do not protect firefighters against superheated gases and do not supply oxygen. ß Firefighters may use APRs on a voluntary basis if certain conditions are met. Introduction All firefighters, fire management officers, and safety personnel should understand the issues related to using air purifying respirators (APRs) in the wildland firefighting environment. This Tech Tip is intended to provide information regarding the regulatory requirements for using APRs, how APRs function, and the benefits and risks associated with their use. Respirator Types and Approvals Respirators are tested and approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in accordance with 42 CFR Part 84 (Approval of Respiratory Protection Devices). Respirators fall into two broad classifications: APRs that filter ambient air, and atmosphere-supplying respirators that supply clean air from another source, such as self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). APRs include dust masks, mouthpiece respirators (used for escape only), half- and full-facepiece respirators, gas masks, and powered APRs. They use filters or cartridges that remove harmful contaminants when air is passed through the air-purifying element. -
Wildland Fire Incident Management Field Guide
A publication of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group Wildland Fire Incident Management Field Guide PMS 210 April 2013 Wildland Fire Incident Management Field Guide April 2013 PMS 210 Sponsored for NWCG publication by the NWCG Operations and Workforce Development Committee. Comments regarding the content of this product should be directed to the Operations and Workforce Development Committee, contact and other information about this committee is located on the NWCG Web site at http://www.nwcg.gov. Questions and comments may also be emailed to [email protected]. This product is available electronically from the NWCG Web site at http://www.nwcg.gov. Previous editions: this product replaces PMS 410-1, Fireline Handbook, NWCG Handbook 3, March 2004. The National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) has approved the contents of this product for the guidance of its member agencies and is not responsible for the interpretation or use of this information by anyone else. NWCG’s intent is to specifically identify all copyrighted content used in NWCG products. All other NWCG information is in the public domain. Use of public domain information, including copying, is permitted. Use of NWCG information within another document is permitted, if NWCG information is accurately credited to the NWCG. The NWCG logo may not be used except on NWCG-authorized information. “National Wildfire Coordinating Group,” “NWCG,” and the NWCG logo are trademarks of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group. The use of trade, firm, or corporation names or trademarks in this product is for the information and convenience of the reader and does not constitute an endorsement by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group or its member agencies of any product or service to the exclusion of others that may be suitable. -
Wildlife Food Plot
Firebreak Fact Sheet Applies to conservation practices Firebreak (394) and Prescribed Burning (338). USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service - North Dakota November 2017 Mowed, burned, and extinguished firebreak, prior to a prescribed burn. What is a firebreak: A strip of bare land or vegetation that retards fire. How it helps: When properly designed, installed and maintained, they may stop the spread of low intensity wild fires. More often they provide an entry point and anchor point where wildfire fighting activities can effectively be initiated. Firebreaks are only one part of a wildfire protection system. By themselves, firebreaks should never be relied upon as the sole protection of an area. Firebreaks are an integral part of a complete system to minimize the potential impact of catastrophic wildfire. Firebreaks may be permanent or temporary. Permanent firebreaks are usually part of a system protecting building sites and other high value properties. Temporary firebreaks often are used to protect fields and as part of a prescribed burning plan. To apply this practice: The most effective fire prevention is accomplished through a targeted approach. Most benefits accrue from efforts applied to the areas closest to the areas needing protected. Key items to address include: Buildings are covered with non-combustible or fire-resistant materials. Defensible space exists around and within areas to be protected. (Defensible space should be at least 35 feet wide around high value property such as homes and should ideally consist of non-combustible ground cover such as soil, gravel, irrigated lawn etc.) All programs and services are offered on a nondiscriminatory basis. -
4. Firebreaks and Shaded Fuelbreaks
4. Firebreaks and Shaded Fuelbreaks You often hear the terms firebreak and shaded fuel- break used interchangeably, but there is a big difference between the two (Table 4). Firebreak A firebreak is an area where all vegetation and organic matter is removed down to mineral soil, thereby re- moving the fuel leg of the fire triangle. The purpose of a firebreak is to deny a fire any combustible mate- rial. Firebreaks are used to prevent advancing surface flames from coming in direct contact with outbuildings or other important resources on your property. A fire- Stephen Fitzgerald , Oregon State University. break may be 2 to 15 feet wide. A firebreak should be Figure 13a. A perimeter dirt road serves as a fire- two to three times as wide as the height of the nearest break. The area immediately to the left is a fuelbreak surface vegetation (fuel), such as grass and shrubs (Fig- where young pine have been thinned and flammable ure 13a). Firebreaks may require annual maintenance shrubs have been mowed. (removal of invading vegetation). In addition, because mineral soil is exposed, there is a high probability of creating conditions for invasive weeds to establish. To prevent weeds from establishing in a firebreak and to reduce future maintenance, consider using a landscape fabric in the cleared zone and placing a layer of crushed or ornamental rock on top of the fabric. This reduces the germination of invasive plants, prevents erosion, and reduces maintenance, and the rock pro- vides a fireproof mulch that is much more attractive than mineral soil (Figure 13b). -
Firebreak: Wildfire Resilience Strategies for Real Estate
FIREBREAK Wildfire Resilience Strategies for Real Estate © 2020 by the Urban Land Institute 2001 L Street, NW Suite 200 Washington, DC 20036-4948 Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the publisher. Recommended bibliographic listing: Urban Land Institute. Firebreak: Wildfire Resilience Strategies for Real Estate. Washington, D.C.: Urban Land Institute, 2020. ISBN: 978-0-87420-466-7 FIREBREAK Wildfire Resilience Strategies for Real Estate ABOUT THE URBAN LAND INSTITUTE The Urban Land Institute is a global, member-driven organization comprising more than 45,000 real estate and urban development professionals dedicated to advancing the Institute’s mission of providing leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. ULI’s interdisciplinary membership represents all aspects of the industry, including developers, property owners, investors, architects, urban planners, public officials, real estate brokers, appraisers, attorneys, engineers, financiers, and academics. Established in 1936, the Institute has a presence in the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific regions, with members in 80 countries. The extraordinary impact that ULI makes on land use decision-making is based on its members sharing expertise on a variety of factors affecting the built environment, including urbanization, demographic and population changes, new economic drivers, technology advancements, and environmental concerns. Peer-to-peer learning is achieved through the knowledge shared by members at thousands of convenings each year that reinforce ULI’s position as a global authority on land use and real estate. -
Anomalous Effects of Water in Firefighting: Increased Fire Intensities by Azeotropic Distillation Effects
ANOMALOUS EFFECTS OF WATER IN FIREFIGHTING: INCREASED FIRE INTENSITIES BY AZEOTROPIC DISTILLATION EFFECTS William W. Bannister, Chien-Chung Chen, and Nukul Euaphantasate University of Massachuset~s/Lowell INTRODUCTION The greatest single effect of water in fire extinguishing applications is its great cooling capacity, particu- larly when used in fog or mist form. There are several well-known situations, however, in which appli- cation of water actually serves to intensify a fire: 1. When applied to very hot oil or grease tires, water will flash into steam, with possible spattering effects that can spread the area of a fire. 2. Direction of a vigorous jet of water from a fire hose into burning liquid fuel can also increase the area of a fire by mechanical “digging” effects. 3. Air entrained in water jets, sprays, or mists can feed oxygen to a fire. 4. Water reacts explosively with active metals such as sodium, or with other water sensitive energetic materials such as strong acids or bases. 5. Previous work by this group [l] and confirmed by others [2] has shown that high humidity facilitates autoignition by lowering hot surface ignition temperatures. 6. “Boilover” can result from formation of a heat wave progressing downward through burning fuel floating on water, finally reaching the water and causing it to come to a rapid boil with forcible ejection of burning fnel upward from the surface. This occurs only for burning fuel mixtures made up of both high and low density components (as the lighter components volatilize, the heavier species tend to sink). Thus, this effect is not observed for pure liquids; the fuel mixture must be floating on water, and the effect requires several hours of build-up time before it is observed [3,4]. -
Fuelbreak Guidelines for Forested Subdivisions & Communities
Fuelbreak Guidelines for Forested Subdivisions & Communities By Frank C. Dennis Knowledge to Go Places This publication was developed for use by foresters, Fuelbreak vs Firebreak planners, developers, homeowners’ associations and Although the term fuelbreak is widely used in others. Implementation of these measures cannot Colorado, it is o�en confused with firebreak. The guarantee safety from all wildfires, but will greatly two are entirely separate, and aesthetically different, increase the probability of containing them at more forms of forest fuel modification and treatment. manageable levels. • A firebreak is strip of land, 20 to 30 feet wide (or more), in which all vegetation is removed down to bare, mineral soil each year prior to fire season. Above, cross section of mixed conifer stand before fuelbreak modification. Below, a�er modification. Inadequate fire planning can result in loss of life or property and costly suppression activities. Colorado’s forested lands are experiencing severe impacts from continuing population increases and peoples’ desire to escape urban pressures. Subdivisions and developments are • A fuelbreak (or shaded fuelbreak) is an easily opening new areas for accessible strip of land of varying width (depending homesite construction on fuel and terrain), in which fuel density is reduced, at an alarming rate, thus improving fire control opportunities. The especially along the stand is thinned, and remaining trees are pruned Front Range and around to remove ladder fuels. Brush, heavy ground fuels, recreational areas such snags, and dead trees are disposed of and an open, as Dillon, Vail, and park-like appearance is established. Steamboat Springs. The following is a discussion of the uses, limitations, But with development inevitably comes a higher risk and specifications of fuelbreaks in wildfire control of wildfire as well as an ever-increasing potential for and fuels management. -
Fire Extinguisher Training
EXTINGUISHER Fire Safety & Fire Extinguisher Use Fire Safety & Fire Extinguisher Use Objectives • Understand the combustion process and different fire classes • Understand fire extinguisher types, operating procedures • Understand basic firefighting concepts: • R.A.C.E. • P.A.S.S. Fire Safety & Fire Extinguisher Use The Combustion Process • Three components • Need all three components to start a fire • Fire extinguishers remove one or more of the components. Fire Classes A Trash Wood Paper B Liquids Grease • wood • gasoline • paper • oil • cloth • grease • etc. • other solvents C Electrical Equipment • magnesium COMBUSTIBLE • sodium • computers • potassium • fax machine • titanium • other energized D • other electrical equip. flammable METALS metals Fire Classes (cont.) CLASS K FIRES • Recently recognized by NFPA 10 • Fires involving combustible oils, lards and fats in commercial cooking. K Cooking Media Fire Extinguisher Anatomy PRESSURE GAUGE DISCHARGE LEVER (not found on CO2 extinguishers) DISCHARGE LOCKING PIN CARRYING AND SEAL HANDLE DISCHARGE HOSE DATA PLATE DISCHARGE NOZZLE BODY DISCHARGE ORIFICE Fire Extinguisher Types A Trash Wood Paper PRESSURIZED WATER A Trash Wood Paper • Class “A” fires only • 2.5 gal. water (up to 1 minute discharge time) B Liquids Grease B Liquids Grease • Has pressure gauge to allow visual capacity check • 30-40 ft. maximum effective range • Can be started and stopped as necessary C Electrical Equipment C Electrical Equipment • Extinguishes by cooling burning material below the ignition point. Fire Extinguisher Types (cont.) CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2) A Trash Wood Paper A Trash Wood Paper • Class “B” or “C” fires • 2.5-100 lb. of CO2 (8-30 seconds discharge time) B Liquids Grease • Has NO pressure gauge--capacity B Liquids Grease verified by weight • 3-8 ft. -
Prescribed Burn Equipment
Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service NREM-2899 Prescribed Burn Equipment November 2016 John R. Weir Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Fact Sheets Research Associate, Natural Resource Ecology and Management, are also available on our website at: Oklahoma State University http://osufacts.okstate.edu R. Seth Coffey Graduate Research Assistant, Natural Resource Ecology and Man- agement, Oklahoma State University Carol E. Blocksome Research Assistant Professor, Horticulture and Natural Resources, Kansas State University Morgan L. Russell Extension Range Specialist, Ecosystem Science and Manage- ment, Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Service Dirac Twidwell Assistant Professor, Department of Agromony and Horticulture, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Introduction Having proper or adequate equipment on a prescribed fire is just as important as writing burn plans, firebreak prepa- rations or having the correct weather conditions. Oftentimes, burn managers will make equipment checklists prior to the burn; ensuring all needs have been met. Equipment may range from what the crew should wear to the type of pumper unit one might have on a fire. In planning a prescribed burn, one of the most important steps is considering what equipment is needed to properly protect the burn crew and contain the fire. There is no standard equipment list for conducting a burn. However, it is important to consider all equipment that could be used to make the prescribed burn safer and easier. When determining what equipment is needed it is best to go by the adage of “better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.” Always remember no two burns are the same and each burn can require different pieces of equipment. -
Burn Your Prairie Safely and Have Fun, Too!
Prairie Nursery | White Paper Burn Your Prairie Safely and Have Fun, Too! The North American Prairie was subject to regular wildfires and the flowers and grasses that comprise this fabulous ecosystem evolved under its influence. When managing prairies and prairie restorations, the controlled burn is the “magic bullet” that allows us to control many unwanted invasive plants. A good prairie fire is Neil Diboll, Consulting Ecologist one of the special rites of spring on the prairie. The tips below are With over 40 years of experience offered to ensure that your prairie burn is both inspirational and in research and establishment of safe! Herewith are some specific rules and procedures to follow to native plant communities, Neil is an assure a safe burn: internationally recognized pioneer in the use of North American plants in contemporary landscapes. His designs Design with Firebreaks in Mind emphasize sustainability, aesthetics, and ecological compatibility with the Design your prairie so that it takes advantage of natural land. Neil is a regular keynote speaker existing firebreaks. Use nonflammable borders such as roads, on topics such as establishing prairie driveways, ponds, streams, and mowed lawns or trails as the meadows, designing with native plants, and the benefits of converting edge of the prairie. These will be your built-in firebreaks, and resource-intensive landscapes into self- will save you lots of time compared to mowing firebreaks every sustaining ecological sanctuaries. time you want to burn. www.PrairieNursery.com PRAIRIE NURSERY P.O. Box 306, Westfield, WI 53964 1 800-476-9453 PRAIRIE NURSERY blue: #62cbe9 green: #68934d Portada Text : Book Burn Your Prairie Safely Create Sufficient Firebreaks In areas where firebreaks do have to be mowed around the prairie to remove flammable material, make sure the firebreak is sufficiently wide to prevent the fire from jumping across in adjacent fields or prairies. -
City of Richmond Wildfire Preparedness and Evacuation Guide
WILDFIRE PREPAREDNESS & EVACUATION GUIDE TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 3 Harden Your Home 16 Notifications 4 Frequently Asked Questions 17 Warning Terms 5 Ember Awareness Checklist 18-19 Purpose of Guidelines 6-7 Fire-Resistant Landscaping 20-21 Definitions/ VHFHSZ Map 8-9 Landscaping Tips for Defense 22-23 Vegetation Mgmt. Zone 1 10 Red Flag Warning Safety Tips 24-25 Vegetation Mgmt. Zone 2 11 Monitor Weather Conditions 26 Ladder Fuels 12 Pre-Evacuation Preparation 27 Five & Five or More Acres 13 Evacuation Preparedness Tips 28-30 Plant Spacing Guidelines 14-15 Emergency Supplies Checklist 31 DEFENSIBLE SPACE WORKS If you live in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, or next to a dense vegetation area, you should provide the necessary defensible space to protect your home. Defensible space also provides Richmond firefighters with the space they need to defend your home. Create a buffer zone by removing weeds, brush, and other vegetation. This will help keep the fire away from your home and reduce the risk of ignition from flying embers. The guidelines outlined in this document provide valuable guidance on property enhancements. BE EMBER AWARE A home within 10 miles of a wildfire will most likely be effected by wind driven embers which can be a risk to your property. You must prepare yourself and your home well before a fire occurs. Ember fires can destroy homes far from the actual front of the fire. Prepare your home to be ember safe. Review the Ember Awareness checklist to ensure you are ready! CONSIDER THIS Unmanaged vegetation between and around homes increases the risk of wildland fire spreading throughout the community, and endangering lives and property.