Wildland Firefighting
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Wildland Firefighting By Bill Clayton David Day Jim McFadden This book may be purchased from STATE OF CALIFORNIA OFFICE OF PROCUREMENT Documents Section P.O. Box 1015 North Highlands, CA 95660 Acknowledgement A special acknowledgement is made to C. Raymond Clar and Leonard R. Chatten. These men, while CDF employees, co-authored "Principles of Forest Fire Management". This text book, revised in 1966, has been used by fire agencies and educational institutions throughout the U.S. and various parts of the world for some thirty years. The impetus to write "Wildland Fire Fighting" came from "Principles of Forest Fire Management" and ideas and material were drawn from it to produce this text. We graciously acknowledge the work of these accomplished fire officials and learned gentlemen. The Authors Bill Clayton Dave Day Jim McFadden Dedication The authors of this book are not seeking fame or fortune; together we have nearly 80 years of wildland firefighting experience, which only means we have worked a long time. Our intention is to provide you with the best wildland firefighting information available, thereby making your job safer. We dedicate this book to you. We wish to thank the following people whose hard work and dedication to principle have made this book possible: Glenys Hewitt - Word Processing Gary Alien - Art Work Jan Dotson - Art Work Caralee Lamb - Art Work Pamela Christensen - Art Work Beth Paulson - Editing Steve Brown - Review Linda Joplin - Typesetting and Layout and all personnel who contributed photographs. Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Chapter Two Weather 5 Temperature 6 Stable and Unstable Air Masses 7 Temperature Inversions 8 Relative Humidity 10 Wind Velocity and Direction 10 Fuel Moisture 14 Nature's Danger Signals 14 Cloud Forms 14 Dust Devils and Mirages 15 Fire Whirls 16 Chapter Three Topography 19 Elevation 20 Thermal Belt 21 Exposure 21 Slope 23 Distinct Topographical Features 24 Wide Canyons 25 Narrow Canyons 25 Steep Slopes 26 Ridges 26 Chimneys 26 Physical Barriers 27 Chapter Four Fuel 29 Fuel Quantity and Availability 30 Ground Fuels 31 Aerial Fuels 33 Structural Fuels 34 Fuel Arrangement 35 Fuel Moisture 35 Fuel Temperature 36 Chapter Five Fire Behavior 39 General Fire Behavior 40 Spotting 41 Large Fires 42 Area Ignition 44 Area Influence 45 Fire Whirls 45 Chapter 6 Ground Attack 49 Hand Tools 50 Power Tools 50 Portable Pumping Equipment 50 Engines 51 Hand Crews 53 Bulldozers 53 Chapter 7 Air Attack 57 History of Fire Fighting Aircraft 58 Table of Contents Aircraft Deployment 58 Tactical Use of Aircraft 59 Aircraft Limitations 60 Aircraft Capabilities 61 Aircraft Safety 61 Helicopters 63 Chapter Eight Tactics and Strategy 65 Size-Up 68 Size-Up Steps 69 Wildland Fire Tactics 70 Application of Attack Methods 72 Fire Fighting Operations 72 Backfiring and Burning Out Actions 72 Backfiring and Fire Behavior 73 Tandem Action 74 Pincer Action 74 Flanking Action 74 Envelopment Action 75 Chapter Nine Wildland Urbanization 77 Roof Coverings 79 Special Protection Hazards 83 Recommendations 84 Chapter Ten Fuel Management 87 Fuel Break and Fuel Volume Reduction 88 Objectives of Fuel Management 88 Pre-Suppression Planning 88 Fuel Removal 89 Fuel Volume Reduction 90 Chapter Eleven Organization 95 Modular Organization 96 The Command Staff 96 Initial Attack Organization 98 Extended Attack Organization 99 Major Fire Organization 100 Operations Section 101 Planning Section 102 Logistics Section 104 Finance Section 105 Chapter Twelve Fire Line Safety 109 The 13 Situations Which Shout "Watch Out" 111 Ten Fire Fighting Orders 120 Common Denominators 120 Vehicle Placement 121 Glossary 127 INTRODUCTION This text has been written for any organization whose respect will result in higher morale and greater firefighters may be required to fight a wildland fire. cooperation. Wildland fire is defined as any type fire that burns Leadership depends not only on knowledge and vegetative cover, whether grass, brush, timber, grain, or experience of the factors involved, but also on personal slash. Also included in wildland firefighting is the direct trust that inspires group members to blend their protection and extinguishment of structures that actually individual skills, differences, and energies into a serve as an adjunct to the wildland fuel base and make cooperative effort. The leader is not a passive person; the work of wildland firefighting considerably more he is not someone whose main function is to be on the complex. fireline. The leader acquires status through active This book is designed for engine company personnel, participation and demonstration of his capacity to carry hand crew members, bulldozer operators, air attack crew cooperative tasks through to completion. A t supervisor members, and initial attack fire command officers. It also has a duty to the fire service to encourage a covers the basic physical factors involving wildland subordinate's aspirations to leadership and to assist staff firefighting such as fuel, topography, weather, and to develop the attributes of leadership. This can be done resulting fire behavior. Several chapters are devoted to in several ways: by rating potential leaders against the the fire attack components such as air and ground forces requirements of certain jobs, and by rotating them and the tactics, strategy, and organization necessary for through jobs (without showing favoritism to their employment. Also included are special chapters on individuals), by including the subject of leadership for fuel management and fire line safety. discussion at company and battalion meetings, and by The text would not be complete without some discussion initiating training in those areas where it is lacking. of one factor that is necessary to produce positive fire It cannot be over stressed that the initiative that makes ground results and forms the cohesive base for all an individual a leader must come from within one's self. firefighting operations - leadership. Nothing can make an individual a leader overnight nor Firefighting always has been and undoubtedly will can dependence on senior officers develop leadership. continue to be an important cooperative and synergistic Firefighters must individually decide what they want, activity. Scientific knowledge and technical ability in study the job so they can develop the capacity for it, use firefighting are useless unless firefighters of all ranks every means they can to fit it, grasp the opportunities as can effectively coordinate the human resources under they come up, and then go to it. THE BASIC their command. FUNCTION OF A LEADER IS TO INSPIRE PEOPLE The group leader can get things done only by TO THEIR BEST EFFORTS. Leaders not only know coordinating the efforts of the group members. what should be done, but also how to get it done. Flex- Cooperation among all personnel is dependent upon ibility of mind is most important to leadership. What was effective communications. Misunderstanding of an wise to do yesterday may well be a very foolish decision officer's directions, failure to indicate to firefighters the today. In the fire service, changes come quickly in some significance of their jobs in the total scheme of things, cases and slowly in others, and the ' effective leader absence of means of bringing forward a firefighter's must speedily adjust himself and the organization. ideas and attitudes, failure to enlist the interest and Qualities required of leaders in the fire service are enthusiasm of subordinates, and poor teamwork are all courage, will power, judgment, knowledge, and weaknesses in human contacts that lower the levels of flexibility of mind. There is still one last quality - the fire ground efficiency. This interest may even develop greatest of them all, integrity. Integrity and unselfishness into deliberate opposition and conflict between different always permeate good leadership. Throughout the fire units or among personnel and officers. service there is a vast army of personnel and there is no Materials, equipment, and even money are controllable lack of potential leaders. The overall result of successful within defined rules and practices. Personnel are not. fire ground operations depends upon the leaders of our Individuals differ emotionally, physically, and mentally battalions and individual companies of crews. 1 in their interests, attitudes, sentiments, and beliefs. Even 1-Operations - Tactics and Administration in the Field when faced with a similar set of circumstances, Country Fire Service, Victoria, Australia individual reactions may greatly differ. In dealing with others there is no latitude for sentimentality. Condescension will be rejected for what it is. Even though the approach may be regarded merely as "some new fangled management idea," ^ treating people with dignity and respect will always ' bring better results than a patronizing manner. Treating people with WEATHER Anyone acquainted with the behavior of a wildland fire recognizes the vital influence of the weather. Likewise, anyone who has studied how weather is made and modified in nature and how it is forecast should be impressed with the complexity of that science. The relationship of weather to fire behavior is much too important to be passed over lightly. However, it is important to realize that forecasting is complex, and requires facilities so widespread, that this aspect of weather is best left in the hands of experts. The presence of such experts at the fire scene has been, and will continue to be, extremely valuable. The effect of general weather conditions upon the fuel and fire situation is powerful. The high pressure in Utah followed by strong Santa Ana winds in California, or the storm being born off Alaska are of tremendous importance. Warning of anticipated weather could very well rank as unsurpassed in value among all of the tools available to the fire manager. There are great fundamental laws that are constantly at work making and remaking the weather at every level. With this basic knowledge, field observations on weather behavior should be much more accurate.