Wildland State Test

Ladder fuels

Are those that will allow a surface fire to climb, or move into the crowns of the trees.

Thermal belt

Area of the mountain slope were a nighttime inversion layer is within warmer and drier air

Five Communication responsibilities are

Brief others as needed, debrief your actions, communicate hazards, acknowledge messages, ask if you don't know

Mid flame winds are used to

Calculate the rate of fire spread

How can a canyon impact your fire?

Canyons have a tendency to funnel and accelerate winds. During the heat of the day, winds are drawn up canyons. As heated air moves up and out of the canyon, It draws in more air through the mouth of the canyon, increasing the intensity of the fire.

Stable air indicators

Clouds in layers, no vertical motion, smoke column, drifts apart, steady winds, cooler, air at lower elevations

Unstable air indicators

Clouds, grow vertically, upward and downward currents, good visibility, dust, devils, warmer at lower elevations

Water vapor causes

Clouds, rain, and humidity

Four wind conditions that are dangerous to firefighters

Cold front, foehn or gravity, thunderstorms and whirlwinds (dust devils or fire whirls)

What is oxygen essential for?

Combustion

Ariel fuels

Fields that are 6 feet or more in height. Limbs, leaves, trunks, and crowns of heavy brush and timber. Hold down the fire intensity because the surface feels or not dried buy solar, radiation, and fuel moisture tends to be higher

Northern aspect fuel fire spread

Find heavier fuels with high moisture content, lowest average temperatures, lowest rate of spread, areas of snowmelt.

Fire orders number 1-3 are related to?

Fire behavior

Fire order number 10 is related to?

Fire fighting

Common denominators are

Fires that involve a fire fighter, fatality or a near miss

Slope winds

Flow up during the day due to surface heating, flow down during the night due to surface cooling

cumulus stage of thunderstorm

Formation of cloud on the top of a rising air mass. Head of the cloud looks like a cauliflower. Strong in draft winds moving into the base of the cloud. As of drafts increase, when may begin to change and blow in the direction of the developing thunderstorm

Rule of thumb on the size of a safety zone

Four times the expected flame length +1 foot for every vehicle to be included

How much convective heat is absorbed from the fire shelter?

From flames and hot gases, 100% is absorbed

Barriers

Is a brake in the fuel, changing the fuel type or condition, if you're moisture or density, that can slow or stop the spread of a wildland fire

What is a widow maker?

Is a dead limb hanging in a tree that may fall when the trees cut, or one dislodged by wind or a drop from an aircraft

Convergence lifting

Is always associated with the low pressure system. Air moves from high pressure zones towards low pressure zones.

Safety zone

Is an area that can be used by firefighters seeking refuge from an unexpected change in fire behavior or burning conditions

Slope reversal

Is one a fire Burns to a point where the slope changes such as the top of the ridge or the bottom of the canyon

Fuel loading

Is the amount of fuel available for a fire to burn

Convective heat transfer

Is the heat you can feel above a campfire, heat moves as a heated air mass

Escape route

Is the way you get personnel from where you are working to a safety zone. Have two routes selected.

What does the nearness of the canyon increase?

It increases the potential for preheating, spotting, and ignition on the opposite slope

When were the 10 standard fire fighting orders issued to USDS forest service employees?

June 28, 1957

Stages of a thunderstorm

Cumulus/forming stage, mature stage, and the decaying or dissipating stage

Ground fuels

Deep, duff, roots, and rotten buried logs, do not play a major role in fire behavior, because most burn with low intensity

Three mechanical or diverting affects that topography has on wind

Directional channeling, Venturi effect, wave action

Altocumulus lenticularus clouds

Lens shaped clouds are formed as strong, mid-level winds cross over the top of north, south oriented mountain ranges. High wind speeds may occur.

Heavier or slower burning fuels are

Logs, stumps, Branchwood, logging/or debris, and deep stuff. Burn readily and produce large volumes of heat when dry. Harder to suppress. Accumulate of dead, and down fuels that can burn very intensely.

What does LCES stand for?

Lookouts, Communication, Escape Routes, Safety Zones

Strato clouds

Low level clouds with bases at or below 6500 feet

Altocumulus castellanus clouds

Mid level clouds that form little towers usually indicates instability and increased moisture. Thunderstorms are possible later that day.

Alto clouds

Mid level clouds with bass is between 6500 to 20,000 feet

Fuel loading for stems and branches

More than 3 inches in diameter

Mature stage of thunderstorm

Most active and dynamic. Rain or Verga begins to fall from its base. Beginning of the cloud downdraft. Updraft is warmer than the surrounding air, the downdraft cooler. Lightning begins. Cumulonimbus clouds have developed.

Examples of safety zones

Must be void of fuels, such as in the black, rocks, roads, outcroppings, meadows, and wet areas

Can you wear synthetic materials under your PPE, why?

No, they will melt when heated and increase the likelihood of major injury

Frontal lifting

Occurs when a cold front moves under a warmer air mass and force is it upward

Thermal lifting

Occurs when air is heated. most prevailant during the summer and occurs in areas of flat terrain being heated by solar radiation

Orographic lifting

Occurs when an air mass that is moving horizontally, encounters, a mountain range and is forced upward

Fire order numbers 7-9 are related to?

Operational control

Two most important components of the atmosphere are

Oxygen and water vapor

Wind speed is determined by?

Pressure gradient

The 18 watch out situation represent

Specific hazards to be mitigated. Somebody died for each of these situations to be placed on the list. Should raise a warning flag when you detect it.

dissipating stage of thunderstorm

Starts won the thermal lifting, weekends, of drafting slows, and the source of moisture and energy ends. Rain slows, and eventually stops. Temperature differences between the cloud and the surrounding air equalizes and the cloud dissipates.

Dangerous conditions in a box or narrow Canyon

Steep slopes increasing the possibility for spotting or fire spreading. Chutes, saddles and box canyons provide chimney affect, accelerated up slope drafts causing intense burning

Eastern aspect fuel fire spread

Surface heating occurs earlier in the day because the slopes are the first to receive solar radiation, first to cool in the afternoon, slopes are normally on the Lee, facing away from the general wind direction

What are the three primary weather factors that impact the fire?

Temperature, relative, humidity, and wind

Situational awareness

The gathering of information by observation, or having it reported to you, a constant and continuous cycle

Conductive heat transfer

The heat you feel on your end of a wire when the other end is in a fire, travels by contact through one object to another

Troposphere

The layer of the atmosphere closest to the ground

The higher the elevation

The lower the atmospheric pressure

Slope rate of fire spread at 30%

The rate of spread is increased by 2x

Slope rate of fire spread at 55%

The rate of spreadable again double, 4x

Relative Humidity (RH)

The ratio of the amount of water vapor actually present in the air compared to the greatest amount possible at the same temperature

Cumulonimbus clouds

Thunderstorm clouds associated with the cold front

What three things are always constantly changing?

Time of day, weather, location of the fire

How many layers of protective clothing should you wear?

Two, should be made of cotton or lightweight merino wool

Will fire burn faster going uphill, or downhill?

Uphill

How to break oxygen from the fire triangle

Use retardant, foam or dirt to smother and eliminate the oxygen supply

How to break heat from the fire triangle

Use water, foam, retardant or dirt to cool

Three principle environmental elements affecting Wildland fires are

Weather, topography and fuels

Cold front

When cold air is displacing, warm air

What are factors that can affect the store and spread of wildland fire is are

When, relative humidity, temperature, and precipitation

Altocumulus floccus clouds

White or gray colored scattered tufts with rounded and slightly bulging upper parts

Three different methods of heat transfer

conduction, convection, radiation

What is a snag?

dead standing tree waiting for it's time to fall

Solar radiation

energy from the sun

Cirro clouds

high clouds above 20,000 feet

Wind direction is determined by?

the relationship (locations) of the highs and lows

How much radiant heat is reflected from the fire shelter?

95%

Topography

A description of surface features of land

Inversion layer

A layer of air that is warmer than the air below. Acts as a lid or blanket over cooler air.

Fuel loading for grasses and litter

0 to 1/4 inch in diameter

Fuel loading for branches

1 to 3 inches in diameter

Fuel loading for twigs and small stems

1/4 to 1 inch in diameter

Light or fast burning fuels are

Grass, dead leaves, tree, needles, brush, and small trees. Can cause rapid spread a fire, and serve as a kindling for heavier fuels.

Surface feels

Grass, forest litter, and brush up to 6 feet in height. Responsible for most fire spread and for caring fire to the aerial fuels.

Fuels can be divided into three groups, they are

Ground fuels, surface fuels, and Ariel feels

How to break fuel from the fire triangle

Handtools or a bulldozer can be used to cut fire line down to mineral soil sauce, removing the fuel

Southern aspect fuel fire spread

Have the lighter and flash your fuels with the lowest moisture content, receive the highest levels of solar radiation, highest average temperatures, fastest rate of fire spread

What part of the fire is usually the hottest?

Head of the fire

Western aspect fuel fire spread

Heating occurs in the afternoon, and cooling, begins later in the day, most vulnerable to fire, fuels are lighter & easier to ignite, flashy, which contribute to faster burn rate, and warmer/easier to ignite

Cirrostratus clouds

High wispy clouds that frequently precede a warm front

What is the most common injury on Wildland fires?

Hyperthermia

What are the three reasons we routinely violate rules?

Ignorance, machismo, apathy

Radiation heat transfer

Radiates from a heat source, the air is not heated, but solid objects close by will increase in temperature. Can preheat fuels or ignite on burn fuels across a fire line.

Slope on rate of fire spread 0-5%

Rate of speed is not increased

Fire shelters protect FF by

Reflecting, radiant, heat, and trapping cooler, breathable air

Fire order numbers 4-6 are related to?

Safety

Factors of topography that affect wildland fire behaviors are?

Slope, aspect, shape of the country, elevation, barriers, and the position of a fire

What has the greatest impact on fire behavior?

Winds

Will fire burn slower going downhill?

Yes, because the fuels on the declining slow bar position below the flame front

Deployment site

a last-resort location where a fire shelter must be deployed

Barometer

an instrument used to measure atmospheric pressure