5035 Wild (Brush) Fires (safety) Flashcards
What policy number is Wild (Brush) Fires
5035
Safety
Who shall maintain this document.
The Assistant Chief of Administration, in consultation with the Deputy Chief of
Operations
The Captain of Training shall ensure that the Training Division provides
annual instruction to TFD personnel regarding wild (brush) fire behavior and wild (brush) fire strategy and tactics.
Define
Ballistic nylon pads
Protective pads, sewn or otherwise fastened into the work trousers to protect the vulnerable areas of the legs.
Define
Blow up
Sudden increase in fire intensity or rate of spread sufficient to preclude direct control or to upset existing control plans. Often accompanied by violent convection and may have other characteristics of a firestorm.
Define
Mop up standard
The 100-foot zone along the control line that is more thoroughly overhauled and extinguished than the area further into the blackened
area.
Define
Positive communication
A safety guide rope or visual, audible, physical, or electronic means of communicating which allows for two way message generation and reception.
Define
Urban Interface Zone (I Zone)
An area where structures and other human
development meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland or vegetative fuels.
Define
Urban wild fire
An uncontained fire requiring suppression action usually spreading through ground cover, vegetative fuels, brush, grass, and landscaping; often threatening residential and commercial structures within an urban environment with access to established roadways and water systems. For the purpose of this policy, urban wild fires and TFD’s dispatch term “brush fire” have the same meaning and are referred to as “wild (brush) fire” (see 3.3).
TFD personnel fighting a wild (brush) fire in structural firefighting PPE shall not work more than
one hour without rotating for rest and
rehabilitation (rehab).
Structural firefighting PPE may be modified for wild (brush) firefighting situations as follows
a. A bunker coat may be replaced with a brush shirt when available.
b. Hoods may be removed with IC approval.
c. The liners of bunker coats and pants may be taken out with IC approval.
d. If liners have been removed, that company will not be available for structure fire duty until the liners are replaced.
e. Liners shall be replaced before leaving the scene of the brush fire.
Apparatus should be
backed into a site in case quick escape is necessary.
TFD personnel shall be aware of the following ten “standard fire orders”:
a. Fight fire aggressively but provide for safety first.
b. Initiate all action based on current and expected fire behavior.
c. Recognize current weather conditions and obtain forecasts.
d. Ensure instructions are given and understood.
e. Obtain current information on fire status.
f. Remain in communication with crew members, your supervisor and adjoining forces.
g. Determine safety zones and escape routes.
h. Establish lookouts in potentially hazardous situations.
i. Retain control at all times.
j. Stay alert, keep calm, think clearly, and act decisively.
TFD personnel shall be aware of, and avoid, the following “watch out” situations for wild (brush) fires:
a. Fire not scouted and sized up.
b. In country not seen in daylight.
c. Safety zones and escape routes not identified.
d. Unfamiliar with weather and local factors influencing fire behavior.
e. Uninformed on strategy tactics and hazards.
f. Instructions and assignments not clear.
g. No communication link with crew members or supervisor.
h. Constructing line without safe anchor point.
i. Building fire line downhill with fire below.
j. Attempting frontal assault on fire.
k. Unburned fuel between the crew and the fire.
l. Cannot see main fire, not in contact with someone who can.
m. On a hillside where rolling material can ignite fuel below.
n. Weather becoming hotter and drier.
o. Wind increases and/or changes direction.
p. Getting frequent spot fires across line.
q. Terrain and fuels make escape to safety zones difficult.
r. Taking a nap near the fire line.
TFD personnel shall be aware of the four common denominators of tragedy fires
a. Small fires or relatively quiet sectors of large fires.
b. Light fuels.
c. Steep slopes.
d. Change in wind speed and/or direction.
