Fire quiz 1 Flashcards
What are the three sides of the fire behavior triangle?
Fuel, weather, topography
What is the one factor of the behavior triangle we can control?
Fuel (prescribed burning, fire breaks, thinning)
What is Topography?
The slope, elevation, & aspect. It is the direction the slope faces
How does the direction change fire behavior?
Fire spreads quickly upslope and slowly when backing down a slope
What is combustion?
A chemical reaction between a fuel and an oxidant. Produces energy
What is on the fire triangle? (not behavior)
Oxygen, fuel, and heat
What is complete combustion
When water and carbon dioxide are the only material products. Fuel completely burned
What is incomplete combustion
When more than water and carbon dioxide are produced. Incomplete burning of fuel, usually causing smoke.
What is fire suppression?
When humans extinguish wildfire
What is a negative impact of fire exclusion?
It allows fuel to build up much more than in the past, causing megafires
When was the earliest evidence of combustion?
420 million years ago
What is charcoal?
Burned organic material, it is black and porous carbon residue.
What are the forms of natural ignition?
Volcanic, rock fall, lightning, and spontaneous
What caused most ignition before humans?
Lightning
