Glossary Flashcards
1
Q
Numeric Codes used to communicate predefined situations or conditions.
A
10-Codes
2
Q
A rule of thumb used for estimating the length of time until structural collapse occurs.
A
20-minute Rule.
It states that when a heavy volume of fire is burning out of control on two or more floors for 20 minutes or longer in a building of ordinary construction, structural collapse should be anticipated.
3
Q
A system established on the fire ground to ensure that everyone entering the area has a specific assignment, to track all personnel at the scene, and to identify the location of any missing personnel if a catastrophic even should occur.
A
Accountability system
4
Q
A floor area with at least two rooms separated by smoke-resisting partitions in a building protected by a sprinkler system, or a space located in an egress path this is separated from other building spaces.
A
Area of Refuge
5
Q
An occupancy used for the gathering of 50 or more persons for deliberation, worship, entertainment, eating, drinking, amusements, awaiting transportation, or similar uses; or used as a special amusements building, regardless of occupant load.
A
Assembly Occupancy
6
Q
The fire-arriving engine company that goes directly to the fire building without securing a water supply
A
Attack Pumper
7
Q
A fire condition that occurs when oxygen (air) is introduced into a super-heated, oxygen-deficient compartment charged with smoke and pyrolytic emissions, resulting in an explosive ignition.
A
Backdraft
8
Q
Also know as elevation pressure, the pressure required to overcome the weight of water in a piping or hose system. Each vertical foot of water in a pipe, hose, or tank exerts a pressure of 0.434 psi at the base.
A
Backpressure
9
Q
An older type of woof-frame construction in which the wall studs extend vertically from the basement of the structure to the roof
A
Balloon-Frame Construction
10
Q
The tactical-level management units immediately subordinate to the sections in NIMS hierarchy. Units are subordinate to the logistics, finance/administration, and planning sections. Divisions and Groups are subordinate to the operation sections.
A
Branches
Branches are used to reduce the span of control at very large operations or to manage a particular functions/agency
11
Q
An occupancy used for account and record keeping or the transaction of business other than mercantile.
A
Business Occupancy
12
Q
An organization structure establishing a line of authority and responsibility along which orders and instructions are passed
A
Chain of Command
e.g. - Incident commander to operations section to branch director to division supervisor to company officer to fire fighter, or a reply to a higher level in reverse order
13
Q
Foam used on fires in Class A fuels such as vegetation, wood, cloth, paper, rubber, and some plastics
A
Class A Foam
14
Q
An area where personal protective clothing is not required; command post, rehab, and medical treatment should be located in the _______.
A
Cold Zone
15
Q
The area endangered by a potential building collapse; generally considered to be an area 1 1/2 times the height of the involved building.
A
Collapse Zone
16
Q
Subdividing of a building into small areas (rooms) capable of limiting the spread of fire and the products of combustion.
A
Compartmentation
17
Q
A plan used when a property have more than three buildings or when it is necessary to show the layout of the premises and relationship between the buildings on site
A
Complex Pre-incident Plan
18
Q
A reaction to fire conditions in which groups take shelter together to provide mutual support.
A
Convergence Cluster Phenomenon
19
Q
The time available until the structure becomes untenable
A
Critical Time
20
Q
The weight of a building; consists of the weight of all materials of construction incorporated into a building, including but not limited to floors, roofs, ceilings, stairways, built-in partitions, finishes, cladding, and other similarly incorporated architectural and structural items as well as fixed service equipment
A
Dead Load
21
Q
The phase of fire development in which fire has consumed either the available fuel oxygen to a point that the fire begins to diminish in intensity.
A
Decay Phase
22
Q
A tactic utilized during a structure fire when it is very difficult to remove occupants from the building. Occupants are either protected at their present location or moved to a safe location within the building.
A
Defend-in-Place
23
Q
A type of fire attack in which exterior fire suppression operations are directed at protecting exposures.
A
Defensive
24
Q
A sprinkler system in which all sprinklers or applicators are open. When an indicating device, such as a smoke detector, is activated, the deluge valve opens and water discharges from all of the open sprinklers simultaneously.
A
Deluge System
25
An occupancy used to house four or more persons under varied degrees of restraint or security where such occupants are mostly incapable of self-preservation because of security measures not under the occupants' control.
Detention and Correctional Occupancy
26
Firefighting operations involving the application of extinguishing agents directly onto the burning fuel.
Direct Attack
27
The principle that an incident or task should be broken down into smaller, more manageable tasks and personnel assigned to complete those tasks (developing job skills in a concentrated area to allow for more productivity).
Division-of-Labor Principle
28
The tactical-level management unit in charge of geographic area
Division
29
Walls designed to limit horizontal spread of the fire that extend partially down from the underside of the roof. (usually no more that 20% of the height of the compartment)
Draft Curtains
30
Using a computer to navigate by pointing and clicking through a series of drop down menus in a graphical user interface.
Drilling Down
31
Systems in which the pipes are normally filled with compressed air or nitrogen. When a sprinkler is activated, it releases air from the system, which opens a valve so the pipes can fill with water.
Dry Pipe Sprinkler Systems
32
An occupancy used for educational purposes though the 12th grade by 6 or more persons for 4 or more hours per day or more than 12 hours per week.
Educational Occupancy
33
Fire that moved into areas not originally involved, including walls, ceilings, and attic spaces; also, the movement of fire into uninvolved areas of a structure.
Extension
34
Buildings, vehicles, or other property threatened by fire that are external to the building, vehicle, or property where the fire originated.
External Exposures
35
The section that tracks and provides financial and administrative services required to compensate people or organizations providing goods and services at the incident scene
Finance/Administration Section
36
A wide area beyond the hazard control zones, usually staffed by police to keep unauthorized people away from the scene.
Fire Perimeter
37
An oxygen-sufficient condition in which room temperatures reach the ignition temperature of the suspended pyrolytic emissions, causing all combustible contents to suddenly ignite.
Flashover
38
The movement of heat and smoke from higher pressure fire area toward lower pressure areas on the interior and exterior of the structure
Flow Path
39
A fixed facility consisting of an enclosure house a foam concentrate supply tank, a foam solution proportioning system, a pump, and sometimes an extra supply of foam concentrate that can be added to the proportioning system.
Foam house
40
A plan for a property with a substantial rick to life and/or property; includes a drawing of the property, specific floor layouts, and a narrative describing important features.
Formal Preincident Plan
41
The act of performing tasks outside the incident's organizational structure.
Freelancing
42
As related to fire fighter injures, a measure of how often an injury occurs; for example, sprains and strains are the most frequent fire fighter injury.
Frequency
43
Refers to a fire in which the heat release rate and growth rate are controlled by the characteristics of the fuel, such as quantity, chemistry and geometry, and in which adequate air for combustion is available.
Fuel-Controlled
44
Fuels provided by a building's contents and combustible building materials.
Fuel Load
| Fire Load
45
The phase of fire development at which the fire is free-burning and consuming much of the fuel.
Fully Developed Phase
46
The tactical-level management unit in charge of function.
Group
47
The phase of fire development at which the fire is spreading beyond the point of origin and beginning to involve other fuels in the immediate fire area.
Growth Phase
48
The area in which emergency responders are working it can be subdivided into no-entry, hot warm, and cold zones
Hazard Control Zones
49
An occupancy used for purposes of medical or other treatment or care of 4 or more persons, where such occupants are mostly incapable of self-preservation due to age, physical or mental disability, or security measured not under the occupants' control
Health Care Occupancy
50
An operating are considered safe only for individuals wearing appropriate levels of personal protective clothing; established by the IC and safety officer.
Hot Zone
51
Accessing text or graphic items on a computer screen by placing the computer cursor over a specific area or by touching the screen in a touch-screen environment.
Hovering
52
The phase of fire development at which the fire is limited to the immediate point of origin.
Ignition Phase.
53
Exposure to airborne contaminants that are likely to cause death or immediate or delayed permanent adverse health effects or prevent escape from such environment.
Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health (IDLH)
54
The objectives for the overall incident strategy, tactics, risk management, and member safety that are developed by the incident commander and updated throughout the incident.
Incident Action Plan
55
The individual responsible for all incident activities, including the development of strategies and tactics and the ordering and the release of resources.
Incident Commander (IC)
56
The incident commander and appropriate command and general staff personnel assigned to the incident.
Incident Management Team (IMT)
57
Firefighting operations involving the application of extinguishing agents to reduce the buildup of heat released from a fire without applying the agent directly onto the burning fuel; ventilation is kept to a minimum while a fog stream is directed at the ceiling. The approach if most useful in unoccupied, tightly enclosed spaces.
Indirect Attack
58
An occupancy in which products are manufactured or in which processing, assembling, mixing, packaging, finishing, decorating, or repair operations are conducted.
Industrial Occupancy
59
A stand-by team of at least two fire fighters located outside the hazard area available to provide assistance to fire fighters within a hazard.
Initial Rapid Intervention Crew (IRIC)
60
Areas within the structure where the fire originates or within buildings directly connected to the building or origin that were not involved in the initial fire ignition.
Internal Exposures
61
A member of the command staff, responsible for coordinating with representatives from cooperating and assisting agencies.
Liaison Officer
62
The weight of the buildind's contents, people, or anything that is not part of or permanently attached to the structure.
Live Loads
63
A high-rise assignment in which a crew is responsible for managing the stairways; elevators; heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems; and related duties.
Lobby Control
64
The section that obtains needed supplies, equipment, and facilities.
Logistics Section
65
An occupancy used to the display and sale of merchandise
Mercantile Occupancy
66
A multiple occupancy where the occupancies are intermingled.
Mixed Multiple Occupancy
67
A rate-of-flow calculation that calculates the rate of flow as the area in square feet divided by 3 (A/3)
National Fire Academy Formula
68
A system mandated by HSPD-5 that provides a consistent, nationwide approach for federal, state, local and tribal governments; the private sector and nongovernmental organizations to work effectively and efficiently together to prepare for, respond to, and recover from domestic incidents, regardless of cause, size, or complexity.
National Incident Management System (NIMS)
69
An area that is unsafe regardless of the level of personal protective equipment and that must be cleared of all personnel, including emergency response personnel.
No-Entry Zone
70
A piece of information about the premises, such as damage to the building from a previous fire. This information may accompany a pre-incident plan or may be available when the building does not have a pre-incident plan.
Notation
71
A measure of the number of people in a given area; usually states as the number of square feet per person
Occupant Density
72
A type of fire attack in which fire fighters advance into the fire building with hose lines or other extinguishing agents to overpower the fire.
Offensive
73
The section that manages all tactical units deployed at an incident scene.
Operations Section
74
Examination of all areas of the building and contents involved in a fire to ensure that the fire is completely extinguished.
Overhaul
75
A fire in which the heat release rate and/or growth of the fire are controlled by the amount of air available to the fire.
Oxygen-Controlled Fire
| Ventilation-Controlled Fire
76
The section that gathers and evaluates information, assists the incident commander in developing the incident action plan, and tracks progress; also tracks resource status.
Planning Section
77
A construction technique using seperate components to build the frame of the structure (one floor at a time). Each floor has a top and bottom plate that act as fire-stops.
Platform-Frame Construction
78
A dry sprinkler system that uses a deluge valve instead of a dry pipe valve and requires activation of a secondary device before the pipes fill with water.
Preaction Sprinkler
79
Factors that can contribute to a collapse in a building that is heavily involves in fire; these factors include construction types, weight, fuel loads, damage, renovations, deterioration, support systems, and related factors such as lightweight truss ceilings and floors
Prefire condition
80
Written documents resulting from gathering of general and detailed information to be used by public emergency response agencies and private industry for determining the response to reasonable anticipated emergency incidents at a specific facility.
Prefire Plans
81
Damage caused by the products of combustion
Primary Damage
82
The most important factors, assessed during size-up, which change from incident to incident and depend of specific incident conditions.
Primary Factors
83
A member of the command staff responsible for interfacing with the public and media or with other agencies with incident related information requirements
Public Information Officer (PIO)
84
The chemical decomposition of a compound into one or more other substances by heat alone; the process of heating solid materials until combustible materials are emitted.
Pyrolysis
85
A multifunction apparatus equipped to provide for the following four functions: water, pumps, hose, and ground ladders. In other words, this is a quint company minus the aerial ladder.
Quad
86
A multifunction apparatus that is equipped to perform both engine and truck company operations. It is equipped to provide for the following five functions: water, pumps, hose, ground ladders, and an aerial ladder.
Quint
87
A minimum of two fully equipped personnel on-site, for immediate rescue of injured or trapped fire fighters.
Rapid Intervention Crew (RIC)
88
The minimum water application rate required for extinguishment
Rate of Flow
89
A form of decision making in which input is obtained from diverse sources and all options are carefully considered.
Rational Decision Making (RDM)
90
A form of decision making in which the incident commander must decide on the proper course of action with limited information available in a relatively short period of time.
Recognition-Primed Decision Making (RPD)
91
The process of providing rest, re-hydration, nourishment, and medical evaluation to members involved in extended incident scene operations and/or extreme weather conditions.
Rehabilitation
92
A building or portion thereof that is used for lodging and boarding of 4 or more residents, not related by blood or marriage to the owners or operators, for the purpose of providing personal care services.
Residential Board and Care Occupancy
93
An occupancy that provides sleep accommodations for purposes other than health care or detention and correctional.
Residential Occupancy
94
The process of weighing predicted risks to fire fighters against potential benefits for owners/occupants and making decisions based on the outcome of that analysis.
Risk-Versus-Benefit Analysis
95
A rate-of-flow calculation that calculates the rate of slow as the volume in the fire area in cubic feet decided by 100 (V/100). This formula is based on the assumption that structural fires are primarily oxygen controlled.
Royer/Nelson Formula
96
Damage caused by fire-ground activities or the operation of a fire suppression system.
Secondary Damage
97
Less important factors at an incident, which can change from incident to incident and depend on specific incident conditions
Secondary Factors
98
A multiple occupancy where the occupancies are separated by fire resistance-rated assemblies
Separated Multiple Occupancy
99
The extent of an injury's consequence, usually categorized as death, permanent disability, temporary disability, and minor
Severity
100
A command structure in which one person is designated as the incident commander (IC). This person is responsible for the development and implementation of the incident action plan. The IC can delegate staff and command positions as needed to assist in command and control functions.
Single command
101
A stairway that is designed to be separated from the building by a landing. This creates a separation that will limit the spread of smoke into the stairway and keep it clear for evacuation.
Smoke-Proof Tower
102
Cooling hot fire gases using rapid, short-duration application (usually 15-60 sec) from a straight or smooth bore fire stream aimed at a steep angle toward the ceiling from the safest effective location. When using this tactic, water often is applied from the exterior to the interior of a building.
Softening the Target
103
The number of people reporting to a supervisor. The ________ should not exceed 7 people reporting to a single supervisor under emergency conditions.
Span of Control
104
Specific rate-of-flow calculations for sprinkler systems; based on the fuel load. These calculations can be found in various publications, including NFPA documents and Factory Mutual Data Sheets.
Sprinkler System Calculations
105
The vertical airflow within buildings cause by temperature differences between the building interior and the exterior; depending on conditions, _________ could be positive or negative, causing smoke to move upward or downward.
Stack Effect
106
Written rules, policies, regulations, and procedures intended to organize operations in a predictable manner.
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
107
Piping systems with discharge outlets at various locations; in high-rise buildings an outlet will normally be located in the stairway on each floor level. Most are connected to a water source and the pressure boosted by a fire pump
Standpipe Systems
108
An occupancy used primarily for the storage or sheltering of goods, merchandise, products, vehicles, or animals
Storage Occupancy
109
A set number of resources of the same kind and type that have an established minimum number of personnel. _______ always have a leader (usually in a seperate vehicle) and have common communications among resources.
Strike Team
e.g. - five engine companies
110
A federal law enacted in 1986 and also known as the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act. Title III of this law requires businesses that handle or store hazardous chemicals in quantities about specific limits to report the locations, quantity, and hazards of those chemicals to the State Emergency Response Commision (SERC), Local Emergency Planning Committee, and local fire departments. Some of this information has been classified since the attack on the World Trade Center on Sept 11, 2001.
Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA)
111
Any combination of resources that can be temporarily assembles for a specific mission. All resource elements within a _________ must have common communications and a leader. _________ should be established to meet specific tactical needs and should be demobilized as single resources.
Task Force
e.g. - two engine companies, truck company, and supervision of a chief officer.
112
NIMS term for a vehicle that transport water from a water source to the fire scene; also referred to as a tanker or mobile water supply apparatus.
Tender
113
An opening in the roof that extends from bearing wall to bearing wall to prevent horizontal fire spread in a building.
Trench Cut
114
A rule mandating that fire fighters working inside the hazard area work in crews of at least two people. The two people working in the hazard area must be backed up by at least two people outside the hazard area who are properly equipped and immediately available to come to the aid of the inside crew. This rule applied to the first arriving unit. As more units arrive, the two-out team is replaced by a rapid intervention crew.
Two-In/Two-Out Rule
115
Construction method in which structural members, including walls, columns, beams, girders, trusses, arches, floors, and roofs are approved noncombustible or limited-combustible materials and have the highest level of fire-resistance rating.
Type I Construction
Fire-Resistive Construction
116
Construction method in which structural members, including walls, columns, beams, girders, trusses, arches, floors, and roofs are approved noncombustible or limited-combustible materials but the fire resistance rating does not meet the requirements for Type I construction.
Type II Construction
Non-Combustible Construction
117
Construction method in which exterior walls and structural members that are portions of exterior walls are of approved noncombustible or limited-combustible materials, and interior structural memebers, including walls, columns, beams, girders, trusses, arches, floors, and roofs, are entirely or partially of wood or smaller dimensions than those required for Type IV construction or of approved noncombustible, or other approved combustible materials.
Type III Construciton
Ordinary Construction
118
Construction method in which exterior walls and structural members that are portions of exterior walls are of approved noncombustible or limited-combustible materials. Other interior structural members, including walls, columns, beams, girders, trusses, arches, floors, and roofs are of solid or laminated wood without concealed spaces. Wood columns supporting floor loads are not less than 8-in. in any dimension; wood columns supporting roof loads only are not less than 6-in. in the smallest dimension and not less than 8-in. in depth. Wood beams and girders supporting floor loads are not less than 6-in. in width and not less than 10-in. in depth. Wood beams and girders and other roof framing supporting roof loads only are not less than 4-in. in width and not less than 6-in. in depth. Specifics for other structural members are required to be large-dimension lumber as well.
Type IV Construction
Heavy Timber Construction
119
Construction method in which exterior walls, bearing walls, columns, beams, girders, trusses, arches, floors, and roofs, are entirely or partially of wood or other approved combustible material smaller than material required for Type IV construction
Type V Construction
Wood Frame Construction
120
An application of the incident command system (ICS) that allows all agencies with jurisdictional responsibility for an incident or planned event, either geographical or functional, to manage an incident or planned event by establishing a common set of incident objectives and statagies
Unified Command
121
A pyramidal command system ensuring that no one reports to more than one supervisor.
Unity of Command
122
A fire within a compartment or building that is limited due to the lack of air (oxygen) even though sufficient vapor fuel is available to support continues burning
Ventilation Controlled
123
An intermediate area between the hot and cold zones where personal protective equipment is required, but at a lower level than the hot zone.
Warm Zone
124
A sprinkler system in which the pipes are normally filled with water.
Wet Pipe Sprinkler system
125
An assembly made up of small-dimension lumber joined in a triangular configuration that can be used to support either roofs or floors.
Wood Truss
