Teacher Information!
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Necessary materials:
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PowerPoint Guide
Wildland Fire Types and Fighting
Fire
Pgs 283-289 in Ch.22 of Managing Our Natural
Resources
Rangelands, Forests, & Fire
Students will be able to…
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Describe the types of wildland fires.
Discuss fire suppression.
Who started the fire?
Wildfires may be
 Natural  mainly lightning
or…
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Human-caused
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Incendiary-the unlawful setting of fire
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Includes arson and escaped planned fires
Unattended campfires
Types of Wildland Fires
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3 types based on fire intensity
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Ground fire
Surface fire
Crown fire
Fire intensity  the rate a fire produces heat
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measured as temperature or heat yield
Ground Fires
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Burn the organic materials beneath the surface
litter of the forest floor
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Fuels like peat, coal, tree roots
Common in wet, boggy areas
Smoldering fire, usually no flames
Very high heat kills root systems
Surface Fires
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Burn surface litter and small vegetation
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Forest canopy is not generally burned
Most fires begin as surface fires
Easiest to control
Crown Fires
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Burn from top to top of trees or shrubs
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Most dangerous type of fire
Can easily spread due to wind
Anatomy of a Fire
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Head the most active part of a fire; a fire
can have more than one
Rear: the slowest burning part of a fire
Flank: the sides of the fire, between the
head and the rear
Flank
Rear
Burned area
Wind
Head
Fire Anatomy Influenced by:
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Air movement  horizontal & vertical
movement of air & wind speed
Fire season July-September in Idaho
Topography
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Steeper slopes = faster fire, more updrafting
winds
Presences of roads, streams = fire barriers
Fire Behavior
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These factors that affect fire anatomy result
in fire behavior 
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The rate of spread or speed of a fire
Fire intensity
Some conditions can decrease the rate of
spread
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Rain
Wind reversal
Increased relative humidity
Fuel Types
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Influence fire behavior
Two types
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Ground fuels  peat, duff, tree roots, leaves,
dead grass, weeds, low shrubs
Aerial fuels  burnable material in canopies
above 6 ft from the ground
Wildfire Detection
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Lookout towers
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An alidade  determine the azimuth of a
detected fire from two lookout towers
Triangulation  2 azimuths taken from two
towers pinpoints fire location
Telephone reports from motorists
Wildfire Detection
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Fire-watch planes
Remote sensing equipment
Satellite imaging systems
Preventing Wildfire
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Education campaigns
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Smokey Bear
Keep America Green
Thinning
Prescribed burning
National Fire Danger Rating System
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Fire danger indices
Suppressing Wildfire
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Direct attack
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Indirect attack Removes fuel from the
fire triangle
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The flames are attacked
Fire lanes
Fire barriers
Backfire
Mopping up  Patrolling the fire line
after the fire is under control
Review
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Describe the types of wildland fires.
Discuss fire suppression.