Fire Behavior

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Fire Behavior as it Relates to Firefighter
Safety Six Key Points for Discussion   MartyAlexa
nder Canadian Forest Service Northern Forestry
Centre Edmonton Alberta 7th International
Wildland Fire Safety Summit Toronto
Ontario November 18-20 2003

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Key Point 1 The International Association of
Wildland Fire needs to consider broadening the
Agenda of the International Wildland Fire
Safety Summits to include the Public at Large
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• Consider the recent fatalities in Europe and
  California
• Focus/theme for 2004 Summit
• Future revisions of Davis Mutch (1995)
  Wildland Fires Dangers and Survival Book
  Chapter

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Key Point 2 Our Understanding of Fire Behavior
Dynamics in Insect- and Disease-Killed Forest
Stands is Extremely Poor to Non-existent
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• Dead forest fuel types are increasing across
  North America
• CFS/OMNR study in spruce budworm-killed stands
• Support for experimental burning is critical

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Key Point 3 Avoid Placing too much Reliance on
Trigger Points and Continue to Stress Fire
Behavior Fundamentals and Systematically
Assessing Potential Fire Behavior Using Existing
Aids Guides
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• Searching for silver bullets
• Crude but reliable FB guides aids needed at the
  field level
• Decision Trap 5 Relying inappropriately on
  rules of thumb

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Key Point 4 The Use of Experienced Judgment in
Assessing Fire Behavior needs to be Supported by
more Documentation in the Future
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• Firefighters expectations of how fires behave
  largely based on experience
• Gisborne (1948) commentary on experienced
  judgment
• Wildland fire behavior case studies

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Key Point 5 A Concerted Effort is Needed to
Bring the Fire Behavior and Human Behavior
Specialists Together in Order to Improve Wildland
Fire Safety in the Future
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• Applies to fire operations personnel
  (firefighter-FB officer/analyst-IC) the public
• Human factors in predicting fire behavior
• Karl Weick (2002) FMT article

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Key Point 6 Initial Attack Dispatch Guidelines
Should Reflect the Current State-of-Knowledge
Concerning Fire Behavior Firefighting Resource
Productivity/Effectiveness
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• Firefighters dispatched to a newly reported
  fire should have a reasonably good chance of
  containing the fire at a reasonable size
  otherwise their safety is being jeopardized
• Role of fuels management

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PAYING TRIBUTE Paul Gleason (1946 2003) Fall
2003 issue of Fire Management Today dedicated
to Paul