Prescribed Fire Danger Signals

1. Prescribed Fire Danger Signals • 1. Pre-ignition burn parameters (winds, relative humidity, fuel) on hot side of prescription. • 2. Not enough people to cover firelines. • 3. New (or unfamiliar) equipment, technology problems (radios), and equipment dependency.

2. Prescribed Fire Danger Signals • 4. Firelines not safe (too narrow, too hot for crew, not “clean”, constructed on hillsides where rolling material can ignite fuel below, snags near firelines). • 5. Inexperienced crew members, crews not familiar with each other, hybrid crews on large burns.

3. Prescribed Fire Danger Signals • 6. Complicated ignition patterns, especially with crews unfamiliar with each other. • 7. Changes in weather, nearby thunderstorms. • 8. Crew report spotting in early stages of burn.

4. Prescribed Fire Danger Signals • 9. Unfamiliar unit, not scouted in daylight. • 10. Don’t know the plan (didn’t know there was a plan), crew uninformed about strategy and hazards. Crew instruction and assignments not clear. • 11. Old plans, changes in fuel models, i.e. more grassy, dead cedar.

5. Prescribed Fire Danger Signals • 12. Burning using other people’s plans in unfamiliar territory, subtly different topography, and fuel types other then usual. • 13. Changing the burn prescription on burn day. • 14. Hurrying, especially to meet a narrow burn window.

6. Prescribed Fire Danger Signals • 15. Night burning (mop up). • 16. KB index 500+ (engages 100 hour fuels, snags), with probability of ignition high. • 17. Burning unit after a several smooth, successful, and uneventful burns. • 18. Taking a nap near the fireline.

7. Watch Out Situations • Burning without “Kings”. • Burning without “Whites” - that’s eight inch “Whites”. • Burning in California - what happened to all of those California fire leaders anyway? • Inability to pronounce Cienega and you’re burning in the Socratese.

8. Watch Out Situations • Your ignition source is a meteor. • You forgot to excess a suitable number of fish as part of your fire/herbicide program. • You fall under Jason’s LD 50. • Burning without the Pope (on holding). • Burning without suspenders, chewing, tobacco, or those oakleys.

9. Watch Out Situations • During ignition, your resource person mixes up tai chi, pratanyana yoga, and just plain praying. • Wow. • You actually understand one of Walker’s questions.

10. Watch Out Situations • After cavitating your resource person’s pump he sobbingly repeats “poor Thelma, poor Thelma.” • You are short on trained monkeys on burn day and have to resort to real firefighters.

11. Watch Out Situations