Wildfire


Glossary

A

arson
 - The crime of deliberately setting a fire with the intent to cause damage
atmosphere
 - The air and other gases surrounding the earth

B

backfire
 - Controlled burn set by firefighters to consume fuel in the path of a wildfire

C

channels
 - The bed of a stream or river
chemical reaction
 - An event which causes a substance to change into a new substance
converted
 - Changed

D

debris
 - Garbage
deposits
 - Materials left - almost as if cast off
dike
 - A wall used for controlling water

E

ecosystems
 - The interaction between living and nonliving organisms in a community
elements
 - Parts
embers
 - Hot remains of a fire
endangered
 - Threatened or in danger of becoming extinct or non-existent

F

fire retardant
 - A chemical that suppresses fire
firebreak
 - A strip of ground in the path of the fire, cleared of all vegetation to deprive the fire of fuel
flammable
 - Quick to catch on fire

G

gullies
 - Ditches caused by moving water

H

habitat
 - Place where something lives
horizontally
 - Level with the ground
hotshots
 - Crews of highly trained wildland firefighters who work on dangerous, difficult fires
humidity
 - Moisture in the atmosphere

I

ignited
 - To set on fire

M

management objective
 - Long range plan

P

Paleozoic Era
 - Between 251 million to 542 million years ago
petrified
 - Changed to stone
phenomena
 - Events
prescribed
 - Planned

R

rangelands
 - grassland
rehabilitating
 - To repair or return to original

S

Smokejumpers
 - Firefighters who parachute out of planes into remote fire areas
stabilize
 - To make firm or steady
steppe
 - Prairie or grassland
suppress
 - To stop or slow down
sustain
 - Support

T

tilled
 - Plowed
topography
 - Features of the land, hills, mountains, valleys - highs and lows
trench
 - Ditch

V

velocity
 - Speed or change in direction