July 10, 2008, about noon...
Last night, at the Cachagua Community Park, I had the chance to chat with U.S. Forest Service Chief Steve Davis, Los Padres National Forest wildlands fuels expert.
We talked about terms we hear often - Confinement, Containment and Control - but may not fully understand.
Note: Picture by Toby Rowland-Jones, CDF Volunteer Firefighter
Here's what I learned from Steve and other online sources: when used to describe wildland fire suppression strategies, the terms confine, contain and control are confusing because they also have tactical meanings.
Containment and control are used to represent the status of a fire for reporting purposes. But, these terms do not represent a type of management strategy.
Contained Wildfire: a fire event is totally contained when the total fireline produced by the initial attack resources is greater than or equal to the total fire perimeter. We often hear of some percentage less than 100% containment. How is that calculated? If you think of a square, and one side of the square is considered "contained" then you have 25% containment. So, it's the aggregated pieces of the perimeter in relation to the entire fire perimeter, that is used to calculate containment.
Confined Wildfire: the goal of the strategy employed in appropriate management responses, where a fire perimeter is managed by a combination of direct and indirect actions and use of natural topographic features, fuel, and weather factors.
Highlights from this morning's news release:
• A hard road closure has been issued at Tassajara Road from the Forest Service boundary (the Nason Residence) south to the Zen Center.
• Carmel Valley Road is closed to the public, except to emergency traffic and residents from the junction of Arroyo Seco Road to Sleepy Hollow Road.
• Closures are subject to change at any time based on fire conditions.
• Fire continues to burn east along the south side of Willow Creek, toward Tassajara Road.
• The fire has slopped over the Rodeo Flats Trail, and is hung up at the Arroyo Seco Trail. The area is inaccessible to crews, so aircraft is being used to slow the spread of the fire in this area.
• The southeast corner of the fire is spreading east toward the containment line of the Indians Fire.
• A fire satellite camp has been set up at the Carmel Valley Vintage Airfield in Carmel Valley Village to keep crews closer to the fire suppression operation in the northern section of the fire.
• A RED FLAG WARNING has been issued through Friday at 12:00 noon due to predicted high temperatures, low relative humidity, and gusty northerly winds. The area is under an “excessive heat warning.”
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) of Monterey County will be available to provide assistance at the Red Cross shelter location. Call (831) 373-2631 for further information.
Containment and control are used to represent the status of a fire for reporting purposes. But, these terms do not represent a type of management strategy.
Contained Wildfire: a fire event is totally contained when the total fireline produced by the initial attack resources is greater than or equal to the total fire perimeter. We often hear of some percentage less than 100% containment. How is that calculated? If you think of a square, and one side of the square is considered "contained" then you have 25% containment. So, it's the aggregated pieces of the perimeter in relation to the entire fire perimeter, that is used to calculate containment.
Confined Wildfire: the goal of the strategy employed in appropriate management responses, where a fire perimeter is managed by a combination of direct and indirect actions and use of natural topographic features, fuel, and weather factors.
Controlled Wildfire: occurs when a fire event is "blacklined." The fire can no longer escape the containment boundaries.
As of today, by the way, we are 41% contained!!
------------------------------------------------------------
Highlights from this morning's news release:
• A hard road closure has been issued at Tassajara Road from the Forest Service boundary (the Nason Residence) south to the Zen Center.
• Carmel Valley Road is closed to the public, except to emergency traffic and residents from the junction of Arroyo Seco Road to Sleepy Hollow Road.
• Closures are subject to change at any time based on fire conditions.
• Fire continues to burn east along the south side of Willow Creek, toward Tassajara Road.
• The fire has slopped over the Rodeo Flats Trail, and is hung up at the Arroyo Seco Trail. The area is inaccessible to crews, so aircraft is being used to slow the spread of the fire in this area.
• The southeast corner of the fire is spreading east toward the containment line of the Indians Fire.
• A fire satellite camp has been set up at the Carmel Valley Vintage Airfield in Carmel Valley Village to keep crews closer to the fire suppression operation in the northern section of the fire.
• A RED FLAG WARNING has been issued through Friday at 12:00 noon due to predicted high temperatures, low relative humidity, and gusty northerly winds. The area is under an “excessive heat warning.”
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) of Monterey County will be available to provide assistance at the Red Cross shelter location. Call (831) 373-2631 for further information.
Note: Picture by Toby Rowland-Jones, CDF Volunteer Firefighter
Posts
2 comments:
Just a followup on the confine/contain/control. I find it very confusing as well. In the Dept. of Interior (NPS,BIA,BLM,Fish) contain and control are fire reporting terms that go down in the records (date and time). I have heard many Forest Service Folks especially in New Mexico talk the 3 C's but more in tactical terms. If a Forest Service Unit decides to "confine a fire" this has many implications and it would seem to me that the Fire Management Plan/Forest Plan would have to allow for that kind of fire because the fire is in more of a monitoring mode. Or can a Forest Service Unit choose to confine a fire and be covered by some broader FS policy?
Great!
Post a Comment