This is a repost of some words I tossed out during the Four Mile Canyon fire of 2010. I was asked to make this public again as Colorado is facing some harrowing devastation (Waldo Canyon Fire, High Park Fire, Flagstaff Fire, etc.). I have so much to add to this but may do that in another post regarding how we use social media in disasters. All I ask is that you don’t clog hashtags will irrelevant information that does not add value to those that need the information. Be safe, follow pre-evac orders and evac orders, play well with others, and think of your neighbors. – Kia (@yosoykia) P.S. I did some time as a wildland firefighter so these are not foreign concepts to me.
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Words, words, words… ever hear of Wittgensteins fallacy of linguistics? We can be meaning the same thing but unless we share a precise language we may not be saying the same things. There may be a lot of confusion with the #boulderfire right now because fire terminology can be pretty damn precise even though it seems like some words mean the same thing.
An example is what does CONTAINMENT mean vs. CONTROLLING?
In wildland firefighting CONTAINMENT is when you are able to establish a physical perimeter around the fire with breaks. The breaks are the areas of cleared space where there is nothing that can burn within them (no fuel loading). So basically you can contain a fire while there are still flames around… the idea is that the flames will not be able to get past the physical barriers of no fuel. In our #boulderfire you may have seen bulldozers leaving wide tracks of dirt in their wake, these are some of the best breaks you can make for containment especially when structures could be in danger. With structures you want wide breaks for optimal containment. If bulldozers cannot make it to a burn area then you will see firefighters tearing everything up to clear as much fuel within breaks.
CONTROLLING a fire is much different in that you want flames to be extinguished. After containment the next firefighting goal is control so that the flames within a contained area are no more.
After containment then controlling the next step is OUT. Within a contained fire area that is controlled there still is a possibility of flare up from hot spots if the right mixture of wind, heat, and dryness persist. Thus even though there may not look to be an active area in a fire it still is not safe to return to unless it is out. At this stage firefighters will comb through the area possibly checking every hole and burned log with the back of their hand for heat. If it is still hot they may put a little water on it and mix a slurry of dirt and mud on it to reduce the oxygen exposure it has to make sure that spot is out. Large areas have to be checked like this to make sure the fire is officially out.
For those who thankfully still have homes to return to where the fire looks like it has passed please be patient until you get official word that the area is OUT. Fire officials are making sure the fire is OUT in these spots as well as entry and exit routes to make sure you are safe. The danger of entering areas before they are declared out is in the possibility of a flare up which is something that none of us want.
Here is a link to some wildland firefighting terminology. I don’t know if all the slang is up there so if you are curious hit me up on twitter as @yosoykia.
Be safe everyone. And still be appreciative of the firefighters working. I went by the reservoir today as the early morning crews were gathering around and they look like they have been worked, but are doing their best.
