Fire Program Analysis

The ability of an FPA system user to create, read, update, or delete data.

The cost of immediate measures to stabilize soil damage caused by fire suppression efforts.

Activity

In one definition, the term 'activity' refers to budget reporting and includes preparedness, suppression, hazardous fuels reduction, and rehabilitation.

Actual expenditures

Actual funding spent at the FPU, state, and regional level during the year by activity and subactivity; reported at year-end.

Base hourly rate with COLA, locality, or shortage pay adjustments added.

The annualized version of adjusted hourly wages, base salary plus all salary adjustments.

A system-enforced requirement that aerial drops of retardant or water are not allowed until ground forces reach a fire.

Targeted, planned, expenditures for a specified unit level based upon a combination of FPA analysis and agency fire planning for the upcoming budget year.

Funding that is allocated to the departments following the appropriation.

A combination of preparedness, fuels and prevention options. Alternatives are defined by the FPU partners to accomplish national budget analyses, or to evaluate other FPU fire management organizations to meet local needs.

The combination of spatial and organizational extent included in a particular analysis. Example: the analysis framework of a national federal budget analysis would include all lands of participating agencies within the United States . The analysis framework to explore air tanker needs in the western United States may include all lands, federal, state, and private, who share air tanker resources.

The period of time in which the particular budget and cost data from an analysis will be used for budgeting or allocation purposes. Space on the curve between each analysis point. Also known as cost increment. Calculated using (Maximum - Minimum)/ (number of cost limits) = Cost Increment.

The fiscal year in which the particular budget and cost data from an analysis will be used for budgeting or allocation purposes. All input cost and value data is inflated to this common year.

Base Hourly Wages

Base Salary

Salary for the working year (fire season plus training days for temps, entire year for full time employees)

Budget Activity

Specific kinds of work within an appropriation. For purposes of FPA, the key analyzed activities are preparedness, fuels, and suppression.

Budget Category

Agency defined categories for certain classes of planned fire budget expenditures. All costs fit into one of the following three Budget Categories: 1. Fireline Producers; 2. Fire Management & Support; 3. Fire Indirect.

Budget Formulation Allocation (BFA)

Budget Object/Sub-Object (BOC)

A 4-digit code used to classify expenses. See DOI Budget Object Classes FY2004 - Draft 9-30-03 and see Budget Object Codes for USDA FS.

Budget Submission

The process of providing a budget request to Congress and OMB for approval and allocation

Budget and policy guidelines

National-level directives, budgetary or regulatory, that can affect the level of funding across the board, such as a percentage federal budget cut; affect apportioning of funds, such as a requirement that WUI be funded at a certain level; or dictate other costs.

Budget information

Information from the [FPA Phase 2] analysis that is used to inform development of the budget request to OMB.

Budgeted Fire Resources

Fire suppression resources that are primarily funded from the Wildland Fire Appropriation - Preparedness Activity for local unit initial response. Budgeted resources are associated with the FPU.

Build and Maintain Landscape Inventory

Assemble, from various sources, data describing the FPU.

Canopy Cover

The amount of the canopy coverage actually occupied, and expressed as a percentage.

Canopy or Crown Fuel Characteristics

Crown fuels estimated from individual trees or canopy fuels estimated from stand data used to calculate crown fire attributes.

Capital Cost

Funds or moneys identified for improvements or additions to the fire management program. The funds can be from the preparedness sub-activity or other funding sources.

Category

See Fire Resource Category

Factors that would preclude application of a strategy at a particular time or in a particular place. Constraints could include such things as topography, weather, wildland-urban interface, land management objectives, threatened and endangered species, national or local issues, etc.

Consumable Goods

Items expected to be used during initial response. This property is not marked. Examples include batteries, MREs plastic canteens and petroleum goods.

Contained Wildfire

Specific to fire events modeled in FPA-PM; a fire event is contained when the total fireline produced by the initial attack resources is greater than or equal to the total fire perimeter.

Cooperator

A local administrative unit whose fire resources will be included as inputs to the analysis. The workload (fire ignitions) for this unit is not input to the system. Examples may be local/rural fire districts.

Cost

Two-digit code, nationally defined Budget Object Classification Codes (BOC). Budget expense categories such as Equipment, Supplies, Travel, Personnel also defined in section 1.4.1 of this document .

See FS Chapter 40 ? Cost Allocation. Cost Pools serve as an accounting tool that provides financial data on categories of similar expenses. It is a cost allocation process to allocate support, indirect and common service costs among programs based on a percentage of direct labor hours and actual cases (OWCP and Unemployment). There are six cost categories, cost pools 1,3 and 4 are entirely indirect costs while cost pools 5,6 and 7 can have both direct and indirect depending if the cost can be attributed to a specific program or not.

A user-defined time applied to FWAs to simulate the time it typically takes Fire Resources to walk in to fires not accessible by road.

The composition and structural characteristics of the plant community existing on a site or ecological unit (after FSH 2090.11). Current conditions may also refer to the state of a site or ecological unit in relation to a desired process, such as fire return interval, rather than to a specific vegetative structure or the composition of the unit.

The existing preparedness, prevention and fuels organization for each FPU partner. The current organization is used to establish a baseline against which other optional organizations can be compared.

Daily Availability

The composition and structural characteristics of the plant community on a site or ecological unit which meets land management plan or other management objectives (after FSH 2090.11); or those landscape conditions that are most conducive to ecosystem health based on long-term management objectives. Desired conditions can be the same as existing conditions. Desired conditions may also refer to the state of a site or ecological unit in relation to a desired process, such as fire return interval, rather than to a specific vegetative structure or composition of the unit.

Determine Fire Probability

See Fire probability. Determination of the likelihood of a fire starting and then spreading, either outside its cell or pixel or spreading from an adjacent cell or pixel.

Digital Elevation Model (DEM)

Discovery Size

The defined, typical size of a fire that is discovered in each Fire Management Unit. It is intended to reflect the effectiveness of the planning unit detection system. The entry is used as the starting fire size in the fire growth simulation.

The time from fire event discovery, (including time to determine a response strategy), through FPU direction to send resources.

Dispatch Delay

For an FWA, a user-defined time it typically takes for dispatch to notify a Fire Resource to respond to a fire after the fire's discovery.

Dispatch Delay

The typical elapsed time it takes for an initial attack unit to start its travel to a fire after the time of discovery.

Dispatch Location

A physical location from which fire resources respond. Dispatch locations must have facilities that support the fire resources and have a recurring operation and maintenance cost. Facilities must meet state and federal health, safety, and construction and access regulations.

Dispatch Location Current Quantity

The current quantity of fire resources stationed at a dispatch location by kind, category and type.

Dispatch Location Extended Capacity

The maximum future capacity for a dispatch location to accommodate initial response resources by kind, category, type and quantity.

Dispatch Location ID

A unique code used to identify an individual dispatch location

Dispatch Location Resource Capacity

The existing capacity for a dispatch location by fire resource kind, category and type and quantity.

Diurnal Fire Behavior Coefficient

A factor a user applies to Rate of Spread to adjust fire behavior.

Dozer/Plow Walk-In Delay

Dry Rate

Effectiveness and Efficiency Measures (EEPS)

A set of performance measures used in FPA to measure the relative value of FPU fire management Alternatives; at the national level, the same measures are used to measure the relative value of sets of FPU Alternatives.

Elliptical Fire Shape

The shape of the modeled fire event based on single point of ignition, rate of spread, effective wind speed, and elapsed time.

Emergency Stabilization

Planned actions to stabilize and prevent unacceptable degradation to natural and cultural resources, to minimize threats to life or property resulting from the effects of a fire, or to repair/replace/construct physical improvements necessary to prevent degradation of land or resources. Emergency stabilization actions must be taken within one year following containment of a wildland fire.

Engine Reload Delay

A user-defined time it takes an engine, by FWA, to leave a fire, fill with water, and return to the fire.

Equipment Cost

One of eight cost categories used to calculate the annual fire resource preparedness cost. It is the sum of all recurring annual costs for equipment (vehicles, mileage, cell phones, and radios)

Exceed Simulation Limits (ESL)

In the IRS module, a fire that exceeds the limits of the simulation model based on either time or size.

Expected Suppression Cost (IRS)

For each fire event that is contained by the model, the sum of the Unit Mission Cost for all fire resources that were dispatched to the event and the calculated Average Acre cost.

FARSITE Landscape Files

GIS spatial data themes containing fuels, vegetation, and topographic data are combined into a single data layer for use by the application.

FMU Constraint

Prohibition on the use of particular fire resources specific to each fire management unit. Constraints are derived from direction provided in policy, law, and/or local land management plans. Constraints may apply only during particular sensitivity periods or for particular fire intensity levels.

FPA System Roles - User Administrator

This individual creates user accounts and FPU Team groups.

FPU Actual Spending

Actual fire program expenditures at the FPU level.

FPU Analysis

Fire planning analysis performed using the FPA Application for a fire planning unit. This would include any analysis performed regardless of the purpose (budget submission, land management planning, user selected, etc.).

FPU Team Member Roles - Administrator

In addition to Editor permissions, this individual has authority to manage the Team membership by adding and removing users to and from these three Team groups

FPU Team Member Roles - Editor

Individual has access authority to edit (create, update, delete, etc.) FPU information, including reader permissions. (A fire planner.)

FPU Team Member Roles - Reader

Individual has read-only access to all planning activities and reports. All User accounts have this access right.

Facility Capacity

The capability to accommodate an initial response resource.

Facility Capital Cost

The cost to build a new dispatch location facility or expand an existing facility.

Final Fire Size

The number of acres burned before the fire was considered out

Fire Behavior Data Table

A table of numbers of fires and 50th and 90th percentile rates of spread for each Fire Intensity Level. It is used in the simulation of fire occurrence and behavior. The FBD is developed from historic fire occurrence and fire weather data for each Fire Management Unit in the PCHA program.

Fire Containment

A fire is contained within FPA when fireline produced by initial attack fire resources in greater than or equal to the fire perimeter.

Fire Containment Time

The elapsed time from the beginning of the modeled fire event until fire containment is achieved.

Fire Dispatch Levels

In the Initial Response Simulation (IRS) module, a 3, 4, or 5-level system of fire danger assessment used to define the maximum number and type of resources that can be dispatched to a Fire Workload Area (FWA) when a fire occurs within that FWA. Fire Dispatch Levels (FDL) are set using either the National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) Energy Release Component (ERC) or Burning Index (BI).

Fire Dispatch Logic

In the IRS module, the process by which the maximum number of fire resources are dispatched to an FWA, by Fire Dispatch Level and fire resource type.

Fire Event

A single wildland fire from its estimated ignition time through its life, measured in time, until out. [A fire event has a known group of attributes with both physical or statistical attributes.]

Fire Event Attributes

Attributes of fire events passed to the FPA from PCHA, including aspect, slope, ERC, fuel model, and wind speed. FPU planners cannot edit or override these attributes.

Fire Event Scenario

A representation of the annual initial response fire activity based on historic fire occurrence. The fire event scenario is an output of historic analysis.

Fire Ignition

Any event that starts a fire, whether natural or human-caused.

Fire Intensity Level (FIL)

A measure of fire behavior. It is based on the calculated flame length. The NFDRS Burning Index (BI) is the indicator for fire danger for dispatching purposes and is used to categorize rate of spread and to assess fire effects. Flame length = BI/10; FIL 1: 0-2 feet; FIL 2: 2-4 feet; FIL 3: 4-6 feet; FIL 4: 6-8 feet; FIL 5: 8-12 feet; FIL 6: 12+ feet

Fire Management Strategy

Pre-selected fire program direction assigned to accomplish specific fire management objectives from the Fire Management Plan. The fire management strategies conform to and promote the implementation of land management plan objectives. Each Fire Management Unit should have a strategy or strategies defined; a fire management strategy or a similar set of strategies could apply to more than one FMU within a Fire Planning Unit.

Fire Management Unit (FMU)

Fire Management Unit Constraint

Prohibition on the use of particular fire resources specific to each fire management unit. Constraints are derived from direction provided in policy, law and/or local land management plans. Constraints may apply only during particular sensitivity periods.

Fire Manager

A generic term to describe fire management leadership, generally a direct cost component. Examples: District, Unit, Forest Fire Management Officers, Assistant and Deputy FMOs, Aviation Officers, Wildland Fire Use Specialists, etc.

Fire Operations Supervisor

A fire management position whose function it is to supervise line firefighters and manage IA and EA fires

Fire Planning Team

The group of individuals (fire managers and resource specialists) who will participate in the FPU analysis.

Fire Planning Unit (FPU)

An organizational entity whose purpose is cooperative fire management planning and implementation. Fire Planning Units are associated with a specific land base that can be described spatially. The boundaries of Fire Planning Unit land base are not predefined by Agency administrative unit boundaries. Fire Planning Units may consist of a single agency unit, multiple agency units, or any combination of single or multiple agency units and subunits. Lands included in a Fire Planning Unit may be contiguous or non-contiguous.

Fire Probability

Likelihood of a fire starting and then spreading, either outside its cell or pixel or spreading from an adjacent cell or pixel.

Fire Program Component

Any of a number of portions of the federal fire program with their own funding, commonly known as "subactivities." Examples pertinent to FPA include preparedness, fuels, suppression, and rehabilitation.

Fire Resource

Resources available or potentially available that have a production function and directly contribute to the management of a fire. This does not include management and support.

Fire Resource

Personnel and equipment that respond to wildland fires, associated with a certain level of production and cost.

Fire Resource Backup

A characteristic of a Fire Resource in FPA that requires the resource to be backed up by another Fire Resource.

Fire Resource Capital Cost

The cost to purchase new fire resource equipment.

Fire Resource Category

The intermediate level of the 3-part classification system applied to fire resources (Kind, Category, and Type). Ex: Kind of fire resource: Equipment. Category: Engine. Type: 3.

Fire Resource Deployment Cost Per Mile

The cost per mile for a fire resource, by kind, category and type, to travel from the dispatch location where the fire resource is stationed to a workload point within an FMU.

Fire Resource Deployment Cost Premium

The additional cost incurred when a new fire resource is deployed.

Fire Resource Deployment Cost Reload

Costs incurred during reload of a fire resource, e.g. fire retardant, foam, etc.

Fire Resource Deployment Cost Supplies

Costs incurred by a fire resource during deployment, e.g. burnt hose, initial supply of fire retardant. This cost is included in the first time interval of deployment.

Fire Resource Kind

The highest level of the 3-part classification system applied to fire resources (Kind, Category, and Type). Ex: Kind of fire resource: Equipment. Category: Engine. Type: 3.

Fire Resource Out of Service Attributes

The amount of out of service time for each category of fire resource by FMU, determined by the FPU Planner.

Fire Resource Type

Based on Fire Resource Category and Kind, further defines a fire resource, e.g. a type 6 engine.

Fire Support

Personnel positions that are not "management", but are considered "fire specific activities or positions." These include dispatchers, cache workers, timekeepers, etc.

Fire Suppression Organization

1) The personnel collectively assigned to the suppression of a specific fire or group of fires. 2) The personnel responsible for fire suppression within a specified area. 3) The management structure, usually shown in the form of an organization chart of the persons and groups having specific responsibilities in fire suppression.

Fire Workload Area (FWA)

An area or areas within an FMU that share an attribute that distinguishes it from the rest of the FMU, e.g. roadless portions of an FMU for which access to fires is by aerial resources.

Fire Workload Area (FWA)

An area or areas within an FMU that share an attribute that distinguishes it from the rest of the FMU, e.g. roadless portions of an FMU for which access to fires is by aerial resources and/or ground, significantly different resource values or fire workload.

First Unit Delay

A user defined delay applied to the FWA for the first responding resource to unlock gates, gain access to a fire, and do an initial fire size up, before attempting to contain the fire.

Fixed Costs

Those costs that can be planned for in advanced, in the context of FPA these are the costs in the preparedness budget activity.

Fixed Operating Rate

Fried and Fried Containment Algorithm

A fire containment algorithm included in the Initial Response Simulator that explicitly accounts for the interaction between the production of containment line and a fire's capacity to spread. The Fried and Fried Containment Algorithm allow for tail, head and parallel attack tactics.

Fuel Moisture Content (FMC)

Fuels

Combustible material; or, the combustible vegetation that exists on the landscape.

Goal Programming

Grid Weather

Ground Resource Travel Time

A system-calculated time for ground resources to reach a fire in an FWA derived by dividing the travel distance by the speed of the ground resource.

Helicopter Reload Delay

A user-defined time it takes a helicopter, by FWA, to leave a fire, fill with water, and return to the fire.

Helitack Walk-In Delay

A user-defined time applied to FWAs to simulate the time it typically takes helitack personnel to walk from a helispot to a fire.

Highly Valued Resources (HVR)

Nationally or locally defined natural resources to be protected or improved through appropriate fire management strategy.

Historic Fire Ignition Escaped Cost

The costs associated with fires that have historically escaped. This cost is derived from Agency fiscal records and may be used for reporting.

Historic Funding Level

The average amount expended over the past 10 years by all agencies incorporated in the FPU. This amount includes only the preparedness and suppression costs for IR. Exclude costs for extended attack and large fires.

Hourly Availability

The regular hours each day that a Fire Resource is available for fire management actions (user defined).

IR Resources Library

A system maintained database of all modeled Fire Resources used to respond to wildland fires. FPU Planners can add, edit, or delete resources that their FPU "owns," but all Fire Resources, regardless of ownership, may be used in an analysis.

Indirect Cost

An expense that is necessary for operations and not attributable to a specific program or output, such as personnel costs for employees involved in administration that support more than one program or output, including salary, benefits, training and travel. Also includes, material, supplies and equipments costs incurred by more than one program area. Reference: FSH 1909.13 and FSH 5109.19 CH 10 (draft).

Initial Response (IR)

Expands the Initial Attack definition to include the response and associated workload with wildland fire responses in the broad context of Appropriate Management Response.

Initial Response Simulator (IRS)

The portion of the FPA system that simulates fire growth and containment for initial response wildland fires and the management actions of FPU Fire Resources. Fires that exceed model simulation limits in IRS module are available for further analysis in the Large Fire module.

Intensity

The amount of heat a fire emits.

Labor Cost

Land Management Objectives

The objectives set forth in an approved Land Management Plan, Resource Management Plan, Fire Management Plan, or other guiding document that provide the basis for the fire management program in a designated area. The objectives identify the need for and use of fire role in a particular area and for a specific benefit. Not all land management objectives are directly related to the fire management program.

Land Ownership

Ownership information contained within the landscape inventory; includes federal, state, municipal, and private ownership.

Large Airtanker Delay

The system will calculate the time it takes a large airtanker to leave a fire, reload with retardant, and return to the fire, based on FWA location relative to airtanker base locations.

Lookup Data

Standardized costs, items, ID codes and so on that are nationally agreed upon. The purpose of the lookup data is to ensure consistency and to reduce the amount of data entry required.

Miles to FMU

The road mileage, usually traveled route, between a ground initial attack unit Initial Dispatch Location (Base) and the FMU fire Location. For locations with air attack units assigned, it is the air line miles.

Mobilization Delay

The accumulated time delays that apply to fire resources prior to the start of fire event containment. This is the sum of all delays from report of the fire until production can begin on the fire, and could include dispatch delay, get-away delay, unloading equipment delay, hike-in delay etc. It does not include travel time. See Pre-production delay.

Mobilization Delay

A user-defined time applied to FWAs to simulate the time it typically takes for Fire Resources to begin traveling to a fire, once dispatched.

Multi-Year Fire Scenario

A representation of multiple instances of annual fire ignition activity based on historic fire occurrence. Fire event scenarios are an output of historic fire analysis.

National Analysis

An evaluation of combinations of FPU fire management Alternatives undertaken at the national level, producing reports of EEP outputs per national Alternative. Purpose of such an analysis is to inform the national budget formulation process.

National Budget Leads

The financial analysts and planners at the national level within each FPA member agency, who receive budget information from the model, perform subsequent analyses and determine effectiveness, and establish planning targets. They supply the information that is used to prepare the national budgets.

National Budget Submission

At the conclusion of the agencies budget formulation process, the Departments request or submit a budget value to Congress; in other words, they submit an official budget. In context of FPA-PM, the cost-effective analysis produces a curve or budget frontier that is a range of budget values and effectiveness. Reference: Functional Requirements for Use Case 43, National Budget Request.

National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS)

National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS)

National Resources

Fire Resources funded at the national level that FPUs may include in their FPU analyses (e.g. smokejumpers, airtankers, national helicopters)

Non-Contained Wildfire

In FPA, a fire event is not contained if the total fireline produced by the initial attack resources is less than the total fire perimeter at 18 hours of initial response time.

One-Time Request

A direct or indirect cost required for the fire program that is not recurring.

Option

Preparedness and fuels "options" make up a fire management alternative. A preparedness option is a set of initial response resources in combination with a prevention program. A fuels option is a set of fuels treatments in combination with the fuels program resources. Preparedness and fuels options have leadership and support costs and positions, as well as the costs of the "production" personnel and equipment required to staff the option.

Organization

Analyzed and non-analyzed system outcomes that identify personnel, equipment adn facilities for the fire management program for each Budget Information Option.

Organizational Unit

Refers to any of the levels (national, region, state, forest, refuge, park, district, agency, tribe, state, or other local) generally with a line officer or leader with responsibility for fire protection.

Out-year Budget Request

The results of the analysis for a specific budget year.

Partner

A local administrative unit who will participate in the Fire Planning Team, for the purpose of analyzing their fuels and preparedness (initial response and prevention) programs. This unit will have its resources, ignitions, and budgets analyzed in FPA. Examples of partners would be the federal wildland firefighting agencies.

Personal Computer Historic Analysis (PCHA)

A software program that processes historical daily weather observation and individual fire report data files to produce fire behavior and fire occurrence data for IIAA.

Planning Data Set

A Planning Data Set is a collection of specific data for the FPU. After you complete your work with one Planning Data Set, you can copy it to start a new Planning Data Set, make some changes, and examine the results.

Pre-production delay

The accumulated time delays that apply to fire resources prior to the start of fire event containment. This is the sum of all delays from report of the fire until production can begin on the fire, and could include dispatch delay, get-away delay, unloading equipment delay, hike-in delay etc. It does not include travel time.

Preparedness Season

The annual number of pay periods when fire production resources will be funded in the FPA PM analysis. This period represents the maximum fire preparedness staffing or capability. Preparedness season will include time beyond the analyzed time for training, annual start-up and annual closeout.

Prevention

Probabilistic Fire Event Scenario

Fire Event scenario based on multiple years of fire occurrence and weather data and used to represent the fire management workload.

Production Delays

The number of minutes specified for a fire resource to make a round trip to refill/reload and return to the fire event/workload point per Fire Management Unit.

Production Rate

The rate at which fire line containing a fire's spread is produced by a particular type of initial attack forces. For ground forces, the entry is chains per hour. For aerially delivered retardant or water, the entry is the typical aircraft load in hundreds of gallons (1200 gallons = "12").

Production Rate Factor

Used for Other Unit/Cooperator input. A reduction factor applied to the standard production rates for forces of that cooperator. It is used, when appropriate, to account for the diminished productivity of non-agency forces that may be less well trained, organized, or equipped.

Program Component

A component of the wildland fire program. As used in FPA, program components include preparedness, fuels, suppression, and rehabilitation.

Program Leadership

Overhead and program administrative personnel required by the FPU IA organization.

Protection Responsibility

Within an FPU, the portion for which an FPU partner has responsibility for responding to wildland fires.

Pumping Minutes

Used with reference to engines. The typical amount of time that a particular type engine can pump water from its own supply during the initial attack action.

Rehabilitation

Efforts undertaken within three years of containment of a wildland fire to repair or improve fire-damaged lands unlikely to recover naturally to management approved conditions, or to repair or replace minor facilities damaged by fire.

Reload/Refill time

The number of minutes specified per Fire Management Unit for an engine or an air tanker to make a round trip to refill and return to the fire.

Resource Response Delay

Representative Weather Station

A user-defined weather station representative of the FMU for the purpose of defining breakpoints for Fire Dispatch Levels and WFU events.

Seasonal Availability

The time period (month and day) Fire Resources are available for fire management actions (user defined).

Sensitivity Period

FPA-PM divides the year into a maximum of 26 sensitivity periods, corresponding to each two-week period in the calendar year. The sensitivity time period is used for describing the natural resource/fire management objectives. A sensitivity period can be as short as two weeks, or as long as the entire fire season. Each FMU must have at least one sensitivity period, but no more than 26 periods.

Similar Fires

Simulation Limits

Single Engine Airtanker (SEAT) Delay

A user-defined time it takes a SEAT, by FWA, to leave a fire, fill with water or retardant, and return to the fire.

Smokejumper Walk-In Delay

A user-defined time applied to FWAs to simulate the time it typically takes smokejumpers to walk to a fire from a jump spot.

Spatial query area

Spatial 'masks' that are predefined in the system based on common query frameworks, such as agency boundaries, regional boundaries, state boundaries, etc. The user would select one or more of these masks to extract information from the system.

Specific Condition

This is a construct associated with surface fuel models, and used to define specific fuel conditions that affect fireline production rates.

State Fire Assistance

Forest Service money distributed to individual states provides technical and financial assistance to enhance readiness capability at the state and local levels and to support fire reduction projects in the wildland-urban interface on Federal (Forest Service-managed) or state land.

Stated Preference Valuation Technique

An economic technique that relies upon stated responses to questions of value. Stated preference is contrasted with observed choices.

Structure Protection Fire Resources

User defined Fire Resources dispatched to fire events requiring structure protection; the system removes these Fire Resources from the pool of available resources for the duration of the event.

Sub-Unit

An administrative part, such as a Ranger District, of the Planning Unit.

Topographic Type

A unique combination of slope, aspect, and elevation used in historic analysis.

Training Cost

One of eight cost categories used to calculate the annual fire resource preparedness cost. Tuition costs for training would be included here. Travel and per diem costs are appropriately captured as travel costs. This will be calculated as a percentage of the personnel compensation costs.

Travel Cost

One of eight cost categories used to calculate the annual fire resource preparedness cost. Authorized travel that is paid by the Government either directly or by reimbursing the traveler, including lodging and per diem. Transfer of Station or Relocation costs are included here. This will be calculated as a percentage of the personnel compensation costs.

Travel Time Point

A system-calculated or user-defined point the system uses to calculate travel time from a Dispatch Location to an FWA.

Typical Fire Discovery Size

A user-defined discovery fire size used by the system as the starting point for fire growth modeling.

Unit Mission Costs (UMC)

The typical (average) costs charged to emergency fire suppression funds that are incurred for a particular type of unit each time it is dispatched to fire controlled in initial attack.

User Selected Fire Event Scenario

Formally called the Historic Fire Event Scenario. This scenario is based on a single year of occurrence and weather data.

Variable Cost

Those costs that are not pre-planned, and are usually associated with suppression operations and the suppression budget activity.

User defined Fire Resources dispatched to modeled WFU events; the system removes these Fire Resources from the available pool for the duration of the WFU event.

The typical time, in addition to travel time, for forces to travel cross-country to fires in walk-in Fire Management Units. Estimate the walk-in delay using a workload point in the FMU that you are most concerned about.

An FMU designated as inaccessible to ground vehicles including bull dozers. Personnel may either walk in or be transported to them by aircraft (helitack crews, smokejumpers). Fire line is constructed by hand tools and retardant/water is only applied aerially. For ground resources only handcrew or handtool production rates apply, rates for engines using their water do not apply.

Wildland Fire Use Attribute

A user-defined characteristic of FMUs which determines whether the system can allow some portion of fires to be managed as WFU events.

Workload Point

A single point within the Fire Management Unit used to calculate travel distance and time, for modeling within the FPA system.

Workshift Length