Fire Suppression

Many park visitors and other interested parties often ask, "How do you put a wildland fire out?" The answer is both simple and complex. All fires that are suppressed are treated similarly with firefighter and public safety being the primary objectives. All actions come back to the fire triangle that's taught in elementary school.

To put out a fire, heat, fuel or oxygen must be removed. Unlike in an enclosed space, in nature it is often impossible to remove oxygen, so heat and fuel are the components most vulnerable to the firefighters actions. Putting dirt or water on fire does remove the oxygen from the fuel and a single person using a hand tool such as shovel, axe, rake, Pulaski, McLeod or flapper may extinguish small fires. Larger fires require more people and equipment such as engines, pumps, bulldozers, helicopters and air tankers dropping water or fire retardant.

A good firefighter fights fire in three dimensions simultaneously. The objective is to work around the fire removing fuels that could allow the fire to spread while controlling the shower of embers carried on the wind. This attack on the aerial component creates a third dimension. So instead of thinking of the fire ground as a tabletop or chessboard, the fire environment is a dome.

The first step in fire suppression is detection of the fire, followed by the logistical exercise of delivering firefighters, engines, helicopters or other suppression resources to the fire. Upon arrival, the leader, termed an Incident Commander (IC) executes a size-up of the fire. This is essentially an intelligence gathering phase where the fuels, terrain, weather, fire size and other fire behavior characteristics are noted and used to determine a strategy and tactics.

Next the IC reports to Fire Dispatch or the Fire Management Officer and orders resources applicable to the current and expected fire situation if they are not already available. They may begin direct initial attack or use firefighters to establish a helispot or drop point to facilitate logistics depending upon fire size. All fires are managed by using the Incident Command System. Management positions are added and taken away as dictated by the needs of the fire situation.

The NPS has a variety of interagency agreements that ensures that firefighters from outside a park can be called upon as needed. The resources could be from other federal agencies, surrounding states, or local county resources. In addition, contractors may be dispatched to help, and in extreme cases the military or international resources from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico or other countries may become involved.

In fighting a fire, an initial action is to establish an anchor point. This is generally located near the fire origin or other point (road, stream, trail) where firefighters can begin working safely to attack the fire. They will designate a safety zone and mark an escape route to it. The safety zone is often an area the fire has already burned and is where firefighters can go if fire conditions worsen and endanger them. Lookouts are posted to protect firefighters from unexpected fire behavior and weather reports are communicated so that there are no surprises with wind shifts or other weather factors.

While the firefighters are working up the sides or flanks of the fire from the anchor point, a variety of other activities could be occurring. Retardant and/or bucket drops may be delivered by helicopter or airplanes to the edge of the fire to cool it enough for firefighters to get next to it to remove fuels with hand tools. If water is available either naturally or from engines, it will be used with portable pumps and hoses as another cooling agent. Sawyers may begin falling dead or burning trees to control the ember shower and enhance firefighter safety. Roads will be assessed to determine their value as future access points to the fire ground. Dip sites may be established to support the helicopter bucket operations and if need be, a helibase and fire camp established.