Minimum Impact
Suppression Tactics
Implementation
Guidelines
Establishing and Setting Up Camp
- Whenever possible, avoid
establishing spike or coyote camps in Wilderness.
- If Wilderness camps are
unavoidable, use existing campsites where available.
- If existing campsites are not
available, use your local resource advisor to help
identify the most resilient sites in rocky or sandy
soils. Always select sites that are unlikel), to be
observed by Wilderness visitors. Avoid camping in wet
meadows, along streams, or on lake shores.
- Consider impacts on both
present and future visitors. An agency cottiniitment to
wilderness values will promote those values to the
public.
- Layout camp components
carefully from the start. Define cooking, sleeping,
latrine, and water supplies.
- Limit travel ways within, to,
and from camp.
- Minimize disturbance to land
in preparing bedding and campfire sites. Do not clear
vegetation, trench, or excavate a flat spot to create
bedding sites.
- In small camp situations (I
crew), individuals should use the "cat-tiole"
method of disposing of human waste. Toilet sites should
be located a niinitIlLIM of 200 feet from water sources.
Holes should be dug 6-8 inches deep.
- If a large number of
firefighters are using a spike camp and the camp is being
serviced by helicopter, fly in portable backcountry
latrines, and fly out human waste as necessary. If the
camp does not have air support, establish community
latrines well away from water sources, rather than
leaving it up to the individual.
- Place indoor-outdoor carpet,
scriin, or other material on the ground to protect
vegetation in the most heavily traveled areas of camp,
i.e.: kitchen, campfire, and washing-up areas.
- Use stoves for cooking. If a
campfire is built for warmth in the evening, build either
or pit or mound fire. A fire shelter placed beneath the
coals provides extra protection for the soil.
- If a large camp is employed,
designate a conution area for personnel to wasti tip.
Provide fresh water, biodegradable soap, and a place for
waste water.
- In small spike camps or
coyote camps, carry water and bathe away from lakes and
streams. Do not introduce soap, shampoo, or other
personal grooming chemicals into waterways.
- Devise a plan for disposing
of waste water from kitchen and washing ireas.
- Store food properly so that
it is not accessible to wildlife. Consider hanging food
in trees at least 15 feet off the ground and 5 feet from
the trunk of the tree, or store food in sealable
containers. Store food away from the campsite (300 feet
is ideal) to reduce tile risk of human and bear
conflicts.
- Do not let garbage and food
scraps accumulate in camp. All garbage and food scraps
need to be removed from the camp on a regular basis if
the camp is being served by a helicopter, or properly
stored if frequent removal is not possible.
- Resource advisors should work
with cache personnel during the off-season to ensure that
tents are cleaned of any noxious weed seeds prior to
being sent to a wilderness fire.
Personal Camp Conduct
- Minimize disturbance to land
in preparing bedding and campfire sites. Do not clear
vegetation, trench, or excavate a flat spot to create
bedding sites.
- Use established latrines
where provided. If latrines are not available use the
"cat-hole" method of disposing of human waste.
Toilet sites should be located a minimum of 200 feet from
water sources. Holes should be dug 6-8 inches deep.
- If a campfire is built for
warmth in the evening, build either or pit or mound fire.
A fire shelter placed beneath the coals provides extra
protection for the soil.
- Use dead and down firewood.
Use small diameter wood that burns down more cleanly.
Don't bum plastics or aluminum - pack it out with the
rest of the camp garbage.
- If a designated personal
washing area is not provided, carry water and bathe away
from lakes and streams. Do not introduce soap, shampoo,
or other personal grooming cherrdcals into waterways.
- Do not use nails in trees.
- Constantly evaluate the
impacts that will occur, both short and long term.
Helispot Construction
- Wherever possible, locate
helibases in weed free ,ireas, to prevent the transport
of noxious weeds into wilderness.
- When planning for helispots,
determine the primary function of each helispot, i.e.:
crew shuttle, logistical support, or both.
- If a helispot is only needed
for logistical support to deliver and retrieve supplies
or gear, consider using a long line remote hook in lieu
of constructing a fielispot.
- If a helispot is needed for
crew shuttle, consider the minimum size helicopter that
could do the job, if you have an option, and still meet
suppression objectives.
- Use natural openings as much
as possible. If some tree falling or cribbing is
necessary, avoid high visitor use locations unless the
modifications can be rehabilitated to be generally
unnoticeable. Feather the opening so that it appears more
natural looking.
- Perform an aerial
reconnaissance of the fire area and select potential
lielispots. In determining helispot locations, involve,
at a n-finimum, the Air Operations Manager, responsible
land manager or Resource Advisor, and the Helitack
Foreman. Consider drawing a sketch and discuss which
trees need to be cut to ensure a safe operation for the
size of the helicopter deemed necessary or available.
- If a high level of resource
impact is anticipated from a proposed helispot, evaluate
carefully whether it is absolutely necessary and if there
isn't an alternative Outside Wilderness.
- Provide specific instructions
for the on-the-ground foreman and crew to use when
constructing the agreed upon helispot.
- Whenever possible, the
resource advisor should observe the construction of a
helispot.
Fire Lining Phase
- Select procedures, tools, and
equipment that least impact the environment.
- Give serious consideration to
the use of water as a firelining tactic.
- If there is a risk that hose
coming direct from a local unit's cache is contaminated
with noxious weed seeds, order fresh hose from the
regional cache.
- Resource Advisors, Operations
Chief, and Logistics Chief should be cognizant of anv
equipment that is being moved from a non-wilderness fire
to a wilderness fire and make attempts to clean equipment
of noxious weed seeds prior to it being used in tile
wilderness.
- Cold-trail line.
Constantly recheck.
- Allowing fire to burn
to natural barriers.
- Burn out and the use
of a "gunny" sack or swatter.
- If constructed
fireline is necessary, use i-ninimum width and
depth t(-) check- fire spread.
- In medium and heavy fuels
consider:
- Use of natural
barriers and cold-trailing.
- Cooling with dirt and
water and cold-trailing.
- If constructed
fireline is necessary, use minimum width and
depth to check fire spread.
- Minimize bucking to
establish fireline. Preferably move or i-oll
material Out of the intended constructed fireline
area. If moving or rolling is not possible, or
the donvn log is already on fire, build line
around the log and let it be consumed.
- In aerial fuels, brush,
trees, and snags:
- Minimize cutting of
trees and snags.
- Live trees should not
be cut unless it is determined they will cause
fire spread across the fireline or seriously
endanger workers. If tree cutting occurs, cut
tile stumps nLiSil with the ground and camouflage
the cut surface with soil or brush.
- Scrape around tree
bases near fireline if hot and likely to cause
fire spread.
- Identify hazard trees
with either an observer, flagging, and/or
glow-sticks.
- When using indirect
attack:
- Do not fail snags
outside the constructed fireline, unless they are
an obvious safety hazard to crews working in the
vicinity.
- On the intended
bum-out side of the line, fall only those snags
that would reach tile fireline should they bum
and fall over. Consider alternative means to
fallinc,, i.e.: fireline explosives or bucket
drops.
- Review consideration
listed above for aerial fuels, brush, trees and
snags.
Mop-up Phase
- Use gravity socks in streams
and/or a combination of water blivits and fold-a-tanks to
minimize impacts to streams.
- Do not bring in any
non-native materials to be used for sediment traps in
streams. Use of non-native materials creates a risk that
noxious weeds will be introduced to the area.
- Place absorbent cloth under
pumps to avoid spilling fuel on the ground.
- Personnel should avoid using
rehabilitated firelines as travel corridors whenever
possible because of potential soil compaction and
possible detrimental impacts to rehab work, i.e.. water
bars.
- Consider using infrared
detection devices along perimeter (aerial or hand-held).
- Align saw cuts to n-Linimize
visual impacts from more heavily traveled corridors.
Slope cut away from line of sight when possible.
- Cold-trail areas
adjacent to unburned fuels.
- Do minimal spading;
restrict spading to hot areas near fireline only.
- Use extensive
cold-trailing to detect hot areas.
- Cold-trail charred
logs near fireline; do minimal scraping or tool
scarring.
- Minimize bucking of
logs to check for hot spots or extinguish fire;
preferably roll tile logs and extinguish the
fire.
- return logs to
original position after checking or when the
ground is cool.
- Refrain from making
bonepiles; burned and partially burned fuels that
were moved should be arranged in natural position
as much as possible after they -Lre cold.
- Consider allowing
larger logs near the fireline to burn out,
instead of bucking them into manageable lengths.
Use a lever or pry bar to move large logs.
- Aerial fuels, brush,
small trees, and limbs:
- Remove or limb only
those fuels which, if ignited, have the potential
to spread fire outside the fireline.
- Burning trees and
snags:
- First consideration
is to allow burning trees or snags to burn
thei-nselves out or down. Ensure adequate safety
measures are communicated.
- Identify hazard trees
with either an observer, flagging, and/or
glow-sticks.
- If burning
trees/snags pose serious threat of spreading fire
brands, consider attempting to extinguish fire
with water or dirt. Felling by chainsaw should be
last means, consider falling by blasting, if
available.