Course Description S-590

Course Description - S-590 Advanced Fire Behavior Interpretation

March 7-19, 2010

For the 2010 S-590 course, nominations are being accepted now with a target of no later than November 1, 2008. All Nominees will be asked to participate in a mentoring program which will include assignment with qualified FBAN’s and LTAN’s. For more information, go to "nominations received", or view the S-590 mentor process video.

Target Group

Individuals to be trained as a Fire Behavior Analyst (FBAN) and Long Term Fire Analyst (LTAN) in wildland fire suppression and fire use organizations. Nominees must identify which position they are targeting on their nomination form.

Prerequisites

The prerequisites listed below are consistent with the direction from the May 2008 Wildland Fire Qualification System Guide, PMS 310-1.

All applicants must have completed S-490 Advanced Wildland Fire Behavior Calculations, and demonstrate proficiency in the use of BehavePlus and Windows operating system. All nominees will need to successfully complete a pre-course test that will take no more than 4 hours.

In addition, those students seeking qualification as a Fire Behavior Analyst must be qualified as Division/ Group Supervisor (DIVS) under the Incident Command System.

Students seeking qualification as a Long Term Fire Analyst must be qualified as a Fire Effects Monitor and a Firing Boss, Single Resource, under the Incident Command System. In addition, they must have completed S-492, Long Term Fire Risk Assessment and S-493, FARSITE: Fire Growth Simulation. If both S-492 and S-493 have not been successfully completed, students can complete the replacement course targeted as S‑495, Geospatial Fire Analysis, Interpretation, and Application.

There will be additional pre-course work that is estimated to take approximately 30 hours.

Success in S-590 will depend on the student's ability in communication skills, both written and oral. Additional skills could be obtained by attending the Facilitative Instructor course, M-410 or other public speaking and technical writing courses.

Those applying for FBAN position will be evaluated in the areas of short-term fire behavior prediction, assessing the likelihood of success for strategies and specific tactical operations, and the identification and mitigation of fire behavior related firefighter safety concerns.

Nominees for LTAN position will be evaluated in the areas of short-term fire behavior prediction, and an understanding of long-term risk assessments, fire area growth simulation and NFDRS.

Objectives

Describe the FBAN/LTAN responsibilities and interactions with managers, management teams, meteorologists, and others.
Demonstrate skills in analyzing, interpreting, displaying, and communicating fire behavior information.
Apply fire behavior predictive information in support of all types of wildland fire planning and operations.
Demonstrate the ability to effectively communicate orally and in writing appropriate wildland fire behavior predictive information.
Demonstrate the ability to prepare a complete fire behavior documentation package.

Course Description

Through the use of lecture, demonstrations and exercises the student will learn the job of the FBAN/LTAN. Units covered will include:

S-590 Fire Behavior Interpretation		Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities
Unit	Unit Description	Gained at Course	Brought to Course
Archival	Fire Behavior Documentation Package, Legal considerations	Organizational, Communication	Computer Skills
Application	Safety, Briefings, Forecasts, Decision Support, Strategic Plan Development, Firing Operations, Advanced Applications, reinforced with exercises	Organizational, Communication, & Computer Skills	Intuitive, Operational Skills, & Computer Skills
Analysis	Skills learned in prerequisite courses, develop support for decision making, and demonstrate in exercises	Organizational, Communication, & Computer Skills	Analytical Skills & Computer Skills
Acquisition	Skills learned in prerequisite courses, reinforced with obtaining fire environment and fire behavior information and internet use.	Organizational, Communication, & Computer Skills	Computer Skills

Course size limited to 40 students.

Computer Requirements

All participants attending S-590 will need to provide their own laptop and portable printer with the appropriate printer driver installed. Participants need to install the latest version of the following software prior to the start of the course. The software needs to be tested in a standalone environment (not connected to their network). Participants need to test their portable printer by printing one page from BehavePlus again in a standalone environment. During S-590, participants will not need to access the NAFRI network or the internet.

Experience has taught us that higher processor speed, RAM and disk space allows the participant to keep up, avoid frustration, and pay attention to course exercise, instead of fumbling with a laptop that just will not suffice. We suggest the participant review the NAFRI computer standards with their IT staff.

Software to be installed prior to attending S-590: (Current as of 09/01/2008)

BehavePlus Version 3.0.2
FARSITE Version 4.1.055
RERAP Version 7.03
WFDSS User Name and Password

Important Dates

Nomination Due: Now. No later than November 3, 2008
Pre-course Test Mailed: November 12, 2009
Pre-course Test Due: December 21, 2009
Notification of Selection: January 29, 2010

Nomination Process

Please see the NAFRI nomination process available at http://nafri.gov/pages/nominationprocess.htm.

Course Coordinator: Tim Peterson (520) 799-8757; fax (520) 799-8785

Course Location: NAFRI, Tucson, Arizona
Tuition: None

S-590 is currently offered every other year on even-numbered years.