C1: Fire Behaviour Fundamentals

1. Introduction.

1.1 Generations of wildfires.

• Description of wildfire generations as a concept to help understand their evolution.

2. Fire behaviour fundamentals.

2.1. Wildfire spread factors. The fire triangle and heat transfer
mechanisms.

• The fire triangle, fuel, oxidising agent, heat, the chain reaction and its relation to
  suppression methods: suffocation, elimination of fuel, cooling. Forms of heat transfer:
  conduction, radiation, convection. Rolling materials, embers and secondary spot fire
  ignitions.

2.2. Fire behaviour variables and their changes in wildfire development

• Fire behaviour variables: flame length, rate of spread and secondary spot fires. Relation
  between the variables and our suppression capacity.

2.3. The parts of a wildfire and their connection with spread factors and
behavioural variables

• Parts of a wildfire (flanks, head, tail) and the spread axis. Denomination by cardinal points
  and grid method.

2.4. The wildfire behaviour triangle, introduction to spread patterns

• The fire behaviour triangle: meteorology, fuel and topography. Introducing what the
  wildfire wants to do: spread pattern.

2.5. Meteorology and fire behaviour. Wind, temperature and ambient
humidity

• Temperature, relative humidity and local (topographic), storm, mesoscale (breezy,
  anabatic and katabatic) and synoptic winds.

2.6. Topography and fire behaviour. Slope, unevenness and aspect of
exposure. Macrotopography and microtopography

• Effects of macrotopography and microtopography on wildland fire behaviour.
  Macrotopography: shape and aspect of geographical features, latitude and distance from
  the sea. Microtopography: slope, unevenness and aspect of exposure.

2.7. Fuels and fire behaviour. Typology, thickness and compactness.

• Fuel characteristics: typology, thickness and distribution. Typology: live and dead.
  Thickness: time lag, dry window or cumulative dry hours and ratio of dead to live.
  Distribution or compactness: surface, understory and canopy strata. Spreading strata:
  subsoil, surface and canopy. Fuel load.

TEST: Fire behaviour fundamentals.

SEG 1: Operation safety planning and lessons learned

1. Introduction.

1.1. Safety Culture I - Accidents, protocols and human factor

• History and origin of standard firefighting orders and protocols.

2. Operation safety planning

2.1. Safety planning in an PPE, LACES and AWARENESS operation

• PPE, LACES, relation between LACES - fire reading - scenario - operation. Understanding
  the scenario and watch-out situations/indicators.

2.2. Safety protocols and last resort operations, self-protection operation
with a fire engine.

• Security protocols. Awarness - Cycle of situational awareness. LACES - its relation to the
  Awarness protocol. 10 standard firefighting orders. 18 watch-out situations. Self-protection
  operation with a fire engine.

3. Lessons learnt

3.1. Fireshelter, situational awareness, tactical and operational safety

• Lessons learned: testimony of a survivor of a fatal accident in Spain. Recommendations
  and situational awareness in operations.

Practical exercise: Situational Awareness and LACES