Basic Forest Fire Suppression Course - Online Lessons

LESSON 2 - FUNDAMENTALS OF FOREST FIRE CONTROL

2.1 Introduction

Successful containment of a fire to a minimal size with the least amount of resources is the overall goal of the incident management team. This can be achieved by using a variety of methods and resources, however, every fire has its own unique characteristics and the methods used will vary each time. In order to achieve the goal of containment, an assessment of the situation must be conducted at the beginning and on a regular basis throughout the life of the fire. In wildland fire terms, this assessment is called Size Up.

Size Up process is a continual evaluation of conditions around the fire and some of the most important decisions that are made in the very beginning will have a significant impact on containment efforts. Information must be gathered to gain knowledge about the incident.