S-190: Atmospheric Stability, Wind, Clouds, and Critical Fire Weather

There are many demands of being a wildland firefighter; you are exposed to arduous elements, push your bodies to physical limits to complete a task, spend extended time away from family and friends, and more. Because of these stresses, it is important to find the right balance to ensure you are giving yourself the best opportunity to get the job done while keeping yourself safe from unnecessary risk. Efforts should be made before responding to incidents, such as staying physically and mentally fit to keep your body in shape and ready for the demanding conditions of the position. When on the scene, actively participate in daily briefings to be aware of important details on the fire you are approaching, and after action reviews to learn about areas of improvement and successes.

As wildland firefighters, you will face dangers, both hidden and in plain sight. The heat of the flames, the ash flying in the air, fallen trees, and uneven terrain are all part of the environment and hazards of this line of work, making them hard to avoid in most cases. However, resources and equipment are available to combat and protect firefighters responding to these incidents.

Over the years, much research has been done and efforts have been made for a safer wildland firefighting environment by assisting in risk management. Through these efforts, two lists have been created to act as guides for responding units, one to utilize as a way of ensuring they are taking necessary steps and the other as a reference for the most common dangerous scenarios found on the wildland fireground. Within this course, we will review these lists, how they came to be, and how they are still used on the fireground to continue to help firefighters increase their risk management on the dangerous wildfire grounds.

Firefighting is not a one-person job; you have your crewmembers who will be working alongside you, supervisors guiding you on where to go and providing essential updates on the fire itself and factors affecting it, and you also have tools and equipment there to help make your efforts in suppressing the flames that much easier. As we’ll discuss in this course, it is important to utilize these pieces to your advantage in creating safety zones, escape routes, and control lines, as these are means to keep you and your crew safe.

Wildfires can change very quickly and frequently due to the nature of the environment they are burning. Factors like weather patterns moving through the area, the topography of the location where the fire is burning, and the fuels available in that area each play a role in the behavior and intensity of a fire. When these three align, the changes can be sudden and unpredictable. It is imperative for responding units to be aware of these factors and how they can impact a wildfire to be alert of the possible effects.