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- [Woman] In this module, we will be hearing about
the National Fire Danger Rating System, the NFDRS.
The outputs generated by the NFDRs are used to guide
fire management decisions at all levels,
but more importantly, when used in combination
with pocket cards, these fire danger values
relate directly to firefighter safety.
They inform our situational awareness by revealing trends
and factors of the fire environment
that might otherwise remain hidden.
We will now hear directly from a fire and fuels analyst
at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.
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- From firefighters to the highest level decision makers,
we interact with the National Fire Danger Rating System
and in places like the Lake States and Alaska
the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System
and some other related products throughout our jobs.
The place where you're most likely
to have a direct interaction
with the fire danger rating system
is when you see the Smoky sign.
So those adjective classes from low to extreme,
those are fire danger rating outputs
and we see them all the time.
So fire danger is really baked into a whole bunch of things
even if we don't talk about it.
That decision by the National Multi-agency
Coordination Group to send or keep air tankers
at a particular air tanker base,
or shift resources from one geographic area to another
that's tied in part to fire danger rating.
Those, those are big parts
of the conversations we have
at the National Interagency Coordination Center
is to try to assess where we've been,
where we're at and where we think we're gonna go
using those NFDRs outputs as our tools
to help support those decisions.
So at the highest levels, we're using that for preparedness,
decision and resource allocation.
At the local level, you may use that
for a little more specific decision-making,
such as a staffing decision for the weekend.
At the lowest level, the firefighter
can use that fire danger information
to help him or her have a better sense
on how to relate the current conditions
to what the potential activity could be.
Fire danger rating as a concept is really just a
science-based method by which we can measure
environmental conditions and have those correlated
to actual or predicted fire outcomes,
fire occurrence, and fire impacts.
It's important for us to recognize
that there's other valid systems
besides our National Fire Danger Rating System
that we principally use the United States.
There's also the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System,
which is used extensively in the Lake States
of the United States, as well as in Alaska
and of course, Canada.
Starting about 50 years ago,
under the leadership of the forest service,
where there was a desire to develop a national rating system
which would use common principles,
be based in science and have consistent outputs
that we could use to represent the array of conditions
across the country.
Oh, when people think about
the National Fire Danger Rating System,
they tend to focus on specific outputs,
like burning index or the energy release component.
But really the system itself is broader than that.
It includes our observational network,
remote automated weather stations, for example.
It includes our fire danger operating plans,
the thresholds at which we set our adjective rating levels,
the fire danger pocket card, for example,
all of those things collectively really comprise
the National Fire Danger Rating System.
National Fire Danger Rating System.
It's got some outputs that are standard.
We've got ignition component, spread component,
energy release component and the burning index.
So each of those measures specific things,
has a particular applications
for which each of those is especially well-suited.
Those are those outputs that we talk about,
but really the intent is not just to produce
a burning index with a number,
the intent of the National Fire Danger Rating System
is to apply that information
to help us make better decisions,
readiness decisions that will better prepare us
for what could potentially happen,
make better decisions about how we ultimately
respond to a fire before we actually get there
and see what we've got on the ground.
There's real progress being made to ensure
that every field level unit
is part of a fire danger operating plan,
which has those analyses completed,
identifies those decision points
where you're gonna do your management differently
and has products like staffing index,
a dispatch and response levels, preparedness levels,
has those decisions tied, at least in part
to these actual measures of our fire environment.
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The NFDRS outputs can be related to firefighter safety
by first understanding what each of those things mean.
So we've got ignition component,
which is basically a measure of how likely it is
that we can have an ignition that requires action.
We've got spread component, which is a measure
of how fast a fire could burn under these conditions.
We've got the energy release component,
which is really a measure of how hot a fire can burn
in a way it's a good indicator of how difficult it will be
to control a fire.
The burning index is kind of a measure
of how difficult it would be to contain a fire.
So it's a good measure when you're trying to figure
out what your readiness capacity needs to be
and what that initial response might look like
until you actually get somebody on the fire where
they can start making some tactical
and fire behavior-based decisions.
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The most important place where a field level firefighter
would interact with fire danger rating
is in the daily announcement
of what the rating value is for that unit's selected index.
So in places where rapid spreading fires are common,
that unit may have picked burning index as a decision index
of particular note and on a daily basis,
over the radio or posted down at dispatch,
they're gonna tell you
what the burning index is for that unit.
So that's good.
You need to understand and hear that,
but you can't really relate that
because you don't necessarily know
whether a burning index at 45 is bad or good
if you're not from that unit.
The fire danger pocket card is the other place
where you can interact with fire danger and interpret that.
So if you're not from the unit or even if you are
from the unit, you can look that fire danger pocket card.
Every unit should have one
and every firefighter should be provided with one.
And that shows both the typical array
of fire danger conditions,
say in energy release component
or burning index over the course of a season
and even the worst fire danger conditions
that have arisen over a historical period.
So by looking at that set of graphical outputs
and knowing what today's actual fire danger value is
or what tomorrow's forecast value is you can relate
where you are on that spectrum
of expected activity and outputs.
Fire danger pocket card
also has a lot of really good information
in the lower right-hand corner where
local managers and firefighters have
looked at historical outcomes
and kind of correlated those
to fire danger thresholds in particular.
So when you're not from the unit,
looking at that stuff in the lower right hand corner
can give you really good insights
about the kinds of things that make that place unique,
both in terms of potential for troublesome fire behavior
or typical fire behavior.
If you're from the unit, you should use that pocket card
to brief yourselves and your incoming forces
because it provides kind of a structured visual cue
to help explain that fire environment on a daily basis
and on a seasonal basis.
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- [Woman] Utilizing fire danger rating information
can improve your situational awareness
and help you anticipate the possibilities
within your fire environment.
Remember when it comes to firefighter safety,
fire danger is more than just a number.
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