Klamath NF Pocket Cards Fire Season 2002 KNF

Klamath NF Pocket Cards Fire Season 2002 KNF Pocket Card 2002 1

Why Pocket Cards? • In response to the Thirtymile Accident Prevention Plan the Chief of the Forest Service directed that each fireline supervisor will be issued a pocket card for the fuel types on their home unit • Additionally, fireline supervisors will be issued a pocket card before deployment on assignment by the receiving unit KNF Pocket Card 2002 2

Why Pocket Cards? (Cont. ) • Pocket Cards are intended to enhance firefighter Situational Awareness through: – Relating current conditions to historical thresholds of fire danger • In both familiar and unfamiliar firegrounds – Visualizing measurements of fire danger indicators and relationships KNF Pocket Card 2002 3

Pocket Card Elements • Pocket Cards display – – Location KNF Pocket Card 2002 4

Pocket Card Elements (cont. ) • Pocket Cards display – – In the Upper Left Corner: – A graph of highest recorded data, as well as – A graph of average recorded data – For a specific Fire Danger Indicator – For a specific Fuel Model KNF Pocket Card 2002 5

Pocket Card Elements (cont. ) • Pocket Cards display – – In the Lower Left Corner: – A graph of two memorable years – References to wildfires of note – For the Fire Danger Indicator in question KNF Pocket Card 2002 6

Pocket Card Elements (cont. ) • Pocket Cards display – – In the Upper Right Corner: – Weather Station Information – Graph explanations – Local thresholds of observed and calculated Fire Danger indicators which should be available to all firefighters – In this case: • 20’ Windspeed • Relative humidity KNF Pocket Card 2002 • Air Temperature 7

Pocket Card Elements (cont. ) • Pocket Cards display – – In the Lower Right Corner: – An explanation of BI and what to look out for – Notes on past experience KNF Pocket Card 2002 8

Pocket Card Elements • Pocket Cards display – – Location KNF Pocket Card 2002 11

Pocket Card Elements (cont. ) • Pocket Cards display – – In the Upper Left Corner: – A graph of highest recorded data, as well as – A graph of average recorded data – For a specific Fire Danger Indicator – For a specific Fuel Model KNF Pocket Card 2002 12

Pocket Card Elements (cont. ) • Pocket Cards display – – In the Lower Left Corner: – A graph of two memorable years – References to wildfires of note – For the Fire Danger Indicator in question KNF Pocket Card 2002 13

Pocket Card Elements (cont. ) • Pocket Cards display – – – In the Upper Right Corner: Weather Station Information Graph explanations Local thresholds of observed and calculated Fire Danger indicators which should be available to all firefighters • In this case: – – 20’ Windspeed Relative humidity Air Temperature 1000 hr Fuel Moisture KNF Pocket Card 2002 14

Pocket Card Elements (cont. ) • Pocket Cards display – – In the Lower Right Corner: – An explanation of BI and what to look out for – Notes on past experience KNF Pocket Card 2002 15

KNF Central Fire Danger Key Points • KNF Fire Danger Rating Areas 204 and 208 • NFDRS indices from 3 fire weather stations are compiled and stored by WIMS : – Collins Baldy (High Elevation) – Oak Knoll (Low Elevation) – Callahan (Low Elevation) • With use of Fire Family Plus software correlations were made between occurrences of ≥ 100 acre fires and various WIMS outputs KNF Pocket Card 2002 16

KNF Central Fire Danger Key Points (cont) - • 100 acre fires start showing up at when Burning Index (BI) exceed 55 (81 st percentile) • Correlations between Energy Release Component above 60 • Local thresholds reflect observations from Scott River valley and Oak Knoll locations: • Wind speeds exceeding 8 mph • Relative humidities below 20% correlate with large fires • Maximum daily air temperatures above 90 indicate large fire possibilities KNF Pocket Card 2002 17

Pocket Card Elements • Pocket Cards display – – Location KNF Pocket Card 2002 18

Pocket Card Elements (cont. ) • Pocket Cards display – – In the Upper Left Corner: – A graph of highest recorded data, as well as – A graph of average recorded data – For a specific Fire Danger Indicator – For a specific Fuel Model KNF Pocket Card 2002 19

Pocket Card Elements (cont. ) • Pocket Cards display – – In the Lower Left Corner: – A graph of two memorable years – References to wildfires of note – For the Fire Danger Indicator in question KNF Pocket Card 2002 20

Pocket Card Elements (cont. ) • Pocket Cards display – – – In the Upper Right Corner: Weather Station Information Graph explanations Local thresholds of observed and calculated Fire Danger indicators which should be available to all firefighters • In this case: – – 20’ Windspeed Relative humidity Air Temperature 1000 hr Fuel Moisture KNF Pocket Card 2002 21

Pocket Card Elements (cont. ) • Pocket Cards display – – In the Lower Right Corner: – An explanation of BI and what to look out for – Notes on past experience KNF Pocket Card 2002 22

KNF East Fire Danger Key Points • Fire Danger Rating Area 220 • NFDRS indices from 2 RAWS weather stations are compiled and stored by WIMS : – Van Bremer – Juanita • With use of Fire Family Plus software correlations were made between occurrences of ≥ 100 acre fires and various WIMS outputs KNF Pocket Card 2002 23

KNF East Fire Danger Key Points (cont) - • 100 acre become more frequent when the Burning Index (BI) exceeds 50 (55 th percentile) • Correlations between Energy Release Component above 50 • Local thresholds reflect weather observations on large fire days from the mountains to the west and east overlooking Butte Valley • Late afternoon wind speeds frequently exceed 15 -2 - MPH, leading to large fire growth. Winds from the south, southwest and west are of concern • Relative humidities below 20% correlate with large fires • Maximum daily air temperatures above 80 indicate large fire possibilities KNF Pocket Card 2002 24

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