all work and activities connected with fire-extinguishing operations, beginning with discovery and continuing until the fire is completely extinguished —synonym fire control, suppression —see fire presuppression, fire prevention; kinds of fire suppression include the following:

—bump-up method a progressive method of fireline construction on a wildfire without changing relative positions in the line, whereby work is begun with a suitable space between workers; whenever one worker overtakes another, all those ahead move one space forward and resume work on the uncompleted part of the line; the last worker does not move ahead until work is completed in his or her space; forward progress of the crew is coordinated by a crew boss

—cold trailing a method of controlling a partly dead fire edge by careful inspection and feeling with the hand to detect any fire and extinguishing it by digging out every live spot and trenching any live edge

—coyote tactics a progressive line-construction duty involving self-sufficient crews who build fireline until the end of their work period, remain at or near the point while off duty, and at the beginning of the next period resume building fireline where they left off

—direct attack any treatment of burning fuel at the active edge of a fire in an effort to control, it usually involving wetting, smothering, and physical separation of burning from nonburning wildland fuel —synonym direct fire suppression

—feel for fire to examine burned material after a fire is apparently out by feeling with the bare hands to find live embers

—fire discovery a determination that a fire exists —synonym discovery

—flank to work along the flanks of a fire, whether simultaneously or successively, from a less active or anchor point toward the head of the fire in order to contain it

—hot-spot to reduce or stop the spread of fire at points of particularly rapid rate of spread or special threat —note hot-spotting is generally the initial step in prompt control, with emphasis on first priorities

—indirect attack a method of fire suppression in which the control line is located a considerable distance from the active edge of a fire, often using natural or constructed firebreaks or fuelbreaks and favorable breaks in topography, and intervening wildland fuel is burned out or (occasionally) the main fire is allowed to burn to the control line —note indirect attack is generally used for fires with a rapid rate of spread or high intensity —synonym indirect fire suppression, indirect method

—initial attack 1. the first action taken to suppress a fire via ground or air 2. suppression efforts taken by resources that are initially committed —note initial attack is an ICS term

—leapfrog method a method of managing personnel on fire suppression whereby each worker is assigned a task, e.g., clearing or digging on a section of the control line, and having completed that task, passes other workers in moving to a new assignment —synonym (obsolete) man-passing-man

—mop-up the extinguishing or removal of burning material near control lines, felling of snags, and trenching of logs to prevent rolling after an area has burned, to make it safe or to reduce residual smoke

—one-lick method a progressive system of building a fireline on a wildfire without changing relative positions in the line, whereby each worker does one to several licks (strokes) with a given tool and then moves forward a specified distance to make room for the worker behind —synonym progressive method of line construction

—parallel attack a method of fire suppression in which a fireline is constructed approximately parallel to, and just far enough from, the fire edge to enable workers and equipment to work effectively, though the fireline may be shortened by cutting across unburned fingers —note in this method, the intervening strip of unburned wildland fuel is normally burned out as the control line proceeds but may be allowed to burn out unassisted if it causes no delay or threat to the fireline

—tie-in the act of connecting a control line to another line or an intended firebreak This definition last updated 10/24/2008