Department of Community Services

Glossary of Wildfire Terms

Air Tanker: A fixed-wing aircraft that discharges fire retardant chemicals to limit fire spread.

Bird-dog: Aircraft carrying the air attack officer directing fire bombing action on a fire.

Burn off: To remove all unburned fuel within a fire guard.

Cold Trailing: To determine whether a fire is still smouldering by careful inspection with an infra-red scanner or feeling by hand.

Contained: Fire spread minimized under prevailing conditions.

Dry Lightning: Lightning storm with no precipitation.


Fire Detection, Types 

Aerial: Patrol planes fly spotting missions when the fire hazard is high. 

Lookouts: Staffed by people hired seasonally. There are nine lookouts located throughout the territory. 

Public: Approximately half of the Yukon's fires are reported by the public via the wildfire reporting line:1-888-798-FIRE


Fire Line: The part of a control line that is manually or mechanically prepared for the purpose of controlling a forest fire. In a wider sense, the working area around a fire.

Fire Retardant: Any substance except plain water that by chemical or physical action reduces the flammability of fuels or slows their rate of combustion.

Heli-Bucket: A container that can be filled at a lake by helicopter and then tipped to dump water on a fire.

Initial Attack: The action taken by resources which are the first to arrive at an incident.

Interface: The line, area or zone where structures and other human development meets with undeveloped wildland or unmodified vegetative fuels.

Lightning Locator System: A system of remote lightning sensors that relay information to a central computer to plot locations of lightning strikes. The system has been in use since 1982 and is linked to a similar system in Alaska.

Mop-Up: Making an area safe again after the fire is brought under control. This includes extinguishing or removing burning material along the fire line.

Out of Control: A wildfire not responding to any suppressive action.

Prescribed Burn: A method of getting rid of unwanted foliage from grazing areas, renewing grassy areas in the spring and also to protect communities where there is a build-up of forest litter and dead fall.

Spot Fires: A fire started outside the perimeter of the main fire by sparks and embers carried on the wind.

Under Control: Sufficient suppression action has been taken to ensure no further spread of the fire.

Weather Station: A weather data collection and forecasting facility (including personnel) which can be used within the incident area.

Wildfire: An unplanned fire, as opposed to a prescribed burn. May be a forest fire, or a fire burning in grass, brush or tundra.