Glossary
Forest Fire Prevention Specialist Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential forest fire prevention specialist terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key forest fire prevention specialist vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in forest fire prevention specialist training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Burn ban
- A restriction on outdoor burning.
- Defensible space
- A cleared zone around buildings that slows wildfire.
- Fire danger rating
- A daily rating of fire risk.
- Firebreak
- A gap in fuel that slows fire.
- Fuel
- Vegetation and materials that can burn.
- Initial attack
- The first response to a new fire.
- Ladder fuels
- Vegetation that lets fire climb into trees.
- Lookout
- A tower or point used to spot fires.
- NWCG
- National Wildfire Coordinating Group, which sets training standards.
- Prescribed fire
- A planned fire used to reduce fuels.
- Pulaski
- A firefighting tool with an axe and adze.
- Red flag warning
- A forecast of weather that increases fire risk.
- Smokey Bear
- The long-running wildfire prevention campaign.
- Spot fire
- A fire started by embers ahead of the main fire.
- Wildland-urban interface (WUI)
- Where homes meet wildland vegetation.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Forest Fire Prevention Specialist practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Forest Fire Prevention Specialist training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.