| Air
Attack |
The planes and people that coordinate
air operations over a fire. |
| Air
tankers |
Large aircraft that drop fire-retardant
chemicals. |
| Backfire |
Fire set to purposely influence the
direction or rate of fire spread. |
| BIFC |
Boise Interagency Fire Center. Boise,
Idaho. |
| Big
Ernie |
The smokejumper god. A deity with
a rather twisted sense of humor, justice, and fair play.
Determines good and bad deals for jumpers. |
| Blowup |
Catastrophic fire behavior, rapid
spread, mass ignition of large areas. |
| Buddy
check |
Last-minute check of jumper's gear,
performed by jump partner prior to jumping. |
| Burnout |
Fire set to burn areas between control
lines and main fire; denies main fire of fuel. A tactic
used once control lines are established. |
| Bush |
General term for the Alaskan wilderness. |
| Bust |
Intense period of lightning fire activity. |
| Cat
line |
Fire line constructed with crawler
tractors (bulldozers). |
| Cutaway
clutch |
The handle used to cut away from a
malfunctioned main canopy. Also called the clutch. |
| Contained |
A fire is contained when its spread
has been halted by control lines or natural barriers. |
| Controlled |
A fire is controlled when enough work
has been done to insure it will not escape. |
| Crown
fire |
A fire burning hot enough to continuously
spread through the tops of trees. |
| Demobe |
Short for demobilization. The action
of leaving a fire once it is out. |
| Drift
streamers |
Weighted pieces of colored crepe paper
used to determine wind drift before jumping a fire. |
| Drogue |
The small parachute that first stabilizes
jumpers as they fall from the plane then pulls the main
canopy out of the deployment bag once the drogue release
handle is pulled. |
| Drogue
release handle |
See aboue. Once widely known as the
rip cord. |
| EMT |
Emergency Medical Technician. |
| Extended
attack |
Work done after the initial effort
has failed to stop a fire. For jumpers, usually the second
or third day. |
| Fat
boy box |
A cardboard box that comes in the
fire packs and contains packaged and canned goods. Jumper
rations for the first three days. |
| Firebrands |
Large embers or chucks of burning,
airborne material. |
| Fire
devil |
Whirlwind of fire. |
| Firestorm |
A mass conflagration of fire, a blowup. |
| Flanks
(of a fire) |
The side boundaries of a fire looking
from the tail toward the head. |
| Fusee |
Railroad flares used to light burnouts
and backfires. |
| Head |
Hottest and most active part of a
fire; determines the direction the fire is moving. |
| Helitorch |
A firing device on a helicopter, which
is capable of starting fires. |
| Hootch |
Sleeping arrangement: tent, rain fly,
parachute, etc. |
| Hotshots |
Organized fire crews; highly motivated
and well trained. Mostly used on large, long-term fires. |
| Initial
attack |
First effort to stop a fire. |
| Jump
list |
A rotating list that determines the
order in which jumpers are assigned to fires. |
| Jump
ship |
Smokejumper aircraft. |
| Jump
spot |
Designated landing area. |
| Loft |
Room where chutes are rigged and maintained. |
| Lower
48 |
Alaska talk for the contiguous United
States. |
| Moose-eyed |
Jumper talk for being in love. Being
moosey, feeling moosey, having moose eyes, etc. |
| Mop-up |
Final stage of fire fighting—digging
up all roots and burning material; putting out the last
of all embers and coals. |
| Mud |
Aerial fire retardant dropped by aircraft.
Also called retardant or slurry. |
| On
final |
For aircraft, the final flight path
before jumpers jump. For jumpers, the final flight path
as they descend into a jump spot. |
| Ops |
Operations desk. The nerve center
of any smokejumper base. The jump list, aircraft list,
and all other matters of business are managed in operations. |
| Paracargo |
As a group, those who work to deliver
supplies to fires by aircraft and parachute. As a product,
supplies delivered in such a manner. |
| PG
bag |
Personal-gear bag. |
| PT |
Physical training. As part of their
regular daily routine' smokejumpers do one hour of PT
each morning. |
| Pulaski |
Fire-fighting tool. An ax with a grub
hoe on the OppOsite end. |
| Rat-holing
(also ratting) |
Sneaking prized food items and hiding
them from the rest of the group. |
| Rats |
Army rations, C-rations, MREs (Meals-Ready-to-Eat). |
| Ready
room |
Room in smokejumper facility where
jumpers suit up for departure to fires. |
| Reburn |
A fire that is declared out, then
later rekindles. |
| Retardant |
See Mud. |
| Rookie |
First-year smokejumper. |
| Scratch
line |
Minimal hand line, made quickly to
temporarily hold a fire until the line can be finished. |
| Situation
report |
Daily report of current fires, personnel
assigned, and resource allocations. Also includes weather
forecasts. |
| Slash |
Debris left after logging; limbs,
cull logs, treetops, and stumps. Can also be natural forest
debris. |
| Slopover |
A place where the fire crosses an
established control line. |
| Snag |
A dead tree, still standing. |
| Snookie |
Second-year smokejumper. |
| Speed
racks |
Racks on which jump gear is pre-positioned
to facilitate fast suit up. |
| Spot
fire |
Fire started outside the main fire
area by flying sparks or embers. |
| Spotter |
Person who directs the jumping from
the plane. |
| Spruce
bough |
The top cut from a small (four- to
five-inch diameter) black spruce. Used to swat down flames
on Alaska fires. |
| Stall |
In aircraft, when the airspeed gets
so slow that it can no longer maintain flight attitude
and begins to fall. In a square parachute, when the canopy
is slowed down so much that it can no longer maintain
flight, and it begins to rock forward and back radically. |
| Standby
shack |
The main smokejumper building. Includes
loft, ready room, tool room, weight room, paracargo bay,
etc. |
| Steering
lines |
The right and left lines used to steer
a parachute. |
| Stevens
connection |
A short nylon line that connects the
reserve deployment handle to the left riser of the main
parachute. When a main malfunctions and has to be cut
away, the Stevens automatic pulls the reserve handle and
initiates the deployment of the reserve. |
| Streamer |
Fully malfunctioned parachute. |
| Tail |
The back end or initial part of a
fire. Usually spreads slowly at lower intensity than flanks
or head. |
| Zulies |
Missoula smokejumpers |
