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Develop a wildfire management plan

URN: LANCS95
Business Sectors (Suites): Incident Management in the Land-based Sector
Developed by: Lantra
Approved on: 30 Mar 2023

Overview

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This standard is aimed at those who work in forestry, conservation, farming or game and wildlife management and have responsibility for managing wildfire incidents or prescribed fire operations. It relates to the activities that you undertake to develop a wildfire management plan, including scoping, survey, analysis, synthesis, implementation, monitoring and review.

To meet this standard, you will be able to:
• gather and organise relevant information and evidence
• engage effectively with key stakeholders
• communicate and illustrate key information
• analyse and synthesise evidence into key tools to inform designing resilience and adapting management systems
• implement resilience features and management practices
• monitor and review a Wildfire Management Plan.

Those carrying out vegetation fire suppression should be trained, and hold current certification where required, in accordance with nation-specific legislation.

For you to fully understand the content of the standard, and the activities it describes, it is important that you are able to understand the terms used within the standard. See Glossary for some definitions that should help you with this.

Performance criteria

You must be able to:

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  1. liaise with key stakeholders to gather information to inform the development of the wildfire management plan
  2. carry out a wildfire risk assessment to determine and identify vegetation fire related hazards
  3. map out vegetation fuel hazards and define critical points
  4. determine who and what can be harmed and how this is defined in terms of life, property and environment
  5. complete a risk assessment calculation using the wildfire risk matrix to de-termine a risk rating of the likelihood and severity of wildfire hazards
  6. use a written and/or spatial wildfire risk assessment to communicate risk to stakeholders and improve analysis
  7. define high and low priority areas to protect, and possibly lose, during inci-dents
  8. determine what are control measures and how to apply existing and further control measures
  9. effectively zone and identify areas for management, using the wildfire man-agement zones, proportionate to the site and landscape
  10. organise relevant information and evidence
  11. analyse information on terrain and features on site and in the surrounding landscape to determine how it influences wildfire behaviour
  12. analyse information on types of vegetation and depth of peat on site, and the level of wildfire risk
  13. define constraints, opportunities and threats
  14. undertake the synthesis process using information gathered from the scop-ing, survey and analysis stages to provide a resilient site and landscape plan
  15. develop a wildfire management plan that correctly prioritises the risk to life, property and environment
  16. confirm that the plan includes all the relevant information regarding pre-scribed burning, wildfire prevention measures and wildfire response
  17. determine how to implement vegetation fire prevention measures on site
  18. communicate the wildfire prevention and mitigation measures to all statutory and non-statutory stakeholders
  19. define how to record wildfire incidents, prescribed burning operations and other operations, as well as their effectiveness, and other relevant infor-mation
  20. measure the delivery of the wildfire management plan against the critical success factors defined in the wildfire management objectives
  21. monitor and review wildfire management plans within an appropriate time-scale and following an event 

Knowledge and Understanding

You need to know and understand:

  1. the purpose of a wildfire management plan, what is included and when and how it is used
  2. the information needed to inform the development of a wildfire management plan
  3. what is the aim objectives and critical success factors of the vegetation fire management plan
  4. the planning process and cycle in terms of; scoping, survey, analysis, synthesis, implementation, monitoring and review
  5. the survey process, who should be involved in gathering the information and how to engage with them to get effective feedback
  6. the four tools of a wildfire management plan toolkit; wildfire risk assessment, wildfire management zones, wildfire prevention measures and wildfire re-sponse plan
  7. the key priorities for wildfire management planning of life, property, and envi-ronment risk
  8. how to define an appropriate wildfire management plan format, either standalone or integrated into wider organisation management plans
  9. How to define the difference between mitigation and adaptation in a wildfire management plan context in terms of climate change and risk management

  10. how to correctly define hazards and undertake a wildfire risk assessment in-cluding: 

    • the wildfire risk factors and hazards
    • who and what can be harmed and how this is defined in terms of, life, property and environment
    • wildfire likelihood and severity of hazard 
    • control measures and how to apply existing and further control measures 
    • the risk rating and how to complete a calculation using a wildfire risk matrix 
    • how to use a spatial wildfire risk assessment to communicate risk to stakeholders and improve analysis

  11. how to identify, analyse and map out vegetation fuels hazards and their loading, terrain and other features on site and in the landscape, assess how they would influence fire behaviour and define the critical points 

  12. how to define high and low priority areas to protect, and possibly lose, during incidents
  13. how to identify areas for management using the wildfire management zones, proportionate to the site and landscape
  14. the effect of the different types of vegetation and depth of peat on site on the level of wildfire risk
  15. how to define the Constraints, Opportunities and Threats (COT) and how to communicate them to stakeholders and improve evidence for synthesis
  16. how to undertake the synthesis process using information gathered from the scoping, survey and analysis stages to provide a resilient site and landscape
  17. the principles of good planning for building wildfire resilience into design
  18. how to manage vegetation fuels using management systems and determine how management practices can be used to improve resilience
  19. how to plan, position and create fire breaks, fuel breaks and fire belts
  20. how to improve on-site signage design to increase wildfire resilience
  21. how to plan for prescribed fire operations
  22. how to plan for people, access and recreation
  23. how to plan for providing access to natural and manmade water sources
  24. how to plan for allowing access for incident response and improve the suc-cess of firefighting
  25. how to develop a wildfire response plan including the information, features, icons and symbols that should be used
  26. how to successfully implement fire prevention measures on a site to mitigate wildfire risk
  27. how to communicate the wildfire prevention and mitigation measures to all statutory and non-statutory stakeholders
  28. how to accurately record wildfire incidents, prescribed fire operations and other prevention operations as well as their effectiveness, and other relevant information
  29. how to measure the delivery and performance of wildfire resilience against the critical success factors defined in the wildfire management objectives
  30. how to check, collect data, record and evaluate the implementation of the wildfire management plan within an appropriate timescale and following an event 
  31. how to successfully monitor the implementation and wildfire incidents on site
  32. how to review a wildfire management plan and the changes that may be re-quired 
  33. how to update the wildfire management plan to learn from past wildfire inci-dents or operations and define their effectiveness
  34. how land use change at site and landscape scale will need to be reflected in reviewed wildfire management plans.

Scope/range

Scope Performance

Scope Knowledge

Values

Behaviours

Skills

Glossary

  • Anchor Point: An advantageous location, usually a barrier to fire spread, from which to begin constructing a control line.

  • Containment - When a control line has been established around the perimeter of the fire and stopped further growth.

  • Control line - An inclusive term for all constructed or natural barriers and treated fire edges used to control a fire.

  • Control measure - Mitigation actions that can be taken to reduce the potential of exposure to an identified hazard.

  • Controlling - Improving and securing control lines to the degree that there is no foreseeable chance of the fire escaping.

  • Direct attack - An offensive fire suppression tactic that involves an attack being made at or near the fire’s edge.

  • Fire behaviour – The reaction of a fire to the influences of fuel, weather, and topography. Different types of fire include: smouldering, creeping, running, torching, spotting and crowning.

  • Firebreak - Gaps in vegetation, which may be natural or man-made features. These include heavily grazed areas or mown tracks and rides.
  • Fire danger - A general term used to express an assessment of both the fixed and variable factors of the fire environment, which determine the ease of ignition, rate of spread, difficulty of control, and impact. Fire danger is often expressed as an index.
  • Fire danger rating system (Index) - A quantitative indicator of fire danger, expressed either in a relative sense or as an absolute measure. Fire danger indexes are often used to guide fire management activities.
  • Fire hazard - Any situation, process, material or condition that can cause a wildfire or that can provide a ready fuel supply to augment the spread or intensity of a wildfire, all of which pose a threat to life, property or the environment.
  • Fire intensity – The rate at which a fire releases energy in the form of heat at a given location and at a specific point in time, expressed as kilowatts per metre (kW/m) or kilojoules per meter per second (kJ/m/s).
  • Fire risk - The probability of a wildfire occurring and its potential impact on a particular location at a particular time. Wildfire risk is calculated using the following equation: Fire risk = probability of occurrence x potential impact.
  • Fire severity - A qualitative assessment of the level of heat generated by a fire/burn and the resulting impact on a fuel.

  • Fire type – There are three different schemes for classifying fire type: 

    1. Classification of a fire or section of fire according to the fuel level within which it occurs. For example, aerial, crown, understory, surface and ground fires. 
    2. Classification of a section of fire according to its position along the fire perimeter. For example, head, tail and flank fires. 
    3. Classification of a fire or section of fire according to the visual characteristics it displays. For example, smouldering, creeping, backing, running, torching, spotting, crowning, fire whirl, convection driven fire etc 

  • Fire weather – Weather conditions that influence fire ignition, behaviour, and suppression.

  • Fireline intensity - The rate of energy release per unit length of fire front, described in kW/m.
  • Flank fire - A fire spreading or predicted to spread parallel (approximately at a right angle) to the prevailing wind direction or a slope.
  • Flanking attack - A method of fire suppression which involves attacking a wildfire along the flank or both flanks simultaneously or successively.
  • Flanks - The parts of a fire's perimeter that are roughly parallel to the main direction of spread.
  • Fuel - Any material that can support combustion within a wildfire environment. Fuel is usually measured in tonnes per hectare. 
  • Fuel break - Gaps in vegetation where litter and organic materials are removed to expose mineral soil.  These may include rivers, roads or control lines created with hand tools or machinery.
  • Fuel hazard - A fuel complex defined by kind, arrangement, volume, condition, and location that presents a threat of ignition and resistance to control.
  • Fuels – The classification of fuels according to their height relative to the ground surface. There are five general fuel layers: • Aerial fuels • Elevated fuels • Near surface fuels • Surface fuels • Ground fuels
  • Hazard - Anything which has the potential to cause harm.
  • Head - The most rapidly spreading portion of a fire's perimeter, usually to the leeward or up slope.
  • Heel or tail - The rearmost part of a wildfire/forest fire, it is normally out of alignment with wind and slope, and consequently will usually demonstrate less fire activity than the head fire because it usually has less support from wind or slope.
  • Indirect attack - Any suppression methods implemented away from the fire edge.
  • JESIP - Joint Emergency Service Interoperability Programme
  • Knockdown - The initial suppression work aimed at reducing the fire’s intensity and slowing or stopping fire spread. Implies that the foreseeable danger of the wildfire has been significantly reduced.
  • LACES – An essential safety protocol which should be implemented at wildfire incidents to address risks and hazards. LACES is an acronym for: L = Lookouts,  A = Awareness (or Anchor Point), C = Communication, E = Escape route and plan, S = Safe area
  • Landscape - The physical appearance of the land comprising of the features of the terrain, the indigenous vegetation and the human impact caused by variations in land use.
  • Likelihood - An assessment of the probability of an identified hazard resulting in a loss (normally expressed as a number 1 to 5, low to high).
  • Methods of heat transfer – The process by which heat is imparted from one body or object to another. In wildfires and forest fires, heat energy is transmitted from burning to unburned fuels by: Convection, Radiation and Conduction.
  • Mop up and patrol – Activity that commences after the fire has been controlled and involves extinguishing the burning area until there is no possibility of re-ignition. Patrolling the perimeter of the fire will help to ensure that the fire will not escape outside of the control lines. A fire can be called “out” after the completion of this phase.
  • Observer - An individual occupying an observation tower/point or completing a patrol of a designated area who is tasked with detecting and reporting wildfires.
  • Pinch attack - The tactic of attacking a wildfire by working along the flanks either simultaneously or successively from an anchor point and endeavouring to connect the two lines at the head.
  • Risk - The probability (likelihood) that the harm from a hazard will be realised together with the level of resultant loss, damage or injury.
  • Risk assessment - The process of establishing information regarding acceptable levels of risk and actual levels of risk posed to an individual, group, society or the environment. The process involves the identification of risk, an assessment of the likelihood of an event occurring and an assessment of the severity of the impact if it does occur.  
  • Risk rating - The result of multiplying the likelihood by the severity to reach a value for risk. This is then expressed as either a numeric value or simply, low, medium or high.
  • Severity - An assessment of the possible outcome of an identified hazard (normally expressed as a number 1 to 5, low to high).
  • Topography – The description and study of the shape and features of the land surface.
  • Wildfire – Any uncontrolled vegetation fire which requires a decision or action regarding suppression. Wildfires are commonly classified according to size and/or impact upon suppression resources.
  • Wildfire management plan - A site-specific plan developed to address the risk of wildfire and set out measures that will reduce or mitigate the risk and/or consequences of a wildfire. Ideally this is produced following a wildfire risk assessment.
  • Wildfire management zones - The aim of wildfire management zones is to protect health and safety and important assets and infrastructure. They can provide a useful framework to help managers identify and prioritise wildfire prevention measures across a site, based on the level of wildfire risk. Wildfire management zones comprise spatial zoning of wildfire prevention measures based on proportionality.  Zone A is the Asset Zone where infrastructure must be protected from fire, Zone B is the buffer zone, where increased fuel management is carried out to protect Zones A and D. Zone C is an area of low wildfire risk where normal land management activities can be carried out. Zone D is a fire exclusion zone, where operations such as prescribed burning or suppression fires should not be permitted.
  • Wildfire Prediction System (WiPS) - A recognised system for anticipating and predicting the likely behaviour of a wildfire. It is based on the consideration of wind, slope and aspect combined with fuel.
  • Wildfire prevention - A collective term for all proactive activities that are implemented with the aim of reducing the occurrence, severity and spread of wildfires.
  • Wildfire prevention measures - Activities directed at reducing the incidence of fires, including public education, law enforcement, personal contact, and reduction of fuel hazards (fuels management).
  • Wildfire prevention plan - A scheme or programme of activities that is formulated in order to prevent wildfire incidents.
  • Wildfire response plan - An area specific plan developed to set out the response required to a wildfire incident. WRPs should include information that would prove useful for Fire and Rescue Services, such as location of infrastructure, access routes, water sources, specialist equipment, contact details and site maps.
  • Wildfire risk assessment - A tool for identifying fire hazards and evaluating fire risk. The process involves the identification of risk, an assessment of the likelihood of an event occurring and an assessment of the severity of the impact if it does occur.

Links To Other NOS

External Links

Version Number

1

Indicative Review Date

30 Mar 2028

Validity

Current

Status

Original

Originating Organisation

Lantra

Original URN

LANCS95

Relevant Occupations

Forestry, Environmental Conservation, Estates Manager, Ranger, Game and Wildlife Manager

SOC Code

5119

Keywords

fire; forest; moorland; woodland; trees; vegetation; heather; heath; burn; wildfire; firefighting