Prepardeness Level (PL)
Lightning Activity Level (LAL)
Glossary of Wildland Fire Terminology
How Fires are Named?
Most
fires are named for a topographical feature, such as a water or land
feature, in the immediate area of the fire. The chosen feature is
usually familiar to local firefighters and local residents. For
example, if a fire is close to a creek named “Pioneer” the fire likely
would be called the Pioneer Fire.
For
Fire Complexes, the name of the Complex generally refers to either the
first fire of the Complex or the largest fire in the Complex.
Sometimes
fire names are changed during the incident if the name leads to public
or media confusion. For example, in 2002, the Florence Fire, named for
its proximity to a small creek on the Siskiyou National Forest, was
renamed the Biscuit Fire. The change was needed because as the fire
grew larger and media attention increased, people thought the name
referred to the coastal community of Florence, Oregon. The confusion
began to affect the tourist economy of Florence, Oregon. Once the name
was changed, the confusion was eliminated and the community of Florence
was no longer impacted.
