Glossary of Firefighting - F

F

• FAST (or F.A.S.T.): Firefighter Assist and Search Team (also called Rapid Entry Team or Rapid Intervention Team/Crew) — firefighters assigned to stand by for rescue of other firefighters inside a structure; an implementation to support the Two-in, two-out rule; may have specialized training, experience and tools. While all of these versions of the name for a firefighter rescue crew either have been used or continue to be used in several areas, the National Incident Management System (NIMS) has determined that Rapid Intervention Crew, ("RIC") will be the national term. Current U.S. federally mandated training programs are in the process of standardizing this and other terms under DHS and FEMA. F.A.S.T operations became officially mandated after the Worchester, MA Cold Storage Fire, which claimed the lives of 6 firefighters, after they became disoriented in the smoke and subsequently ran out of air.
• FDC (Fire Department Connection): Location in which pumping apparatus hooks to a buildings standpipe and or sprinkler system. Usually a 3" female connection.
• Fire barn: Another term for Fire station. Originally it referred to a stable which housed horses and the fire apparatus which they hauled. Although it may be colloquially employed to describe any such structure, the term is now most commonly used in rural areas.
• Fire Break: Especially in hilly or mountainous areas, roads or paths cut through brush with a tractor, bulldozer or other construction equipment. The purpose of these is to have an area with no brush, and thus, no fuel, so that a fire will hopefully burn out rather than jumping to another area with brush. Also to ensure vehicular access to brush areas.
• Fire code (Fire safety code): regulations for fire prevention and safety involving flammables, explosives and other dangerous operations and occupancies.
• Fire complex: (U.S. Complex fire) Area of fires - many of the areas have multiple fires with multiple fronts.
• Fire engineering: Scientific design of materials, structures and processes for fire safety
• Fire escape: A building structure arranged outside to assist in safe evacuation of occupants during an emergency; may connect horizontally beyond a fire wall or vertically to a roof or (preferably) to the ground, perhaps with a counter-weighted span to deny access to intruders.
• Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP) - Program administered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a department of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). It performs independent investigations of firefighter fatalities in the United States, also referred to as line of duty deaths (LODD). The programs goals are: 1.) to better define the characteristics of line of duty deaths among firefighters, 2.) to develop recommendations for the prevention of deaths and injuries, and 3.) to disseminate prevention strategies to the fire service.
• Firefighter: People who respond to fire alarms and other emergencies for fire suppression, rescue, and related duties.
• Firefighter Assist and Search Team: See FAST.
• Fire flow: The amount of water being pumped onto a fire, or required to extinguish a hypothetical fire. A critical calculation in light of the axiom that an ordinary fire will not be extinguished unless there is sufficient water to remove the heat of the fire.
• Fireground: The operational area at the scene of a fire; area in which incident commander is in control. Also used as name of radio frequency to be used by units operating in the fireground, as in “Responding units switch to fireground.”
• Fire hall Another term for Fire station.
• Fire hazard: Materials, structures or processes that may result in creating a fire, permitting a fire to grow undetected, or preventing people from escaping a fire.
• Firehouse: Another term for Fire station.
• Fire hydraulics: The study of pumps, hoses, pipes, accessories and tools for moving water or other extinguishing agents from a water supply to a fire.
• Fire inspector: A person responsible for issuing permits and enforcing the fire code, including any necessary premises inspection, as before allowing (or during) a large indoor gathering.
• Fire line: A boundary of a fire scene established for public safety and to identify the area in which firefighters may be working.
• Fire load (Btu/sq ft): An estimate of the amount of heat that will be given off during ordinary combustion of all the fuel in a given space; e.g., a bedroom or a lumberyard. More casually, the amount and type of contents in a given space.
• Fire marshal: Administrative and investigative office for fire prevention and arson investigation.
• Fire officer - See Company officer, but may also be a Fire chief or other Chief officer.
• Fire point: temperature at which materials give off flammable gases that will sustain fire, typically higher than flash point. Temperature at flashover.
• Fire Police: Special constables attached to a fire department, tasked with ensuring the safety and security of emergency scenes as well as general assistance to the fire department and other agencies.
• Fire prevention: Fire safety; standards for minimizing fire hazards. In some departments also the name of the division tasked with promoting fire safety and fire code compliance in the community.
• Fire Prevention Week: An annual observation of fire safety education in the United States and Canada, often involving lectures or demonstrations by firefighters, sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association, since 1925.
• Fire-resistant: Materials designed or treated to have an increased fire point.
• Fire station: A structure which, in addition to housing apparatus and equipment, often includes living quarters and training facilities for the use of firefighting personnel when on-duty.
• Firestorm: A conflagration of great enough proportions to noticeably create its own wind conditions.
• Fire tetrahedron: The fire tetrahedron is based on the components of igniting or extinguishing a fire. Each component represents a property necessary to sustain fire: fuel, oxygen, heat, and chemical chain reaction. Extinguishment is based upon removing or hindering any one of these properties.
• Fire triangle: Model for understanding the major components necessary for fire: heat, fuel and oxygen. See also fire tetrahedron for a more comprehensive model.
• Fire wall: Building structure designed to delay horizontal spread of a fire from one area of a building to another; often regulated by fire code and required to have self-closing doors, and fireproof construction.
• Fire warden: Appointed post for issuing rural fire permits in a given jurisdiction and maintaining equipment and manpower readiness for responding to wildland fires.
• Fire watch: Fixed or mobile patrols that watch for signs of fire or fire hazards so that any necessary alarm can be quickly raised or preventive steps taken. Commonly established at commercial or multi-occupancy structures if the fire alarm system is out of service for repairs, or a crew assigned to the scene after a large fire to stand watch for an extended period of time in the event of a rekindle. Also called "reflash watch."
• First due: Refers to either the first apparatus arriving on the scene of a fire or the area in which a company is expected to be the first to arrive on a fire scene.
• Fit test: Periodic test of how well the facepiece of an SCBA fits a particular firefighter.
• Flameover: Also known as rollover. The ignition of heated fire gasses at the ceiling level only. While dangerous to firefighters, this is not as deadly as Flashover.
• Flammable range, limits: The percentage mixture of fumes with air that will sustain fire; outside the limits the mixture is either too lean or too rich to burn.
• Flash point: Lowest temperature at which a material will emit vapor combustible in air mixture. Higher than Flame point of same material.
• Flashover: simultaneous ignition of combustible materials in a closed space, as when materials simultaneously reach their fire point; may also result in rollover.
• Foam: Extinguishing agent formed by mixing Foam concentrate with water and aerating the solution for expansion. Used for smothering large Class A or B fires. May be injected into fire streams at adjustable concentrations.
• Foam Concentrate: Raw foam liquid as it rests in it storage container before the introduction of water and air.
• Forcible entry: gaining entry to an area using force to disable or bypass security devices, typically using force tools, sometimes using tools specialized for entry (e.g., Halligan, K-tool).
• Forward lay: Procedure of stringing water supply hose from a water source toward a fire scene; compare with Reverse lay.
• Freelancing: dangerous situation at an incident where an individual carries out tasks alone or without being assigned; violation of Personnel accountability procedures.
• Friction loss: Reduction of flow in a firehose caused by friction between the water and the lining of the hose. Depends primarily upon diameter, type and length of hose, and amount of water (GPM) flowing through.
• Frontage: The size of a building facing a street.
• Fully involved: Term of size-up meaning fire, heat and smoke in a structure are so widespread that internal access must wait until fire streams can be applied.