Wildfires
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The following guide provides Web site links, a list of selected
books, and access to online periodical articles about this subject.
The Web site links have been researched, evaluated, and annotated by
Rio Hondo College Librarians. The Librarians have specifically
selected these Web sites to meet the research needs of Rio Hondo
College students
Web Site Links
FEMA :
Wildfires http://www.fema.gov/hazard/wildfire/index.shtm
Sponsored by the Federal Emergency Measures Administration, the FEMA
site is devoted to wildfires and is mainly concerned with preventative
measures. It also includes a fact sheet and backgrounder on wild
land fires.
Fire
Behavior Associated with the 1994 South Canyon Fire on Storm
King Mountain, Colorado http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_rp009.html
1998 U.S. Forest Service research paper.
Howstuffworks :
How Wildfires work http://science.howstuffworks.com/wildfire.htm
Describes how wildfires are started and perpetuate themselves.
Also contains statistics on wildfires. Elementary
information geared toward children, as well as adults.
Explains how geography and weather influence fire.
InciWeb - Wildland Fire and incident
Information System
http://www.inciweb.org
Provides current and timely information to the public
concerning wild land fire incidents throughout the US.
Date is contributed in real time from various US federal and
state agencies, including: US Forest Service, Bureau of Land
Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, US Fish and Wildlife
Service, National Park Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, and the National Association of State Foresters.
Mann Gulch Fire : A Race That Couldn't Be Won
http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_int/int_gtr299.html
1993 U.S. Forest Service report on the Mann Gulch Fire of
August, 1949.
National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC)
http://www.nifc.gov/
NIFC serves as the support center for wild land firefighting in
the US, coordinating the flow of information and resources
between its eight member agencies. These organizations
include: the US Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management,
the National Weather Service, the National Park Service, the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Old & Grand Prix Fires, October 2003
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sanbernardino/fire/oldfire.shtml
U.S. Forest Service report on the recent wildfires in and around
the San Bernardino National Forest.
Sadler Fire
Entrapment Investigation http://www.fire.blm.gov/textdocuments/sadlerreport.pdf
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management
report dated August 1999.
South Canyon
Fire Investigation http://coloradofirecamp.com/south-canyon-fire/summary-authors.htm
Executive summary from the accident investigation team report of
August 1994.
UNEP (United
Nations Environment Programme)
http://www.grid.unep.ch/activities/earlywarning/fires/index.php
Provides real-time information about current fires, their status
and early warning, including satellite images of hotspots around
the world. Has links to NASA Earth Observatory and the
Global Fire Monitoring Center.
Wildfire News
http://www.wildfirenews.com
Compilation of up-to-the minute news on wildfires around the
U.S. and the world. Contains fire danger maps, fire
weather flap, and news archive.
Books
The following books can be located in the
Rio Hondo College Library.
Forest fires : a reference handbook
(Contemporary world issues)
Call number: Ref SD421.O64 2005
Suggested Subject Headings
For additional titles on this topic at Rio Hondo, click on the
following Library of Congress subject headings:
Media
The following media can be located in the Rio Hondo College Library,
to be viewed in the Library.
Basic wildland fire orientation
Call number: Video 001310
"The purpose of this program is to provide you with basic
information to prepare you for success in your first
assignment."
Courage is a quality : the 1991 Firestorm
Call number: Video 000759
A recording of a television broadcast re-counting the local acts of courage during the Oakland-Berkeley Fire of 1991.
Everyone's responsibility : wildland/urban interface fire protection
Call number: Video 000554
Program looks at three communities where interface attitudes are changing: Shenandoah County, VA, Prescott, AZ, and Orange County, CA. Experts Cindy Frenzel (VA), Ed Hollenshead (AZ), and Timothy Neely (CA) explain the various steps taken by their respective counties to establish a cooperative wildfire protection program
Fire in the hills, Oakland, California
Call number: Video 000691
Historical overview of the ecological and construction history
of the hilly residential areas of Oakland California, which led
to the conflagrations of 1923, 1970 and 1991. Film concludes
with recommendations to prevent such fires in the future.
Fire Weather
Call number: Video 001309
Wind, moisture, and atmospheric stability give clues to how
fires will react on any given day. A firefighter who can read
the fire weather can plan a safer fire suppression strategy.
Introduction to fire behavior
Call number: Video 001308
Wildland
fire
behavior:
combination of heat, oxygen and fuel.
Fire
spreads through conduction, convection or radiation -- Complex
wildland
fire
management factors: fuel, weather (temperature, wind, fuel
moisture and relative humidity), and topography (aspect or
direction, slope, position of
fire,
shape of country and elevation).
Fire
management strategy must take into account
fire
behavior
and
fire
fighter safety.
Wenatchee Heights burnover
Call number: Video 001313
Program is intended to prevent fire entrapment situations on
wildland fires. Uses a fire near Wenatchee, Washington, on
August 2, 1990, as an example. Rick West, Fire Chief of Chelan
County Fire District #1 and a survivor of this fire burnover,
explains survival techniques, clothing and equipment, and talks
about his own mistakes.
Wildfire :
handtools
Call number: Video 001311
A comprehensive video that covers the correct use and proper
maintenance of hand tools used in a wild fire situation. Several
different types of tools are outlined.
Articles
The Rio Hondo College Library
provides online access to full-text articles through our
online databases
- http://library.riohondo.edu/online_databases/index.htm. Please note: you must be a Rio Hondo College
student, faculty, staff or board member to use these services.
The 5 sample searches
below are from the
ProQuest database.
Use Advanced Search
and type each tern in a separate box:
SU(forest &
brush fires) (scholarly journals)
SU(forest and brush fires)
SU(forest & brush fires) AND GEO(california)
SU(forest & brush fires) AND GEO(southern california)
SU(forest & brush fires) AND SU(fire prevention)
Researched and evaluated by:
S. Wells, Librarian 1/2004
last update: D. Banton, Librarian 5/2008