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Fire Danger
How to Sign-up for CodeRed Alerts:
CodeRed® is an emergency telephone notification service that, when activated, will dial subscribers with a recorded message describing the nature of the emergency, actions the Town is taking to alleviate the emergency and recommendations citizens can take to ensure their safety during an emergency.
Ready Maricopa Community Preparedness Mobile App: Now being ready for an emergency is easier than ever!
Download the free ready.maricopa.gov Mobile App to start making your plan, creating your kit, and being informed before, during, and after an emergency. By answering five basic questions, your plan and your emergency kit shopping lists are created. You can also access critical information during an emergency and share your status.
- Learn more about the app and how to download it
- Go to Maricopa County’s Emergency Management website and sign-up for alerts, and learn how to prevent and prepare for emergencies.
What is the National Fire Danger Rating System?
The National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) is a system that allows land agencies to estimate today’s or tomorrow’s fire danger for a given area. It integrates the effects of existing and expected states of selected fire danger factors into one or more qualitative or numeric indices that reflect an area’s fire protection needs. The symbols and adjectives shown below are to alert the public of fire danger levels, using adjectives and colors based on criterial established by the National Fire Danger Rating System.
The goal is to encourage the public to adapt their behavior and obey restrictions based on their knowledge of these levels.
IGNITION: A rating of the probability that a firebrand will cause an actionable fire.
SPREAD: A rating of the forward rate of spread of the head of a fire.
SPOTTING: Behavior of a fire producing sparks or embers that are carried by the wind and which start new fires beyond the zone of direct ignition by the main fire.
CONTROL: The completion of control line around a fire, any spot fires therefrom, and any interior islands to be saved; burned out any unburned area adjacent to the fire side of the control lines; and cool down all hot spots that are immediate threats to the control line, until the lines can reasonably be expected to hold under the foreseeable conditions.
The goal is to encourage the public to adapt their behavior and obey restrictions based on their knowledge of these levels.
IGNITION: A rating of the probability that a firebrand will cause an actionable fire.
SPREAD: A rating of the forward rate of spread of the head of a fire.
SPOTTING: Behavior of a fire producing sparks or embers that are carried by the wind and which start new fires beyond the zone of direct ignition by the main fire.
CONTROL: The completion of control line around a fire, any spot fires therefrom, and any interior islands to be saved; burned out any unburned area adjacent to the fire side of the control lines; and cool down all hot spots that are immediate threats to the control line, until the lines can reasonably be expected to hold under the foreseeable conditions.
What are the different levels (or adjective ratings) and what do they mean?
We use 5 different color-coded levels to help the public understand fire potential. The purpose of this is for citizens and visitors to understand the current conditions and help mitigate their actions to prevent catastrophic human-caused wildfires.Low
Moderate
High
Very High
Extreme
What do you mean by “fire danger?”
Fire danger is the resulting description of the combination of both constant and variable factors which affect the initiation, spread, and difficulty of control of wildfires on an area.
How is fire danger different than fire behavior predictions?
Fire danger is a broad scale assessment while fire behavior is site specific. Fire danger ratings describe conditions that reflect the potential, over a large area, for a fire to ignite, spread and require suppression action. Fire behavior deals with an existing fire in a given time and space. It describes the movement, intensity, and indicators of rapid combustion of an ongoing fire.
What do you mean by Adjective Rating?
Adjective Ratings are a public information description of the relative severity of the current fire danger situation in a general area. The National Fire Danger Rating System helps agencies to determine this level. Adjective Ratings are generally posted on signs as visitors enter jurisdictions, public lands or at agency offices. Many people associate these signs as “Smokey Bear signs”.
Fire danger is the resulting description of the combination of both constant and variable factors which affect the initiation, spread, and difficulty of control of wildfires on an area.
How is fire danger different than fire behavior predictions?
Fire danger is a broad scale assessment while fire behavior is site specific. Fire danger ratings describe conditions that reflect the potential, over a large area, for a fire to ignite, spread and require suppression action. Fire behavior deals with an existing fire in a given time and space. It describes the movement, intensity, and indicators of rapid combustion of an ongoing fire.
What do you mean by Adjective Rating?
Adjective Ratings are a public information description of the relative severity of the current fire danger situation in a general area. The National Fire Danger Rating System helps agencies to determine this level. Adjective Ratings are generally posted on signs as visitors enter jurisdictions, public lands or at agency offices. Many people associate these signs as “Smokey Bear signs”.