Fire Tools & Equipment

Req 8 — Wildfire Suppression Tools

8.

Do the following:

Wildland firefighters utilize specialized hand tools, mechanized equipment, and custom fire apparatus specifically designed for rugged off-road operations.

Requirement 8a: Wildland Hand Tools & Fireline Construction

8a.

Demonstrate the use of three hand tools unique to wildland fire suppression. Use one of these tools to demonstrate how to construct a fireline.

Three Essential Wildland Hand Tools

  1. Pulaski Tool: A dual-purpose tool combining an axe blade on one side and a narrow adze hoe on the other. Used for chopping heavy roots, cutting brush, and digging mineral soil.
  2. McLeod Tool: A heavy combination tool featuring a large rake on one side and a flat hoe blade on the other. Used for raking forest duff, scraping grass to bare dirt, and cutting fine roots.
  3. Rogue Hoe / Combi Tool: A heavy steel hoe used for scraping mineral soil and cutting tough brush on steep slopes.

Fireline Construction Technique

A fireline is a strip of land scraped down to bare mineral soil (completely free of burnable organic matter).

  • Width: Typically 1.5 to 3 feet wide, cleared down to bare dirt, with brush thinned back several feet on the outside.
  • Trenching: On steep slopes below a fire, dig a “cup trench” to catch rolling burning logs or pine cones.
  • Scraping: Use the McLeod or Pulaski to pull all scraped vegetation away from the fire side.

Requirement 8a Resources

🎬 Video: Wildland Firefighting Tools — https://youtu.be/SHXLUEfHlxw

Wildland Firefighting Tools

Requirement 8b: Seven Specialized Wildland Equipment & Apparatus

8b.

Discuss seven other tools, equipment, or apparatus that are unique to wildland fire suppression and explain how these resources are used.

Seven Specialized Wildland Resources

  1. Type 3 / Type 6 Wildland Fire Engines: High-clearance, four-wheel-drive fire trucks equipped with off-road suspension, water tanks (300–500 gallons), and pump-and-roll capabilities for rugged terrain.
  2. Chainsaws (Wildland Configuration): Heavy-duty chainsaws used by sawyers to fell dead hazard trees (snags) and clear brush lines.
  3. Drip Torch: A canister carrying a mixture of diesel and gasoline used to ignite controlled backfires and burnouts safely ahead of the main fire front.
  4. Backpack Water Pump (Fedco / Indian Pump): A 5-gallon collapsible or rigid water tank worn on a firefighter’s back, equipped with a hand-operated slide pump for dousing hot spots during mop-up.
  5. Fire Dozers (Bulldozers): Heavy armored tractors fitted with front blades and rear rippers used to scrape wide containment lines through dense brush.
  6. Air Tankers (VLAT & SEAT): Fixed-wing aircraft ranging from Single-Engine Air Tankers (SEATs) to Very Large Air Tankers (VLATs, such as DC-10s) that drop thousands of gallons of red chemical retardant to pre-treat fuels ahead of the fire.
  7. Helitack Helicopters: Helicopters equipped with underslung water buckets (Bambi buckets) to drop water directly on flare-ups, and transport rappellers or helitack crews to remote ridges.

Requirement 8b Resources

Wildland Fire Engines National Park Service overview of engine types, specs, and pump-and-roll off-road capabilities. Link: Wildland Fire Engines — https://www.nps.gov/articles/wildland-fire-engines.htm NIFC Aircraft Resources National Interagency Fire Center guide to air tankers, lead planes, helitack, and smokejumper aircraft. Link: NIFC Aircraft Resources — https://www.nifc.gov/resources/aircraft NIFC Firefighting Equipment NIFC equipment supply cache overview covering pumps, hoses, drop tanks, and hand tools. Link: NIFC Firefighting Equipment — https://www.nifc.gov/resources/equipment NIFC Dozers National Interagency Fire Center overview of heavy equipment dozer operations on the fireline. Link: NIFC Dozers — https://www.nifc.gov/resources/equipment/dozers

Next Steps

Explore practical community action projects in Requirement 9.