Prescribed Burning is the planned application of fire under selected weather and fuel conditions so that the fire is confined to a predetermined area and burns with the intensity and rate of spread necessary to achieve the objectives of management. Wildfire is any unplanned fire.
Fuel is any combustible vegetative material.
Fire Hazard describes the fuel potentially available for burning and takes into consideration such factors as location, quantity, arrangement, and current or potential flammability of the fuel. When considered in combination with fire weather variables, it determines the difficulty of suppression once the fuel is ignited and also signifies the potential threat to human life, property and other assets. The index number is directly related to rate of spread, ignition probability and suppression difficulty. At an index of 1 fires are virtually self-extinguishing whilst at an index of 100, fires will burn so rapidly and intensely that control is nearly impossible. Fire Danger Period is a specific time in the Dry Season when a Permit to Burn is required for setting fires in the open.