When wildfires occur, a lot of terminology is thrown around. Here are some of the more commonly heard words defined by the Glossary of Wildland Fire Terminology from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, a conglomerate of federal agencies. more ›

We hear it all the time when talking wildfires. "The Sayre Fire is 64% contained," "the Tea Fire is 100% contained," etc. But what does that mean? How is it measured? "In essence, anything less than a 'full' (aka 100%) fire control line surrounding a wildland blaze is estimated by the Incident Commander in a percentage, and that number is the containment factor," explained Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department. more ›