Definition
The fire shelter is an aluminized cloth tent that offers protection in a wildfire entrapment situation by reflecting radiant heat and providing a volume of breathable air.
Introduction
Wildland firefighters in the United States have carried fire shelters since their development in the 1960s. All federal, state, and local agency firefighters have been required to carry them since 1977.
Firefighters train extensively in fire entrapment avoidance, so fire shelters are used in the very rare occurrence of a fire entrapment where firefighters feel the shelter is needed for protection from heat, smoke, and/or ember showers. The greatest threats a firefighter faces during an entrapment situation are burns to the body and inhalation of hot gases, which can cause asphyxiation. Scientific estimates of the maximum survivable air temperature vary, but dry air temperatures as high as 150 °C (300 °F) are considered survivable for only very short periods of time. However, a tenable...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Anderson L, Petrilli T (2003) New generation fire shelter developed for wildland firefighters. Tech Tip 0351–2313P–MTDC. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Missoula Technology and Development Center, Missoula, 10 p.
Interagency Fire Shelter Task Group (n.d.) Wildland fire shelter: history and development of the new generation fire shelter. https://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/programs/fire/documents/shelhist.pdf
National Technology and Development Program (NTDP) (2015) 2014 Fire shelter project review, USDA Forest Service, 6 pp. https://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/programs/fire/documents/2014FireShelterCommPlanFinal041515.pdf
National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) (2003) The new generation fire shelter, PMS 411, National Interagency Fire Center, Boise. 64 p. Pamphlet and video available at https://www.nwcg.gov/publications/411
National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) Fire Shelter Subcommittee (2019a) Outcome of fire shelter review project, Equipment Technology Committee ETC memo 19-01, 3 pp. https://www.nwcg.gov/sites/default/files/memos/eb-m-19-001a.pdf
National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) (2019b) WFSTAR, catalog. https://www.nwcg.gov/publications/training-courses/rt-130/wfstar-catalog
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Petrilli, T. (2020). Fire Shelter. In: Manzello, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Wildfires and Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51727-8_197-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51727-8_197-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-51727-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-51727-8
eBook Packages: Springer Reference EngineeringReference Module Computer Science and Engineering