Monitoring & Post-Fire Evaluation Flashcards

Under the current federal standard, what is the 24-hour PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS)?

Answer: 35 µg/m³

The 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS is 35 µg/m³; 150 µg/m³ is the 24-hour PM10 standard.

During a burn, smoke settles into a valley town overnight. Which monitoring action matters most for the post-burn evaluation?

Answer: Document smoke impacts, monitor readings, complaints, and mitigation actions taken

Documenting smoke impacts and the response supports the smoke management evaluation and regulatory reporting.

After the active burn, a burn boss finds heat near the unit boundary. Which action best supports declaring the burn out later?

Answer: Patrol and mop up per the burn plan until no threat of escape remains

Post-burn patrol and mop-up continue until the criteria for declaring the burn out in the plan are met.

A prescribed fire exceeds prescription and cannot be contained by contingency actions. What must happen next?

Answer: Declare it a wildfire and follow the wildfire declaration and review process

PMS 484 requires a wildfire declaration and a subsequent review when contingency actions cannot bring the fire back into prescription.

Which pair of terms is used correctly?

Answer: Fire intensity measures energy released during combustion; burn severity describes the effects on the ecosystem

Intensity is a fire behavior measure (for example, kW/m), while severity describes ecological change and organic matter loss.

Why should monitoring plots be established and read BEFORE a burn?

Answer: They provide baseline data so post-burn change can be quantified

Without pre-burn baseline data, changes caused by the fire cannot be measured reliably.

A unit objective was '60–80% mortality of understory white fir <4 in. DBH.' Post-burn data show 45% mortality. What is the most appropriate response?

Answer: Document that the objective was not fully met, analyze why, and adjust future prescriptions or plan follow-up treatment

Honest evaluation against measurable objectives feeds adaptive management.