S-212 Wildland Fire Chainsaws Vocab (NWCG)

Black/gray check

A process of checking the condition and function of all black or gray fasteners, switches, and handles on a chain saw. The process should be conducted daily before operating a chain saw and, once completed, the operator will have finished a full safety feature check. Black is for Stihl chain saws, and gray is for Husqvarna chain saws.

Chain Brake

A safety device that stops the saw chain.

Chain Saw

A saw powered by an engine or motor in which the cutting elements are on a circular chain.

Depth Gauge (or raker gauge)

A tool that is used to measure the distance for the depth gauge or raker to be sharpened on a specific cutting tooth of a saw chain.

Dogs (or bumper spikes)

Metal spikes mounted on a chain saw near the guide bar, designed to stabilize and support the chain saw during felling and bucking. Medium-sized saws will usually have an inside dog, whereas larger saws will have an inside and an outside set of dogs. Chain saw dogs stabilize the chain saw, increasing the sawyer’s efficiency in felling and bucking operations.

Full wrap

A front handlebar that encompasses 3 out of 4 sides of the chain saw.

Guide bar

The long, thin projection of the chain saw upon which the saw chain travels.

Half wrap

A front handlebar that encompasses 2 of the 4 sides of the chain saw.

Aluminum fuel bottle

Aluminum bottles used to carry fuel and bar oil. Sigg and MSR are the two approved bottles.

Dolmar - fuel/oil container

A container that holds saw fuel and chain oil in two separate compartments.

Grounding

Contact between a container and the ground point, usually by wire, to prevent generation of static electrical sparks. Fuel containers and chain saws must always be filled on the ground, not in a vehicle, to establish an adequate ground. Fueling of chain saws must also be done on the ground (not on a vehicle’s tailgate) to ensure a positive ground is established.

Safety container

As defined by NFPA 30, an approved container of not more than a 5-gallon (18.9-L) capacity having a spring-closing lid and spout cover and designed so that it safely relieves internal pressure when subjected to fire exposure.

Axe (felling)

A part of the faller’s safety equipment that serves many pounding and chopping functions. Can also be used to plumb the lean of a tree.

Cant hook

A lumberman’s lever that has a pivoting hooked arm and a blunt or toothed metal cap at one end.

Peavey

A lumberman’s lever for turning logs that has a pivoting, hooked arm and metal spike at one end.

Plumb bob

A tool used to establish the outward lean or slant of a tree in relation to its base. Generally a weight attached to a string.

Wedge (felling)

A plastic or magnesium tool used by a faller to redistribute a tree’s weight to a desired direction (lift) and to prevent a tree from sitting back. Also used to prevent the guide bar from being pinched while bucking.

Blood bubble

The danger zone where the nose of the sawyer’s bar can reach in any direction.

Escape route

A predetermined path of exit used by fallers when felling or bucking. The essential components of an escape route are selection of the desired direction and distance, before felling or bucking, and a well cleared path through which to escape.

JHA

Job Hazard Analysis. Describes the potential hazards of the work site, along with all agency policies, controls, and work practices selected to minimize those hazards.

Safe zone

An area at least 20 feet away from the stump of an intended tree to be felled. The safe zone should be located 45 degrees behind the direction of fall. Natural features such as large rocks and solid trees may be used for additional protection to the faller.

Safety zone

An area cleared of flammable materials used for escape in the event the line is outflanked or in case a spot fire causes fuels outside the control to render the line unsafe.

Bug eyes

A form of eye protection.

Chaps

Personal protective equipment that covers the legs from the waist to 2 inches below the boot tops. All wildland fire chain saw operators must wear approved chain saw chaps.

First-aid kit

As referenced in this course, an OSHA approved kit including blood borne pathogen protective equipment (as a minimum, surgical gloves, face masks, eye protection, and CPR clear mouth barriers) in addition to standard first-aid supplies.

PPE

Personal Protective Equipment for eyes, head, and extremities, and protective clothing, respiration devices, and protective shields and barriers. In addition to PPE required for fireline duties, sawyers are also required to use approved chaps and eye and hearing protection.

Safety glasses

A type of glass or plastic lens that will not shatter when broken or compromised.

Base of tree

That portion of a rooted tree not more than 3 feet off the ground.

Bole

A tree stem once it has grown to substantial thickness capable of yielding saw timber or large poles.

Butt

The bottom end of a felled tree.

Cant

A log with one or more squared sides.

Cat face

A scar or deformed section at the base of a tree caused by rot or fire.

DBH

The diameter of a tree at breast height (4.5 feet above ground level).

Devil’s fork

A coniferous tree with multiple tops. These trees make head lean size-up difficult.

Face

The side of the tree aligned with the predominate lean or the intended lay, or both. The side of the tree opposite from the back cut.

Fork top (or twin top)

A coniferous tree with two tops.

Hazard tree (or danger tree)

A standing tree that presents a hazard to people or values due to conditions such as, but not limited to, deterioration or physical damage to the root system, trunk, stem, or limbs, and/or the direction and lean of the tree.

Head lean

One of the two natural leaning forces found in most trees. Head lean is the most prominent outward slant or lean of a tree in reference to its base or to its intended lay.

Heartwood

The inner layers of wood that, in the growing tree, have ceased to contain living cells.

Lean

Refers to the directional tilt of a tree away from its vertical position. Many times two lean forces may be in play in the same tree. They are referred to as head lean and side lean

Leaner

A tree that naturally leans at a sharp angle.

Log

A segment sawed or split from a felled tree.

Root wad

The mass of roots and dirt that projects above ground level after a tree has been pushed or blown over.

Sapling

A small-diameter tree under 4 inches d.b.h.

Sapwood

The outer layers of wood that, in the growing tree, contain living cells and reserve material.

School-marm

A tree that has naturally divided into two or more sections.

Side lean

Side lean is the lean determined from the intended felling direction.

Snag

Any standing dead tree or remaining standing portion thereof.

Sound

A descriptor used in tree felling, especially snags, to refer to the lack of rot in the standing tree. Also see sounding in the Miscellaneous section.

Spike top

A live tree that has a dead, barkless top.

Spring pole

A limb or sapling that is bent under a fallen tree. A spring pole is usually under great amounts of pressure (tension) and is considered potentially dangerous until correctly relieved.

Staub

A short length of cut branch wood extending from the bole or the ground. Staubs create tripping and injury hazards.

Widow-maker

A loose limb or top or a piece of bark lodged in a tree, which may fall on anyone working beneath it.

Windfall (or wind throw)

A tree that has been uprooted or broken off by the wind.

Cutter (or faller, chain saw operator, sawyer, bucker)

One who fells, bucks, or limbs trees. A cutter is also the cutting link of the saw chain.

Faller

A person employed in felling trees.

Faller A

An agency-specific qualification of an individual being trained or evaluated in introductory level, non-complex chain saw operations. Work of a Faller A should be under the supervision of a qualified Faller B or Faller C. See your agency guidance.

Faller B

An agency-specific qualification of an individual who has demonstrated sufficient judgment, skill, and knowledge to be trained or certified in moderately complex chain saw operations. Certified Faller B individuals may work independently on project or fireline assignments up to their level of skill. They demonstrate the judgment to decline assignments that exceed their skill level. See your agency guidance.

Faller C

An agency-specific qualification of an individual who has demonstrated judgment and proficiency in correctly handling complex sawing and felling in wildland fire operations. See your agency guidance.

Faller C Certifier

The highest level of certification for chain saw operators in the agency wildland and prescribed fire qualifications system. The Faller C Certifier conducts chain saw classroom and field training, evaluates and documents the performance of A, B, and C level chain saw operators, and recommends to their employing agency their appropriate level of certification. Determination of qualification for this designation is left to employing agency discretion.

Swamper (or puller)

An assistant to the chain saw operator who carries fuel and tools and moves cut material such as brush or other objects.

Banking

A method of disposing of cut material against the opposite (cold) side of the fireline.

Brushing

Removing the brush and shrubs either during fireline construction or while clearing out a work area.

Chaining

Removing cut fuels by handing material from one person to the next person in a line.

Direct attack

Any treatment applied directly to burning fuel such as wetting, smothering, or chemically quenching the fire or by physically separating the burning from the unburned fuel using a chain saw or other method.

Hands-on training

Supervised training that demonstrates the application of knowledge and skill in a practical field exercise of proficiency.

Indirect attack

A method of suppression in which the control line is located some considerable distance away from the fire’s active edge. Generally done in the case of a fast-spreading or high-intensity fire and to use natural or constructed fire breaks or fuel breaks and favorable breaks in topography.

Leap frog

A system of organizing workers in fire suppression in which each crew member is assigned a specific task such as clearing or digging fireline on a specific section of control line, and when that task is completed, passes other workers in moving to a new assignment.

MIST

Minimum Impact Suppression Tactics. Employed in areas where the visual or environmental impacts of fire suppression activities must be minimized, as in wilderness areas and national parks. Should be used whenever possible.

OJT

On-the-job training. One of the best training methods because it is planned, organized, and conducted at the employee’s work place.

Progressive method of line construction

A system of organizing workers to build fireline in which they advance without changing relative positions in line.

RA

Risk Assessment. Describes the potential hazards of the work site, along with all agency policies, controls, and work practices and work practices selected to minimize those hazards. The Risk Assessment may require different levels of decision-maker’s approval before the project is started due to level of risk.

Slashing

The cutting and piling of small-diameter young trees or brush.

Slope

The increase or decrease in altitude over a horizontal distance expressed as a percentage

Strip

Area allotted to each sawyer or faller. Typically used in interior logging and leap-frogging fireline saw teams.

Bind

Series of pressures in the material to be cut. The two major components of bind are compression and tension. It is their directional pressures that determine the technique and procedure used while operating a chain saw.

Bottom bind

One of the five basic tree positions commonly encountered while bucking. A tree in a bottom-bind situation is tensioned on top and compressed on the bottom.

Compression

The act, process of, or result of compressing. Bind is a result of compression. Also during felling, compression happens when tree sits back on the saw blade due to wind or improper lean sizeup.

End bind

One of the five basic tree positions commonly encountered while bucking. An end-bind situation occurs on steep terrain where the force of gravity closes the bucking cuts

No-bind

One of the five basic tree positions commonly encountered while bucking. A tree in a no-bind situation is usually found on a flat lay.

Side bind

One of the five basic tree positions commonly encountered while bucking. A tree in a side-bind situation is compressed on one side and tensioned on the other.

Tension

The act or action of being stretched. Opposite force from bind. Tension causes throw-back, splitting, and barber chairing.

Top bind

One of the five basic tree positions commonly encountered while bucking. A log in a top-bind situation is compressed on top and tensioned on the bottom.

Attack corner

Bottom corner of the nose of the guide bar used when bore cutting.

Barber chair

Vertical split of a tree during the felling procedure. Commonly a result of improper undercutting or back-cutting, or both. Characterized by a portion of the fallen tree being left on the stump.

Bed

Prepared area upon which a tree is felled.

Corners

The extreme outside position of the holding wood or hinge inside the bark on either side of the tree. In some locations across the country, this may also be called “ears.”

Cutting

The process of felling, bucking, or limbing trees.

Cutting area

An area in which trees have been, are being, or are about to be cut.

Fell

To cut down trees.

Gunning (or sighting)

Technique of aligning the front handlebar and rear handle or the gunning sights (marks), or both, with the desired felling direction. Because the front handlebar and rear handle and/or the gunning sights are at a 90 degree angle to the bar, exact position of the undercut in relation to the desired felling location can easily be established. Not all saw front handlebars and rear handles are designed to be used for gunning. Check your saw.

Hinge wood (or holding wood or hinge)

The uncut wood between the undercut and the back cut. Its purpose is to prevent the tree from prematurely slipping from the stump until it has been committed to the undercut. The hinge wood maintains the tree’s alignment with the direction of fall. The hinge wood must never be completely sawn off.

Kerf

The slot in the wood made by the action of the saw chain cutters.

Keyhole

Openings cut into continuous fuels used to dispose of cut material

Kickback

A strong thrust of the saw back towards the sawyer resulting from improper use of the top corner of the guide bar’s nose.

Limbing

Removing the branches from a felled or standing tree.

Offside

The opposite side of the tree from where the sawyer stands while bucking or felling.

Pivot points

Pivot points can be stumps, rocks, or any protrusion on the ground that affects a log’s balance or natural tendency to roll. An unseen pivot point may cause the ends of the log to swing around the pivot point.

Plumb

To gauge or assess the various vertical leans of a tree as part of the sizeup completed before felling.

Pull-in

Pull-in occurs when the chain on the bottom of the bar is caught or pinched, and suddenly stops. The chain pulls the saw forward.