FireFamilyPlus (FFP), an agency independent Windows application is a primary tool in the fire behavior/fire danger suite of programs which share data and models that are used in a variety of environments to address a range of business needs. FFP supports the spectrum of fire weather/fire danger/fire climate/fire occurrence analysis tools required by fire managers to successfully use the National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS). NFDRS is mandated for use in fire preparedness by all Federal and most State agencies.
Uses of FireFamilyPlus:
- FireFamilyPlus can be used to compute indices and components of the National Fire Danger Rating System, and the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System from weather climatology data.
- FFP can summarize weather climatology to produce climatological breakpoints for fire management decision making.
- Combining the fire occurrence record in the analysis displays the historical relationships between weather conditions and increasing fire occurrence which can be used to set fire business thresholds and track seasonal progression of fire danger.
- Analysis of specific weather information helps in estimating fire potential for an ongoing fire’s continued growth. For example, analyzing the precipitation record can assess the likelihood of an adequate amount of rain occurring by specific points in time to slow or stop fire growth. Examining the wind record can help with determining the most likely direction for long term fire growth.