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Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System

The Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System was created for Alaska only. These fuel types have been defined "as an identifiable association of fuel elements of distinctive species, form, size, arrangement, and continuity that will exhibit characteristic fire behavior under defined burning conditions" (Pyne, Andrews, and Laven, 1996; Stocks and others 1989). The Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System arranges fuel types into five major groups with 16 discrete fuel types that are qualitatively distinguished by variations in their forest floor and organic layer, their surface and ladder fuels, and their stand structure and composition. The Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System assignments for Alaska were made by fire behavior and fuels experts based on Existing Vegetation Type (EVT) descriptions and representative photos.

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Pyne, Stephen J., Andrews, Patricia L., Laven, Richard D. 1996. Introduction to Wildland Fire. Ed. 2. John Wiley and Sons.

Stocks, B. J., B. D. Lawson, M. E. Alexander, C. E. Van Wagner, R. S. McAlpine, T. J. Lynham, and D. E. Dube. 1989. The Canadian forest fire danger rating system: an overview. The Forestry Chronicle 65:258-265.