Learn Smokejumper lingo with Murry Taylor's
Glossary of Smokejumper Terms.

Air Attack	The planes and people that coordinate air operations over a fire.
Air tankers	Large aircraft that drop fire-retardant chemicals.
Backfire	Fire set to purposely influence the direction or rate of fire spread.
BIFC	Boise Interagency Fire Center. Boise, Idaho.
Big Ernie	The smokejumper god. A deity with a rather twisted sense of humor, justice, and fair play. Determines good and bad deals for jumpers.
Blowup	Catastrophic fire behavior, rapid spread, mass ignition of large areas.
Buddy check	Last-minute check of jumper's gear, performed by jump partner prior to jumping.
Burnout	Fire set to burn areas between control lines and main fire; denies main fire of fuel. A tactic used once control lines are established.
Bush	General term for the Alaskan wilderness.
Bust	Intense period of lightning fire activity.
Cat line	Fire line constructed with crawler tractors (bulldozers).
Cutaway clutch	The handle used to cut away from a malfunctioned main canopy. Also called the clutch.
Contained	A fire is contained when its spread has been halted by control lines or natural barriers.
Controlled	A fire is controlled when enough work has been done to insure it will not escape.
Crown fire	A fire burning hot enough to continuously spread through the tops of trees.
Demobe	Short for demobilization. The action of leaving a fire once it is out.
Drift streamers	Weighted pieces of colored crepe paper used to determine wind drift before jumping a fire.
Drogue	The small parachute that first stabilizes jumpers as they fall from the plane then pulls the main canopy out of the deployment bag once the drogue release handle is pulled.
Drogue release handle	See aboue. Once widely known as the rip cord.
EMT	Emergency Medical Technician.
Extended attack	Work done after the initial effort has failed to stop a fire. For jumpers, usually the second or third day.
Fat boy box	A cardboard box that comes in the fire packs and contains packaged and canned goods. Jumper rations for the first three days.
Firebrands	Large embers or chucks of burning, airborne material.
Fire devil	Whirlwind of fire.
Firestorm	A mass conflagration of fire, a blowup.
Flanks (of a fire)	The side boundaries of a fire looking from the tail toward the head.
Fusee	Railroad flares used to light burnouts and backfires.
Head	Hottest and most active part of a fire; determines the direction the fire is moving.
Helitorch	A firing device on a helicopter, which is capable of starting fires.
Hootch	Sleeping arrangement: tent, rain fly, parachute, etc.
Hotshots	Organized fire crews; highly motivated and well trained. Mostly used on large, long-term fires.
Initial attack	First effort to stop a fire.
Jump list	A rotating list that determines the order in which jumpers are assigned to fires.
Jump ship	Smokejumper aircraft.
Jump spot	Designated landing area.
Loft	Room where chutes are rigged and maintained.
Lower 48	Alaska talk for the contiguous United States.
Moose-eyed	Jumper talk for being in love. Being moosey, feeling moosey, having moose eyes, etc.
Mop-up	Final stage of fire fighting—digging up all roots and burning material; putting out the last of all embers and coals.
Mud	Aerial fire retardant dropped by aircraft. Also called retardant or slurry.
On final	For aircraft, the final flight path before jumpers jump. For jumpers, the final flight path as they descend into a jump spot.
Ops	Operations desk. The nerve center of any smokejumper base. The jump list, aircraft list, and all other matters of business are managed in operations.
Paracargo	As a group, those who work to deliver supplies to fires by aircraft and parachute. As a product, supplies delivered in such a manner.
PG bag	Personal-gear bag.
PT	Physical training. As part of their regular daily routine' smokejumpers do one hour of PT each morning.
Pulaski	Fire-fighting tool. An ax with a grub hoe on the OppOsite end.
Rat-holing (also ratting)	Sneaking prized food items and hiding them from the rest of the group.
Rats	Army rations, C-rations, MREs (Meals-Ready-to-Eat).
Ready room	Room in smokejumper facility where jumpers suit up for departure to fires.
Reburn	A fire that is declared out, then later rekindles.
Retardant	See Mud.
Rookie	First-year smokejumper.
Scratch line	Minimal hand line, made quickly to temporarily hold a fire until the line can be finished.
Situation report	Daily report of current fires, personnel assigned, and resource allocations. Also includes weather forecasts.
Slash	Debris left after logging; limbs, cull logs, treetops, and stumps. Can also be natural forest debris.
Slopover	A place where the fire crosses an established control line.
Snag	A dead tree, still standing.
Snookie	Second-year smokejumper.
Speed racks	Racks on which jump gear is pre-positioned to facilitate fast suit up.
Spot fire	Fire started outside the main fire area by flying sparks or embers.
Spotter	Person who directs the jumping from the plane.
Spruce bough	The top cut from a small (four- to five-inch diameter) black spruce. Used to swat down flames on Alaska fires.
Stall	In aircraft, when the airspeed gets so slow that it can no longer maintain flight attitude and begins to fall. In a square parachute, when the canopy is slowed down so much that it can no longer maintain flight, and it begins to rock forward and back radically.
Standby shack	The main smokejumper building. Includes loft, ready room, tool room, weight room, paracargo bay, etc.
Steering lines	The right and left lines used to steer a parachute.
Stevens connection	A short nylon line that connects the reserve deployment handle to the left riser of the main parachute. When a main malfunctions and has to be cut away, the Stevens automatic pulls the reserve handle and initiates the deployment of the reserve.
Streamer	Fully malfunctioned parachute.
Tail	The back end or initial part of a fire. Usually spreads slowly at lower intensity than flanks or head.
Zulies	Missoula smokejumpers

Learn Smokejumper lingo with Murry Taylor's Glossary of Smokejumper Terms.

Learn Smokejumper lingo with Murry Taylor's
Glossary of Smokejumper Terms.