What is a "Station fire" ?

最近加州大火的报道中总是见"Station fire"这个词，办公室里同事讨论，不明白为什么叫这个名字，google到一个论坛上有专业人士的解释，原来这个词是消防专业用语，消防部门用来区分不同的火警等级以作为调配消防装备的准则。以下是他的解释：

Wildfires in California are managed by type:

A type 4 fire is called an "initial attack" fire, and is manageable with the first in responders functioning with a first or second alarm response, with little or no logistical and planning support. Type 4 fires should be suppressed within the first burning period, meaning they're out by the next day. The initial attack units carry all of what they need in the way of drinking water, hose, fuel, maps of the area, etc., so do not require much support.

A type 3 fire is called "extended attack", and results in burning beyond the first operational period. It is still manageable, usually, by the resources from the agency unit responsible for the fire, meaning within a USFS, BLM, or BIA Ranger District, a CalFIRE Ranger Unit, or a County Fire Department. There may be some logistical, information, and planning support, but not much.

A type 2 fire is managed by what is called a Type 2 team, a pre-designated group of commanders, operations, plans, logistics, finance, safety, information, and liaison people who respond to Type 2 incidents on a regular basis as a Team, and who work well together. A fire of this type will have gone past extended attack, requiring assistance from other agencies. These fires burn for several days, and usually require some kind of base camp facility to be set up in a nearby park or fairgrounds.

A type 1 fire, which is what the "Station" fire is, is the largest kind of natural (or man-made) disaster that we experience. Type 1 incidents include conflagrations like the "Station" fire, but they also include disasters of any kind: Hurricane Katrina and Iniki, the Northridge earthquake, even the Oklahoma City bombing, 9/11/2001, and the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, were managed as Type 1 incidents. Type 1 incidents are managed by Type 1 Teams (duh), sometimes multiple Type 1 teams operating on the same incident, which are used to address the complex array of geographical, logistical, political, financial, even cultural and natural resource, and other problems which are the result of these kinds of incidents. Type 1 incidents usually result in multiple base camps, a State and/or Federal disaster declaration, evacuations, and resources from around the entire region, even from around the nation, responding to assist. They usually run for weeks or months, and management teams (and the operational firefighters) rotate in and out, normally on a 2 or 3 week assignment.

这种分级制度相当于香港的“一级火警”、“二级火警”....的叫法。最高级的火警级别是“灾难级”，根据wikipedia:

災難級是於範圍廣闊的事件，或一連串同時發生之事件時發出的警報。而這一系列事件有跡象需長時間以全部資源參與，甚至或需要军队或其他單位協助。此警報只可由消防處處長指示之下，或由官階在區長級或以上之官員親自向處長要求後方可發出。

因此"Station fire"可以翻为“灾难级大火”。

Links:

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1254791

http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%89%E7%B4%9A%E7%81%AB%E8%AD%A6