Indian Forest Service Examination Forest Fire Science & Management: practice questions

1 · Fire triangle and combustion · medium

Spotting refers to:

1. Patches of unburned fuel left inside the burned area
2. Marking trees for felling after fire
3. New fires started ahead of the front by embers
4. Satellite detection of hot spots

2 · Fire weather and fire danger rating · hard

Which Indian institution operates a satellite-based forest fire alert system?

1. The National Biodiversity Authority
2. The Forest Survey of India
3. The Wildlife Institute of India
4. The Botanical Survey of India

3 · Fire ecology and fire-adapted ecosystems · easy

Fire severity differs from fire intensity in that severity describes:

1. The energy released per metre of front
2. The height of flames
3. The speed of spread
4. The ecological effect of the fire

4 · Fire ecology and fire-adapted ecosystems · medium

Many eucalypts recover after fire by:

1. Producing seed only after reaching 100 years of age
2. Shedding all bark before fire
3. Resprouting from epicormic buds and lignotubers
4. Dying and regenerating only by root suckers

5 · Fire ecology and fire-adapted ecosystems · medium

A fire regime includes the frequency, intensity, severity, season, size and type of:

1. One single fire on one particular day
2. Fires in an ecosystem over long periods
3. Firefighters in a division
4. Fire lines in a compartment

6 · Fire prevention and fire lines · medium

Why are fire lines in India cleared and burned before the fire season?

1. To create ash that fertilises the forest for next year
2. So the cleared strip cannot itself carry fire
3. To attract wildlife away from roads
4. To mark compartment boundaries for felling

7 · Fire prevention and fire lines · hard

Why are fire lines alone insufficient against high-intensity fires?

1. Fire lines attract fire towards villages and roads nearby
2. Fire lines increase fuel loads
3. Fire lines work only at night
4. Intense fires spot across them and need crews to hold them

8 · Detection: lookouts, satellites, early warning · hard

Why is early detection the most important factor in limiting fire size and cost?

1. Late detection always lets fires burn out by themselves
2. Small new fires need few resources
3. Satellites can extinguish fires remotely by laser
4. Detection reduces the heat yield of the fuel

9 · Prescribed burning and controlled burning · hard

Why is a head fire used only when control is assured?

1. It cannot ignite fine fuels such as grass or litter
2. It always goes out immediately
3. It produces no smoke
4. It is fast and intense, with high escape risk

10 · Community-based fire management · hard

Why do fire bans imposed without addressing livelihoods often fail?

1. Bans increase rainfall and so make burning unnecessary
2. Fire use is part of livelihoods
3. Bans make fuels wetter across the whole landscape
4. People always obey bans without any enforcement