A fuel model is a preliminary representation of vegetation characteristics used in analyzing fire behavior and planning. The models provide wildland firefighters with a common way of describing fuels in the area.
The collections of fuel properties have become known as fuel models and can be organized into four groups: grass, shrub, timber, and slash (logging).
The National Park Service defines it as a standardized description of fuels available to a fire based on the amount, distribution and continuity of vegetation and wood. [1]