In time of war or danger, the task of looking out for signs of fire caused by the dropping of incendiary devices etc.
The act of watching for the occurrence of fires. This is usually done with the intent of detecting fires early so that they can be extinguished quickly and damage to land and/or property can be prevented or minimalized. Fire watches are often employed in forested areas where the risk of fires is high (dry conditions, hot weather, etc) or in industrial settings where hot work (welding, metal grinding, etc) is occurring.
