In order to effectively terminate a burst transmission in a wireless system, a method and apparatus determines whether or not a burst transmission from a wireless unit to a base station should be terminated by evaluating at least one criterion related to the operation of the wireless system. Once it is determined that a burst transmission should be terminated, the transmission is terminated by lowering a target signal-to-noise ratio (SIR) by a predetermined amount. By lowering this target SIR, power control bits transmitted from the base station to the wireless unit instruct an extreme decrease in power of the burst transmission and quickly act to terminate the burst transmission.