- Author
- Simard, A. J.
- Title
- Forest Fire Weather Zones of Canada.
- Coporate
- Forest Fire Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario
- Keywords
- forest fires | weather effects | mapping | wildland fires | topography
- Identifiers
- Canada; Fire Weather Index (FWI)
- Abstract
- Wildland fires are controlled by two basic factors: the vararies of their environment and the activities of man. Man is primarily responsible for the two extreme ends of the wildfire spectrum. He starts and extinguishes most of the wildland fires which occur. Between the extremes, the environment predominates. The environment consists of three basic factors: fuels, topography and weather. Fuels determine the quantity of material potentially available for combustion, while topography primarily affects rate of spread. Weather determines the characteristics of fire behavior as well as influencing the quantity of fuel which will burn. While an understanding of the complex interactions between these three factors has increased considerably in the past decade, a great deal remains to be learned.