- Author
- Albini, F. A.
- Title
- Spot Fire Distance From Burning Trees: A Predictive Model.
- Coporate
- Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Ogden, UT
- Report
- Research Paper INT-56, July 1979, 78 p.
- Distribution
- AVAILABLE FROM National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Technology Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Springfield, VA 22161. Telephone: 1-800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000; Fax: 703-605-6900; Rush Service (Telephone Orders Only) 800-553-6847; Website: http://www.ntis.gov
- Keywords
- fire brands | wildland fires | forest fires | forestry | flame structure | burning rate | buoyant plumes | predictive models | wind effects
- Identifiers
- spot fire distance; estimating maximum spot fire distance; buoyant plume bove a steady flame; lofting of firebrands by flame and buoyant plume; crude model for surface wind over rough terrain; firebrand trajectories
- Abstract
- This paper presents a predictive model for calculating the maximum spot fire distance to be expected when firebrands are thrown into the air by the burning of tree crowns either individually or in small groups. Variables included in the model are the quantity and surface/volume ratio of foliage in the burning tree(s), the height of the tree(s), and the wind field that transports the firebrands, and the firebrand burning rate. Many aspects of the processes modeled are as yet incompletely understood and so are only weakly represented. Improved models are needed for all of the processes before predictions can be made with certainty, but a step-by-step, graphical procedure is presented here for test and evaluation in the field. No validation data are available at present.