Flame temperature and residence time of fires in dry eucalypt forest

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Contents Vol 21(3)

doi:10.1071/WF10127

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Flame temperature and residence time of fires in dry eucalypt forest

B. Mike Wotton ^A ^F, James S. Gould ^B ^E, W. Lachlan McCaw ^C ^E, N. Phillip Cheney ^B and Stephen W. Taylor ^D

^A Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Great Lakes Forestry Centre, 1219 Queen Street East, Sault Ste Marie, ON, P6A 2E5, Canada.
^B CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences and Climate Adaptation Flagship, GPO Box 284, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
^C Department of Environment and Conservation, Locked Bag 2, Manjimup, WA 6258, Australia.
^D Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Pacific Forestry Centre, 506 West Burnside Road, Victoria, BC, V8Z 1M5, Canada.
^E Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre, Level 5, 340 Albert Street, East Melbourne, VIC 3002, Australia.
^F Corresponding author. Email: mike.wotton@nrcan.gc.ca

International Journal of Wildland Fire 21(3) 270-281 http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/WF10127
Submitted: 12 November 2010 Accepted: 26 May 2011 Published: 15 December 2011





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Abstract

Temperature profiles of flames were measured using arrays of thermocouples on towers located in experimental bushfires of varying intensity, carried out in dry eucalypt forest of different fuel age and structure. In-fire video of flame-front passage and time series data from very fine exposed thermocouples were used to estimate the duration of passage of the main flaming front in these experimental fires. Flame temperature measured at points within the flame was found to vary with height; maximum flame temperature was greater in the tall shrub fuel than in the low shrub fuel sites. A model to estimate flame temperature at any height within a flame of a specific height was developed. The maximum flame temperature observed was ~1100°C near the flame base and, when observation height was normalised by flame height, flame temperature exponentially decreased to the visible flame tip where temperatures were ~300°C. Maximum flame temperature was significantly correlated with rate of spread, fire intensity, flame height and surface fuel bulk density. Average flame-front residence time for eucalypt forest fuels was 37 s and did not vary significantly with fine fuel moisture, fuel quantity or bulk density.

Additional keywords: bushfire, Eucalyptus marginata, fire behaviour, flame measurement, fuel age, jarrah forest, Vesta.

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