CSIRO Publishing Books Journals About Us Shopping Cart You are here: Journals > International Journal of Wildland Fire   
International Journal of Wildland Fire
  Published on behalf of the International Association of Wildland Fire
 
Search
 
 
  Advanced Search
   

Journal Home
About the Journal
Editorial Board
Contacts
Content
Online Early
Current Issue
Just Accepted
All Issues
Special Issues
Sample Issue
For Authors
General Information
Notice to Authors
Submit Article
For Referees
General Information
Review Article
Annual Referee Index
For Subscribers
Subscription Prices
Customer Service
Print Publication Dates

 Early Alert
Subscribe to our email Early Alert or RSS feeds for the latest journal papers.

 Connect with us
facebook   youtube

Training

Publication Workshops


 

Article << Previous     |     Next >>   Contents Vol 15(3)

Ignition of mulch and grasses by firebrands in wildland–urban interface fires*

Samuel L. Manzello A B, Thomas G. Cleary A, John R. Shields A, Jiann C. Yang A

A Building and Fire Research Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8662, USA.
B Corresponding author. Email: samuel.manzello@nist.gov
 
PDF (617 KB) $25
 Export Citation
 Print
  


Abstract

Firebrands or embers are produced as trees and structures burn in wildland–urban interface (WUI) fires. It is believed that firebrand showers created in WUI fires may ignite vegetation and mulch located near homes and structures. This, in turn, may lead to ignition of homes and structures due to burning vegetation and mulch. Understanding the ignition events that are due to firebrands is important to mitigate fire spread in communities. To assess the ignition propensity of such materials, simulated firebrands of uniform geometry, but in two different sizes, were allowed to impinge on fuel beds of shredded hardwood mulch, pine straw mulch, and cut grass. The moisture content of these materials was varied. Firebrands were suspended and ignited within the test cell of the Fire Emulator/Detector Evaluator (FE/DE) apparatus. The FE/DE was used to investigate the influence of an air flow on the ignition propensity of a fuel bed. Ignition regime maps were generated for each material tested as a function of impacting firebrand size, number of deposited firebrands, air flow, and material moisture content.

Keywords: fuel beds.



* Official contribution of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, not subject to copyright in the USA.
   
Subscriber Login
Username:
Password:  

    


 
Top  Email this page
 
Legal & Privacy | Contact Us | Help

CSIRO

© CSIRO 1996-2012