| Author(s): |
Ronald G. Rehm; |
| Title: |
The Effects of Winds From Burning Structures on Ground-Fire Propagation at the Wildland-Urban Interface |
| Published: |
June 01, 2008 |
| Abstract: |
A simple physics-based mathematical model is developed for prediction of the propagation of a grass-fire front driven by an ambient wind and by entrainment winds generated from one or moreburning structures. This model accounts for the heterogeneous nature of the burning in a particular wildland-urban-interface (WUI) setting, where the entrainment from fundamentally three-dimensional structure-fire plumes can change the propagation of a two-dimensional ground-fire front. Data on grass and structure fires are presented and compared to justify the model. Scaling effects on the fire-front propagation-speed are given as afunction of the location of the front, of the heat release rate of a single burning structure, of the total number of burning structures and of the burning-structure density. Also, detailedfront propagation changes due to a single and multipleburning-house scenarios are presented. |
| Citation: |
Canadian Journal of Forest Research-Revue Canadienne De Recherche Forestiere |
| Volume: |
12 |
| Issue: |
3 |
| Pages: |
pp. 477 - 496 |
| Keywords: |
burning structures;fire research;grass fires;heterogeneous burning;mathematical model;model of fire propagation;physics-based model;plume-entrainment wind;wildland-urban interface |
| Research Areas: |
|
| PDF version: |
 Click here to retrieve PDF version of paper (2MB) |
