Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Group

Welcome

Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Fire Program conducts research to reduce risk of fire hazard in WUI communities. This research includes mission-related measurement science research and services to develop wildland-urban interface fire risk exposure metrics; predict the spread of fires in WUI communities, assess fire performance of structures and communities, and mitigate effects of WUI fires on structures and communities through science-based codes and standards.

Specific areas of research currently being solicited through the Disaster Resilience Grant 2020 funding opportunity include the development, advancement, and deployment of measurement science to:

Predict spot fire ignition for development of a computational infrastructure for forecasting and reconstruction of major large outdoor fire events.

Highlights

Watch the video: With Its Dragon, NIST Aims to Reduce the Toll of Wildfires

NIST's Firebrand Generator (also known as the "Dragon") produces showers of burning embers—or firebrands. Ingesting wood chips and exhaling firebrands, the novel equipment is used in research to better understand the behavior of wildfires that spread to communities.

Staff Directory

News and Updates

New Timeline of Deadliest California Wildfire Could Guide Lifesaving Research and Action

February 8, 2021

On a brisk November morning in 2018, a fire sparked in a remote stretch of canyon in Butte County, California, a region nestled against the western slopes of

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park Gatlinburg Welcome Center sign is half-burned, leaving only the Gatlinburg name and a white arrow. Debris lies on the ground in front of the sign.

Official NIST Survey to Support Data Collection on Chimney Tops 2 Fire, Improve Emergency Communications

March 29, 2019

GAITHERSBURG, Md.—The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking help from residents of Sevier County

A rectangular-shaped model of a thatched roof is attacked by embers emitted from the pipe-shaped mouth of the NIST Dragon device.

A Fire-Breathing Dragon Helps Fight Ember Attacks on Thatched-Roof Buildings

December 17, 2018

Visitors to the historic mountain villages in central Japan marvel at the elegance of the steep thatched-roof farmhouses found there. Known as “gassho-zukuri,”

A member of a joint NIST-Texas Forest Service study team collects data on a Amarillo, Texas, building damaged by wildfires in February 2011.

North Texas Wildfires Spark Historic Federal-State Collaborative Study

August 2, 2011

Two wildland-urban interface (WUI) fires* earlier this year outside of Amarillo, Texas, destroyed 70 homes, burned more than 25,000 acres of land, and caused

Industry Impacts

Reducing Impact of Wildland-Urban Interface Fires

Fires within communities surrounded by natural areas are the most dangerous and costliest fires in North America. Growing at a staggering 4,000 acres per day

Projects and Programs

Reduced Ignition of Building Components in Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires

Wildland fires that spread into urban areas, termed Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) fires, are becoming more and more common across multiple locations of the

Ember Exposure Characterization in WUI Fires

The Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) is defined as the location where structures and communities meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland. In the U.S., over

WUI Building and Fire Codes and Standards Project

Although over 46 million residential structures in the United States are in areas of risk of wildfires, building and fire codes and standards do not provide the

Fire Risk Reduction in Communities Program

This program reduces community fire risk by 1) increasing the fire resilience of wildland-urban interface (WUI) communities and 2) enhancing the safety and

Publications

A Perspective on Forest Fuel Bed Ignition by Firebrands

February 19, 2021

Author(s)

Jiann C. Yang

A different perspective on forest fuel bed ignition by firebrands is presented to obtain a correlation between the ignition time of a fuel bed by a glowing

A Case Study of the Camp Fire - Fire Progression Timeline

February 8, 2021

Author(s)

Alexander Maranghides, Eric D. Link, Christopher U. Brown, William Mell, Steven Hawks, Mike Wilson, Will Brewer, Robert Vihnanek, William D. Walton

The Camp Fire ignited on November 8, 2018 in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in Butte County, California. The first 24 hours were characterized by a fast

Investigating the effect of structure to structure separation distance on firebrand accumulation

January 28, 2021

Author(s)

Samuel Manzello, Sayaka Suzuki

Wind plays an important role in the built environment. Large outdoor fires in the built environment are no exception. Under strong wind, firebrands fly far

Preliminary Data Collected from the Camp Fire Reconnaissance

December 15, 2020

Author(s)

Alexander Maranghides, William Mell, Steven Hawks, Mike Wilson, Will Brewer, Eric D. Link, Christopher U. Brown, Cartier P. Murrill, Erin Ashley

The Camp Fire started in the vicinity of Pulga Rd and Camp Creek Road, in Butte County on November 8 at 6:29 am. The cause of ignition is under investigation

Awards

2017 - Bronze Medal Award---Kathryn Butler, Susanne Furman

For development of science-based guidance on the use of evacuation elevators that enhances the safety of people with mobility impairments during fire emergencies.

2017 - Samuel Wesley Stratton Award---Samuel L. Manzello

For groundbreaking engineering and scientific research enabling the protection of structures and communities from the devastating effects of large-scale wildland fires.

2016 - Silver Medal Award---Kevin McGrattan, Randall McDermott, Glenn Forney, Craig Weinschenk, Richard Peacock, Anthony Hamins, Blaza Toman

For development of the Fire Dynamics Simulator fire model, an achievement in the practical application of science to fire-safe design of structures.