Development of Rapidly Deployable Instrumentation Packages for Real Time Data Acquisition in Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires

Published

August 1, 2010

Author(s)

Samuel L. Manzello, Seul-Hyun Park, Thomas G. Cleary

Abstract

In an effort to quantify structure ignition mechanisms during WUI fires, rapidly deployable instrumentation packages are being developed. For a structure under a WUI fire attack, the packages are designed to: (1) provide temporally resolved images of structure ignition mechanisms, (2) provide quantitative data on total heat flux, wind speed, wind direction, and relative humidity near a structure. The unique design of the packages allows for wireless transmission of all data signals collected to a hardened location. Prior to attempting to use these instrumentation packages in real WUI fires, a series of proof-of-concept tests were conducted under prescribed fires. In these tests, a shed was used as a surrogate for a typical structure that would be found in the WUI. The proof-of-concept test was successful and has demonstrated that relatively inexpensive instrumentation can be used to image structure ignition in the path of an approaching crown fire and that directional flame thermometers (DFT) were acceptable instrumentation to measure total heat flux in place of cumbersome water cooled total heat flux gages.

Citation

Fire Safety Journal

Volume

45

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires, Instrumentation, Structure Ignition

Citation

Manzello, S. , Park, S. and Cleary, T. (2010), Development of Rapidly Deployable Instrumentation Packages for Real Time Data Acquisition in Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires, Fire Safety Journal, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=902282 (Accessed May 20, 2026)

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