Enabling the Investigation of Structure Vulnerabilities to Wind-Driven Firebrand Showers in Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires

Published

June 1, 2014

Author(s)

Samuel L. Manzello

Abstract

Wind-driven firebrand showers are a major cause of structural ignition in Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) fires. Past firebrand investigations have not been able to quantify the vulnerabilities of structures to ignition from firebrand showers, as it is difficult to develop a measurement method to replicate wind-driven firebrand attack on structures that occur in actual WUI fires. To address this problem, a new firebrand research area targeted on quantifying structure vulnerabilities to wind-driven firebrand showers has been developed. This type of firebrand research has never possible prior to the development of the NIST Firebrand Generator, also referred to as the NIST Dragon. Due the complexity of the WUI fire problem, great strides must be made to recruit the next generation of researchers to fire safety science from diverse backgrounds. The need for the next generation of researchers is required more than ever in fire safety science. This paper closes with a discussion of ongoing workshop activities intended to achieve this, as well as some challenges for future WUI research.

Proceedings Title

The 11th International Symposium on Fire Safety Science

Conference Dates

February 10-14, 2014

Conference Location

Christchurch

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

WUI Fires, Firebrands, Ignition

Citation

Manzello, S. (2014), Enabling the Investigation of Structure Vulnerabilities to Wind-Driven Firebrand Showers in Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires, The 11th International Symposium on Fire Safety Science, Christchurch, -1, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=914816 (Accessed May 2, 2026)

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