Development of rapidly deployable instrumentation packages for data acquisition in wildland–urban interface (WUI) fires

Abstract

In an effort to quantify structure ignition mechanisms during wildland–urban interface (WUI) fires, rapidly deployable instrumentation packages were developed. For a structure under a WUI fire attack, the packages are designed to: (1) provide temporally resolved images of structure ignition mechanisms and (2) provide quantitative data on total heat flux, wind speed, wind direction, ambient temperature, and relative humidity near a structure. The unique design of the packages allowed 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 proof-of-concept test was conducted under a prescribed fire. 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.