Flammability studies for wildland and wildland–urban interface fires applied to pine needles and solid polymers

Abstract

This paper presents flammability studies related to wildland fires that have been conducted at the University of Edinburgh and at WPI over the last 5 years. This is the first time that all of the contributions have been put together to present a consistent set of studies geared towards a better understanding of how wildland and solid fuels ignite and burn in the context of wildland and wildland–urban interface fires. The whole approach is based on experiments conducted with the Fire Propagation Apparatus. This experimental device was used due to its versatility, allowing for testing over a wide range of conditions applied to different forest fuels. To simplify the approach, well-characterized fuels were used in the form of dead pine needles and solid polymers. The different sets of results show that this approach enhances our understanding of wildland fire behavior and impact in general but also, more specifically, at the wildland–urban interface. These experimental data, along with the models developed to describe ignition, represent a successful application and extension of approaches and techniques developed for fire safety studies to the topic of wildland fires.