Abstract
A study of free-buring fires in mat-type beds of two light forest fuels (needles of ponderosa and western white pine) showed measurable effects of certain environmental conditions on the characteristics of fire. Measurements of these characteristics of nearly 200 fires burned under controlled humidity, air velocity, and fuel moisture, provided data for developing equations that enable prediction of rate of fire spread in individual fuel types when moisture content and air velocity are varied. As fuel moisture content increases, rate of spread decreases linearly with no wind. Increasing wind causes rate of spread to increase exponentially or by a power function. The importance and usefulness of a unit combustion area measurement are demonstrated; such measurements make it possible to characterize all fires by use of unit combustion rate and rate of spread. A general equation that predicts rate of spread in any wood fuel may be developed by incorporating fuel particle size and fuel bed compactness with fuel moisture content and air velocity.
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