Fire Progression Research Articles

Exploratory Map Animation for Post-Event Analysis of Wildfire Protective Action Recommendations

This paper examines the timing of protective action recommendations in relationship to the distance of wildfire to a threatened community using exploratory map animation. The 2003 Southern California Wildfires were animated to assist in understanding the complex interaction between fire progression and warnings to threatened communities. Exploratory map animation provides a useful post-event analysis platform for hypothesis generation. A new method is introduced for interpolating the distance from a wildfire to a threatened community using geospatial data. The results are used to examine incident commander decision-making in regards to the estimated time of arrival of a wildfire at a community. The exploratory map animations were successful in generating an intriguing hypothesis concerning the timing of protective action recommendations and the proportional distance of a wildfire to a threatened community. Following a wildfire, emergency responders can use exploratory map animation as a training tool to evaluate protective action recommendations of wildfires.

Fire safety of acoustical materials

Recent deadly fires in overcrowded nightclubs used open cell foam material for sound absorption. The rapid progression of fire and release of opaque smoke contributed to the inability of some of the patrons to escape the fire. Suggestions for limiting the use of such materials in places of assembly are provided. Illogical use of such sound-absorbing materials to reduce sound transmission to adjoining spaces or outdoors are discussed.

Stand- and landscape-level effects of prescribed burning on two Arizona wildfires

Performance of fuel treatments in modifying behavior and effects of the largest wildfires has rarely been evaluated, because the necessary data on fire movement, treatment characteristics, and fire severity were not obtainable together. Here we analyzed satellite imagery and prescribed fire records from two Arizona wildfires that occurred in 2002, finding that prescribed fire treatments reduced wildfire severity and changed its progress. Prescribed burning in ponderosa pine forests 1–9 years before the Rodeo and Chediski fires reduced fire severity compared with untreated areas, despite the unprecedented 1860-km2 combined wildfire sizes and record drought. Fire severity increased with time since treatment but decreased with unit size and number of repeated prescribed burn treatments. Fire progression captured by Landsat 7 enhanced thematic mapper plus (ETM+) clearly showed the fire circumventing treatment units and protecting areas on their lee side. This evidence is consistent with model predictions that suggest wildland fire size and severity can be mitigated by strategic placement of treatments.

옥내용 비닐코드 및 고무코드의 화재확산특성 분석

The electrical fire frequently happens through careless use such as poor contact, mechanical stress on power cord sets. In this paper, we simulated a wall-model in order to investigate the patterns of fire dispersion on power cord sets which consists of vinyl cord and rubber cord, etc. The fire progress and dispersive patterns were measured by a high speed imaging system(HG-100K, REDLAKE, USA). From the results, the fire pattern of power cord sets was progressed in order of flashover, scattering and disconnection. The short-circuit of the vinyl cords happened easier than the rubber cords by the external flame. In case vinyl cord is disconnected. the fire progress is not observed because the ignition energy decreases. Whereas, the fire progressed continuously in case of the rubber cord.

04/02210 The spontaneous combustion characteristics of Turkish lignite and correlation of the self-heating process with the actual fire: Guyaguler, T. et al. CIM Bulletin, 2003, 96, (1070), 75–79

Fires due to self-heating of coal have been a real problem since the beginning of mining. In order to minimize the harmful effect of fires caused by spontaneous combustion (sponcom), the tendency of coal for sponcom should be analyzed in detail. This paper presents the results of such research, which had two objectives: firstly, to determine the spontaneous combustion characteristics of lignites of all underground (u/g) mines of Turkish Coal Enterprises (TKl) in the laboratory and secondly, to use these self-heating characteristics to predict the stage and progress of actual mine fires. Representative samples of 16 different lignite seams were prepared for tests in the laboratory. Crossing-point temperature and adiabatic oxidation methods were utilized to characterize the spontaneuos combustion risks. During the experiment, time and temperature were measured, and released gases were continously recorded. Sponcom results obtained by both methods were in close agreement with each other, and it was determined that Turkish lignites are susceptible to spontaneous combustion with medium to high risk. All the information obtained from the laboratory tests was utilized to predict the progress of an actual mine fire. Finally, a fairly good correlation was established between the spontaneous combustion test results and an actual mine fire caused by self-heating. Observations of CO emissions during an actual mine fire, which occurred in the Middle Anatolian Lignite mine, supported the suggested prediction method. This prediction method is currently being used in all TKl's u/g mines.

Fire fighter fatalities 1998–2001: overview with an emphasis on structure related traumatic fatalities

Objective: To review the causes of all fire fighter line-of-duty-deaths from 1998 through 2001, and present recommendations for preventing fatalities within the specific subgroup of structure related events. Methods: Fire...

An integrated numerical system to estimate air quality effects of forest fires

Forest fires are an important source of various gases and particles emitted into the atmosphere that may affect the air quality on a local and/or larger scale. Currently, there is a growing awareness that smoke from wildland fires exposes individuals and populations to hazardous air pollutants. In order to understand and to simulate forest fire effects on air quality, several issues should be analysed and integrated: fire progression, fire emissions, atmospheric flow, smoke dispersion and chemical reactions. In spite of the available models to simulate smoke dispersion and the existence of some systems already covering the main questions, there still remains a lack of integration concerning fire progression. Photochemical pollution is also not included in these modelling systems. AIRFIRE is a numerical system, developed to estimate the effects of forest fires on air quality, integrating several components of the problem through the inclusion of different modules, namely the mesoscale meteorological model MEMO, the photochemical model MARS, and the Rothermel fire spread model. The system was applied to simulate plume dispersion from a wildfire that occurred in a coastal area, close to Lisbon city, at the end of September 1991. Results, namely the obtained pollutants concentration fields, point to a significant impact on the local air quality. Obtained wind fields and concentration patterns revealed the presence of sea breezes and also the influence of the fire in the atmospheric flow. Estimated carbon monoxide concentration levels were very high, exceeding the recommended hourly limit value of the World Health Organization, and ozone concentration values pointed to photochemical production.

Fire Spread Model In A Porous Medium

A new algorithm for fire spread simulation is proposed by using a dynamic tool of the flame front change and a local spread model. The progression of fire, represented by a closed contour, is based on the determination of a parametric function. In order to compute this new parametric function, it is necessary to calculate the scalar field of the rate of spread at some points of the fire contour. A physical model has been introduced and is mainly based on the Cekirge model. This takes into account external conditions i.e. the wind, the topographic conditions and the fuel characteristics. This model provides then results with a moving boundary problem and can be used to evaluate forest fire propagation in real time. Validations are presented in order to demonstrate the soundness of this new approach.

Wall fires and the approach to flashover in an enclosure

After listing some of the existing work on modelling pre-flashover room fires and wall fires within rooms, the effects that a ceiling has on the progress of a wall fire are discussed. Experimental results are used to show that the presence of a ceiling accelerates the progress of a wall fire. The wall-fire model SPREAD and the room-fire model FIRST are used seriatim to show that the heating effects due to trapping of hot gases under the ceiling can be calculated now. Flames impinging on the ceiling are constrained to travel horizontally, which increases the radiation feedback from the flames; this additional effect is briefly discussed. An accurate room-fire model, coupled with an upward-spread model, is a tool for assessing the potential fire hazard of various choices of room furnishings and wall linings, thus providing information on fire growth in rooms. This will facilitate the estimation of the fire hazards in buildings, and the development of strategies to cope with these hazards.

Metal anesthesia circuit components stop the progression of laser fires

Study Objective: To determine whether metallic Y-pieces and elbows would halt the progression of a laser-induced endotracheal tube fire. Design: A segment of polyvinyl chloride endotracheal tube was attached to either an all-plastic anesthesia circle breathing system (n = 5) or a circuit consisting of a metal Y-piece and elbow with plastic hoses (n = 5). In each case, an Nd-YAG laser was used to ignite the endotracheal tube segment and attached anesthesia circuit as 5 L/min of oxygen was flowing through them. Setting: Research laboratory of a university-affiliated metropolitan medical center. Measurements and Main Results: The flames from the endotracheal tubes burned through the 22 mm hoses that were part of the all-plastic circuits in 49.5 ± 8.8 seconds (mean ± SD). In none of the trials with the metal components did the fire advance beyond the endotracheal tube's 15 mm adapter. Conclusions: Metal circuit components halt the progression of laser-induced endotracheal tube fires toward the anesthesia machine.

Natural fires: Research and application in consulting

The method to classify structural elements with respect to the standard fire resistance tests is nowadays supplemented by a direct analytical design method, based on the natural fire concept. In some countries, research work was carried out in order to clarify the pre- and post-flashover development of natural fires, and efforts were made to obtain the possibility of comparing the effects of natural fires with those of a standard fire test ( t eq concept). At present, the direct analytical design procedure is limited in many countries to extraordinary structures or buildings, e.g. tunnels or industrial plants of great importance. In these cases the actual or design fire load is used within a heat and mass balance calculation, in order to determine the gas temperatures and the fire progress. Consequently, the mechanical and thermal behaviour of the structural elements surrounding the fire compartment has to be determined. In order to avoid heavy structural damage and to assure the repairability of the structure, adequate protective measures, depending on the fire exposure, have to be assessed. Examples of this kind of fire design procedure in consulting work for tunnels will be presented, which show the necessity for additional fire protective measures. A comparison between the calculated fire exposure and a full scale fire test is given, which shows good agreement between theory and experiment.

Fire Suppression Effectiveness for Simultaneous Fires: An Examination of Fire Histories

Abstract We examined fire and weather records for areas of the western United States for the period 1970-1984 to determine the effects of simultaneous wildfire occurrence on fire suppression efforts. Burning conditions were accounted for by use of short strings of fires which involved simultaneous suppression efforts. These strings were matched with closely preceding isolated fires to form matched sets, which were used to examine the relative effects of simultaneous fire occurrence. Fires were predominantly lightning-caused, and within matched sets they showed little difference in burning conditions. The first-occurring fires in the strings showed significantly longer suppression times than the preceding isolated fires, and travel times to the sixth-occurring fires were significantly greater than times to the first-occurring fire. These effects are not entirely consistent with expectations of fire personnel, perhaps because of shortcomings in the fire history records, which are particularly deficient in reporting force allocation, fire progress, and fire location. West. J. Appl. For. 5(1):16-19.