Citation

Rodrigues A, Viegas DX, Almeida M, Ribeiro C, Raposo J, André J. Fire Safety J. 2023; 138: e103791.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.firesaf.2023.103791

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

An experimental study at a laboratory scale that aims to compare the fire behaviour in two configurations: a regular flat slope and a slope with an embedded canyon. In configurations of slope with an embedded canyon, a rapid increase in the rate of spread and intensity of the fire is noticed when the fire enters the canyon. So, in this study we aimed better understand the situations that occurred in some fatal accidents (Olival Novo and S. Marcos accidents, Portugal). The tests show that the presence of the canyon induces a change in fire behaviour on the slope after the fire enters the canyon. Usually, a rapid increase in the intensity and rate of spread of the fire is observed, in comparison to the regular flat slope case. It was realized that the orientation of the maximum rate of spread of fire is not coincident with the orientation of maximum slope in the case of the slope with canyon, showing that the canyon changes the fire behaviour in the slope. The results of this study contribute to a better understanding of fire behaviour on slopes with and without canyon, thus improving fire safety.

Language: en

Keywords

Extreme fire behaviour; Fire in canyons; Fire in slopes; Fire safety; Forest fires