TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2021//
TI  - Initial growth of fires in eucalypt litter, from ignition to steady-state rate of spread: laboratory studies
JO  - International journal of wildland fire
A1  - Gould, James S.
A1  - Sullivan, Andrew L.
A1  - Gould, James S.
A1  - Sullivan, Andrew L.
SP  - 163
EP  - 175
VL  - 31
IS  - 2
N2  - As part of an investigation of wildfire growth and acceleration, the initial growth of incipient fires burning in uniform dry eucalypt forest (Eucalyptus rossii, E. macrorhyncha) litter fuel of 1.2 kg m−2 was studied in a combustion wind tunnel with a fuel bed width of 1.5 m. Fifty-eight fires of three ignition patterns (point, 400-mm line and 800-mm line) were carried out at two air speeds (1.25 and 2.0 m s−1) and two dead fuel moisture content (FMC) groups for each air speed (≤7.5% and >7.5% oven-dry weight for the low air speed and ≤5% and >5% for the high air speed). The fraction of steady-state rate of spread reached as a function of time was determined and fitted to two theoretical fire growth models from the literature. The best model suggests the times for a point ignition fire to reach steady-state spread rate were ~38 and 50 min under the higher FMC for 2.0 m s−1 and 1.25 m s−1 air speeds, respectively, and ~25 min under the lower FMC for 2.0 m s−1. Future work will extend these results to field-scale fire behaviour, which will help improve operational response to wildfire outbreaks and planning of ignition patterns for prescribed burning.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1049-8001
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/WF21094
ID  - ref1
ER  -