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Preventing Disaster

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Preventing Disaster Wildland-urban interface (W-UI) fires nce largely considered a Cali- When an apparently all-encompass- are a significant concern for federal, fornia problem, residential fire ing, seemingly unstoppable W-UI fire losses associated with wildland occurs, the rapid involvement of many state, and local land management and Ofires gained national attention homes over a wide area produces a sur- fire agencies. Research using in 1985 when 1,400 homes real impression; some homes survive modeling, experiments, and W-UI were destroyed nationwide (Laughlin amid the complete destruction of sur- case studies indicates that home and Page 1987). The wildland fire rounding residences. After the 1993 ignitability during wildland fires threat to homes is increasing and is Laguna Hills fire, some termed this depends on the characteristics of the commonly referred to as the wildland— seemingly inexplicable juxtaposition a home and its immediate surroundings. urban interface (W-UI) fire problem. “miracle.’ Miracles aside, the charac- These findings have implications for Since 1990, W-UI fires have threatened teristics of the surviving home and its hazard assessment and risk mapping, and destroyed homes in Alaska, immediate surroundings greatly influ- Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, enced its survival. effective mitigations, and iden- Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Wildland fire and home ignition re- tification of appropriate responsibility and Washington. Extensive or severe search indicates that a home’s exterior for reducing the potential far home fires in Yellowstone in 1988, Oakland and site characteristics significantly in- lass caused by W-UI fires, in 1991, and Florida in 1998 attracted fluence its ignitability and thus its much media coverage and focused chances for survival. Considering home national attention on wildland fire and site characteristics when designing, By Jack D. Cohen threats to people and property building, siting, and maintaining a Federal, state, and local land man- home can reduce W-UI fire losses. agement and fire agencies must directly and indirectly protect homes from W-UI Fire Loss Characteristics wildfire within and adjacent to W-UI residential fire losses differ wildlands. Davis (1990) indicated that from typical residential fire losses. since the mid-1940s, a major population Whereas residential fires usually increase has occurred in or adjacent to involve one structure with a partial loss, forests and woodland areas. Increasing W-UI fires can result in hundreds of residential presence near fire-prone totally destroyed homes. Particularly wildlands has prompted agencies to during severe W-UI fires, numerous take actions to reduce W-UI fire losses. Journal of Forestry 15 homes can ignite in a very short time. The usual result is that a home either survives or is totally destroyed; only a few structures incur partial damage (Foote 1994). The W-UI Fire commonly originates in wildland fuels. During dry, windy conditions in areas with continuous fine fuels, a wildland fire can spread rapidly, outpacing the initial attack of firefighters. If residences arc nearby, a wildland fire can expose numerous homes to flames and lofted burning embers, or firebrands. A rapidly spreading wildland fire coupled with highly ignitable homes can cause many homes to burn simul- taneously. This multistructure involvement can overwhelm fire protection Capabilities and, in effect, result in unprotected residences. Severe W-UI fires can destroy whole neighborhoods in a few hours—much Figure 1. The structure survival process faster than the response time and suppression capabilities of even the best—equipped and staffed firefighting agencies. For example, 479 homes were destroyed during the 1990 Painted Cave fire in Santa Barbara, most of them within two hours of the initial fire report. The 1993 Laguna Hills fire in southern California ignited and burned nearly all of the 366 homes destroyed in less than five hours. Whether a home survives depends initially on whether it ignites; if ignitions with continued burning occur, survival then depends on effective fire suppression. Figure 1 shows that home survival begins with attention to the factors that influence ignition. These factors determine home ignitability and include the structure’s exterior materials and design combined with its exposure to flames and firebrands. The lower the home ignitability the lower the chance of incurring an effective ignition. Ignition: A local Process Ignition and spread of fire, whether on structures or in wildland vegetation, is a combustion process. Fire spreads as a continuing ignition process whether from the propagation of flames or from the spot ignitions of firebrands. Unlike a flash Figure 2.The incident radiant heat flux is shown as a function of a wall’s distance flood or an avalanche, in which a mass from a flame 20 meters high by 50 meters wide, uniform, constant, 1,200 K, black- engulfs objects in its path, fire spreads body. The minimum time required for a piloted wood ignition is shown given the because the requirements for corresponding heat flux at that distance. Journal of Forestry 16 combustion are satisfied at locations context of home ignitability involves receive from flames depending on its along the path. The basic requirements mitigating the fuel and heat compo- distance from the fire. The incident for combustion—the fire triangle—are nents sufficiently to prevent ignitions. radiant heat flux, defined as the rate of fuel, heat, and oxygen. An However, the question of sufficiency radiant energy per unit area received at insufficiency of any one of the three (or efficiency) remains: How much, or an exposed surface, decreases as the components, which can occur over a perhaps more appropriately, how little distance increases. relatively short distance, will prevent a fuel and heat reduction must be done Figure 2 also shows that the time specific location from burning. “Green to effectively reduce home ignitions? required for ignition depends on the islands” that remain after the passage To answer this question, we must first distance to a flame of a given size. At of a severe, stand-replacement fire quantify the heat source in terms of 40 meters the radiant heat transfer is demonstrate this phenomenon. the fuel’s ignition requirements; less than 20 kilowatts per square meter Commonly one can find a green, specifically, how close can flames be living tree canopy very close to a to a home’s wood exterior before an completely consumed canopy. ignition occurs? The requirements for combustion Research Insights equally apply to the W-UI fire situa- Diverse research approaches are tion. In the wildland fire context, fire providing clues for assessing the fuel managers commonly refer to vegeta- and heat requirements for residential tion as fuel. However, for the specific ignitions. Structure ignition modeling, context of W-UI residential fire losses, fire experiments, and W-UI fire case 2 a house becomes the fuel. Heat is sup- studies indicate that the fuel and heat (kW/m ), which translates to a mini- plied by the flames of adjacent required for home ignitions only mum piloted ignition time of more burning materials that could include involve the structure and its immediate than 10 minutes. firewood piles, dead and live surroundings—the home ignitability Ten minutes, however, is signifi- vegetation, and neighboring structures. context. cantly longer than the burning time of Firebrands from upwind fires also Modeling. The Structure Ignition wildland flame fronts at a location. supply heat when they collect on a Assessment Model (SIAM) (Cohen Large flames of wildland fires house and adjacent flammable 1995) is currently being developed to typically depend on fine dead and live materials. The atmosphere amply asses the potential for structure vegetation, which limits the intense supplies the third necessary ignitions from flame exposure and burning duration at a specific location component, oxygen. firebrands during W-UI fires. One to less than a few minutes. Recent A wildland fire cannot spread to function of SIAM is to calculate the crown fire experiments have homes unless the homes and their ad- total heat transferred, both radiation demonstrated a location-specific jacent surroundings meet those com- and convection, to a structure for burning duration of 50 to 70 seconds. bustion requirements. The home ig- varying flame sizes and from varying Experiments. Field studies con- nitability determines whether these re- distances. From the calculated heat ducted during the International Crown quirements are met, regardless of how transfer, SIAM calculates the amount Fire Modelling Experiment intensely or fast—spreading distant of heat over time that common (Alexander et al. 1998) provide data fires are burning. To use an extreme Piloted ignition When wood is for comparisons with SIAM model example, a concrete bunker would not sufficiently heated, it decomposes estimates. Total heat transfer ignite during any wildland fire to release combustible volatiles. At (radiation and convection) and ignition situation. At the other extreme, some a sufficient volatile—air mixture, a data were obtained from heat flux highly ignitable homes have ignited small flame or hot spark can ignite sensors placed in wooden wall without flames having spread to them. it to produce flaming; thus, a sections. These homes directly ignited from piloted ignition. The instrumented walls were lo- firebrands. exterior wood products can sustain be- cated on flat, cleared terrain at 10, 20, Firebrands are a significant ignition fore the occurrence of a piloted and 30 meters downwind from the source during W-UI fires, particularly ignition (Tran et al. 1992). edge of the forested plots. The wall when flammable roofs are involved. Based on severe-case assumptions section at 10 meters was 2.44 meters Foote (1994) found a significant of flame radiation and exposure time, wide and 2.44 meters high with a 1.22- difference in home survival solely SIAM calculations indicate that wild- meter eave and roof section (fig. 3a). based on roof f1ammability.
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