NIST Technical Note 1909 2011 Wildland Urban Interface Amarillo Fires Report #2 – Assessment of Fire Behavior and WUI Measurement Science Alexander Maranghides Derek McNamara http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.1909 NIST Technical Note 1909 2011 Wildland Urban Interface Amarillo Fires Report #2 – Assessment of Fire Behavior and WUI Measurement Science Alexander Maranghides Fire Research Division Engineering Laboratory Derek McNamara Geospatial Measurement Solutions, LLC Hood River, OR This publication is available free of charge from: http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.1909 February 2016 U.S. Department of Commerce Penny Pritzker, Secretary National Institute of Standards and Technology Willie May, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and Director Certain commercial entities, equipment, or materials may be identified in this document in order to describe an experimental procedure or concept adequately. Such identification is not intended to imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor is it intended to imply that the entities, materials, or equipment are necessarily the best available for the purpose. In accordance with the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 as amended by Section 5164 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 and as required by related provisions of the Code of Federal Regulations, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) uses the modern metric system of measurement units (International System of Units; abbreviation: SI) in all publications. When the field of application or the special needs of users of NIST publications require the use of non-SI units, the values of quantities are first stated in SI units and the corresponding values expressed in non-SI units follow in parentheses. National Institute of Standards and Technology Technical Note 1909 Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol. Technical Note 1909, 153 pages (February 2016) Coden: NTNOEF This publication is available free of charge from: http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/NIST.ITN.1909 Cover Page Figure: Fire direction, fire road crossings, and general fire progression in Timber Creek Canyon. Prevailing wind direction at time of fire was from the Southwest Table of Contents Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. ii List of Tables .................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ................................................................................................................... vi Abstract .............................................................................................................................. x Executive Summary ......................................................................................................... xi 1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 2.0 Report Objectives, Goals & Organization ................................................................ 4 3.0 Materials and Methods ............................................................................................... 5 3.1 Data Sources ......................................................................................................... 5 3.2 Field Data Enhancement and Local Data Integration ........................................... 6 3.3 Fire Witness Accounts, Images and Radio Logs .................................................. 8 3.4 Fire Timeline Development ................................................................................ 10 3.5 Topography and Radar ........................................................................................ 11 4.0 Study Area, Weather and Event Overview ............................................................ 12 4.1 Study Area .......................................................................................................... 12 4.2 Weather Summary .............................................................................................. 12 4.3 Timeline Overview ............................................................................................. 13 5.0 Timber Creek Canyon Community ........................................................................ 17 5.1 Damage Assessment, Fire Direction, Fire Timeline and Burned Vegetation ..... 17 5.2 Defensive Action Categorizations ...................................................................... 19 5.3 Topographic Information .................................................................................... 19 5.4 Structural Element Ignition Mechanisms............................................................ 20 5.5 Vegetative Element Ignition Mechanisms .......................................................... 28 6.0 Plateau ........................................................................................................................ 33 6.1 Damage Assessment, Fire Direction and Fire Timeline ..................................... 33 6.2 Defensive Action Categorizations ...................................................................... 34 6.3 Topographic Information .................................................................................... 34 6.4 Vegetation Element Ignition Mechanisms .......................................................... 34 7.0 Palisades South .......................................................................................................... 42 7.1 Damage Assessment, Fire Direction and Fire Timeline ..................................... 42 7.2 Fire Behavior ...................................................................................................... 44 7.3 Defensive Action Categorizations ...................................................................... 45 7.4 Topographic Information .................................................................................... 46 7.5 Structural Element Ignition Mechanisms............................................................ 46 7.6 Vegetative Element Ignition Mechanisms .......................................................... 60 8.0 Palisades North and Tangle Aire ............................................................................. 61 8.1 Damage Assessment, Fire Direction and Fire Timeline ..................................... 61 8.2 Fire Behavior ...................................................................................................... 63 8.3 Defensive Action Categorizations ...................................................................... 63 8.4 Topographic Data................................................................................................ 64 8.5 Structural Element Ignition Mechanisms............................................................ 64 8.6 Vegetative Element Ignition Mechanisms .......................................................... 72 9.0 North Lake Tanglewood ........................................................................................... 72 9.1 Damage Assessment, Fire Direction and Fire Timeline ..................................... 73 9.2 Fire Behavior ...................................................................................................... 74 ii 9.3 Defensive Action Categorizations ...................................................................... 74 9.4 Topographic Information .................................................................................... 75 9.5 Structural Element Ignition Mechanisms............................................................ 83 9.6 Vegetative Element Ignition Mechanisms .......................................................... 84 10.0 South Lake Tanglewood ......................................................................................... 86 10.1 Damage Assessment, Fire Direction and Fire Timeline ................................... 86 10.2 Defensive Action Categorizations .................................................................... 88 10.3 Topographic Information .................................................................................. 88 10.4 Structural and Vegetative Element Ignition Mechanisms ................................ 89 11.0 Southeast Lake Tanglewood .................................................................................. 95 11.1 Damage Assessment, Fire Direction and Fire Timeline ................................... 95 11.2 Defensive Action Categorization ...................................................................... 95 11.3 Topographic Information .................................................................................. 96 11.4 Structural and Vegetative Element Ignition Mechanisms. ............................... 96 12.0 WUI Assessment Methodology and Science ....................................................... 102 12.1 Pre-fire Hazard Mitigation Guidance and Assessment ................................... 102 12.2 Pre-Fire and Post-Fire Landscaping Characteristics ....................................... 103 12.3 Building Characteristics .................................................................................. 105 12.4 Topographic Characteristics ........................................................................... 106 12.5 Defensive Actions and Fire Behavior ............................................................. 107 12.6 Fire Weather...................................................................................................