Charts for interpreting wildland fire behavior characteristics

Andrews, Patricia L.; Rothermel, Richard C.

doi:10.2737/int-gtr-131

Cited by 83 publications

(60 citation statements)

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“…The light colored pixels show areas where the fire line intensity did not exceed 100 Btu/ft/s and flame length was less than 4 ft. At these levels, direct attack on a wildfire is feasible at the head or flanks (Andrews and Rothermel 1982;Pyne and others 1996). The dark colored pixels show areas that exceeded 100 Btu/ft/s and flame lengths greater than 4 ft. At these levels, wildfires are managed with equipment such as plows, dozers, pumps, and retardant aircraft.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proceedings of the 2002 fire conference: managing fire and fuels in the remaining wildlands and open spaces of the Southwestern United States

Narog¹

2008

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proceedings of the 2002 fire conference: managing fire and fuels in the remaining wildlands and open spaces of the Southwestern United States

Narog¹

2008

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“…These curves can be interpreted as ranging from fires that can easily be controlled by hand crews, to fires for which tractors or bulldozers are required, to fires on which control efforts at the head of the fire will be ineffective (Table 1; Andrews and Rothermel 1982). The images provide a rough graphical indication of the intensity of the fire (Section 3.2.4).…”

Section: Flame Length Curvesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Changing units to match those used for the fire characteristic charts in Andrews and Rothermel (1982) and rearranging equation (1) to plot the curves for specified values of fireline intensity gives:…”

Section: Surface Fire Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Figure 1-The surface fire behavior fire characteristics chart is used to plot rate of spread, heat per unit area, and flame length for calculated or observed fire behavior (Andrews and Rothermel 1982). Four variables are represented by a single point on the chart: rate of spread, heat per unit area, fireline intensity, and flame length.…”

Section: Introduction ___________________mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The fire characteristics chart is, therefore, also known as the "hauling chart"-haul in crews, haul in equipment, haul in aircraft, or haul everything out of there. The fire characteristics chart was developed for surface fire behavior by Andrews and Rothermel (1982). Rothermel (1991) later used the concept to develop a crown fire characteristics chart ( Figure 2).…”

Section: Introduction ___________________mentioning

confidence: 99%

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How to generate and interpret fire characteristics charts for surface and crown fire behavior

Andrews¹,

Heinsch²,

Schelvan³

2011

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A fire characteristics chart is a graph that presents primary related fire behavior characteristics-rate of spread, flame length, fireline intensity, and heat per unit area. It helps communicate and interpret modeled or observed fire behavior. The Fire Characteristics Chart computer program plots either observed fire behavior or values that have been calculated by another computer program such as the BehavePlus fire modeling system. Program operation is described in this report, and its flexibility in format, color, and labeling is demonstrated for use in a variety of reports. A chart produced by the program is suitable for inclusion in briefings, reports, and presentations. Example applications are given for fire model understanding, observed crown fire behavior, ignition pattern effect on fire behavior, prescribed fire planning, briefings, and case studies. The mathematical foundation for the charts is also described. Separate charts are available for surface fire and crown fire because of differences in the flame length model used for each.

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Fuel reduction treatments reduce modeled fire intensity in the sagebrush steppe

et al. 2022

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Increased fire size and frequency coupled with annual grass invasion pose major challenges to sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystem conservation, which is currently focused on protecting sagebrush community composition and structure. A common strategy for mitigating potential fire is to use fuel treatments that alter the structure and amount of burnable material, thus reducing fire behavior and creating access points for fire suppression resources. While there is some recent information on the impacts of fuel treatments on ecological communities, we have little information on fuel treatment effectiveness at modifying fire behavior in sagebrush ecosystems. We present 10 years of data on fuel accumulation and the resultant modeled fire behavior in prescribed fire, mowed, herbicide (tebuthiuron or imazapic), and untreated control plots in the Sagebrush Treatment Evaluation Project (SageSTEP) network in the Great Basin, USA. Fuel data (i.e., aboveground burnable live and dead biomass) were collected in each treatment plot at Years 0 (pretreatment), 1, 2, 3, 6, and 10 posttreatment. We used the Fuel and Fire Tool fire behavior modeling program to test whether treatments impacted potential fire behavior. Prescribed fire initially removed 49% of the total fuel load and 75% of shrubs, and fuel loads remained reduced through Year 10. Mowing shifted fuels from the shrub canopy to the ground surface but did not change the total fuel amount. Prescribed fire and mowing increased herbaceous fuel by the second posttreatment year and that trend persisted through Year 10. Tebuthiuron treatments were ineffective at altering fuel loads. Imazapic suppressed herbaceous vegetation by 30% in Years 2 and 3 following treatment. The modified fuel beds in fire and mow treatments resulted in modeled flame lengths that were significantly lower than untreated control plots for the duration of the study, with shorter term reductions in reaction intensity and rate of spread. Understanding fuel treatment effectiveness will allow natural resource managers to evaluate trade‐offs between protecting wildlife habitat and reducing the potential for high‐intensity wildfire.

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Charts for interpreting wildland fire behavior characteristics

Cited by 83 publications

References 0 publications

Proceedings of the 2002 fire conference: managing fire and fuels in the remaining wildlands and open spaces of the Southwestern United States

Proceedings of the 2002 fire conference: managing fire and fuels in the remaining wildlands and open spaces of the Southwestern United States

How to generate and interpret fire characteristics charts for surface and crown fire behavior

Fuel reduction treatments reduce modeled fire intensity in the sagebrush steppe

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