Validation of FDS for simulating merging fires

Abstract

Wildfires are a significant cause of ecosystem devastation, biodiversity loss, and vegetation loss, with climate change exacerbating the situation (Halofsky et al., 2020). When fires merge, they can lead to an increase in the overall rate of fire spread and cause extreme fire behaviour, making them challenging to control. The interaction between merging fires can be considered as three types based on their shape: coalescing, Vshaped junction, and parallel fires. Coalescing fires occur when multiple independent fire spots converge, while junction fires occur when two fire fronts converge at an oblique angle, forming a V-shaped fireline. Parallel fires are a special case of junction fire and occur when the two fire fronts converge at a zero-degree angle. Understanding the dynamics controlling the interaction between parallel fires provides a better insight into eruptive fire behaviour and the strip-burning practice carried out to manage grasslands. In this study, we present our initial research on simulating the merging of parallel fires and validating the results with experimental observation.