Canadian Forest Service Publications
Influence of ignition type on fire behavior in semi-mature jack pine. 2017. McRae, D.J.; Stocks, B.J.; Hartley, G.R.; Mason, J.A.; Lynham, T.J.; Blake, T.W.; Hanes, C.C. Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service. Information Report GLC-X-19. 23p.
Year: 2017
Issued by: Great Lakes Forestry Centre
Catalog ID: 38237
Language: English
Series: Information Report (GLFC - Sault Ste. Marie)
Availability: PDF (download)
Plain Language Summary
Many experimental burns were conducted by CFS in the development of the Fire Behaviour Prediction System. To best emulate larger wildfires most of these fires were line-ignition type burns. This allowed the fire to quickly reach a steady state rate of spread. In reality, most fires start as small point-source ignitions (e.g. lightning, cigarette, etc), often the only period of time fire suppression resources can easily control them when fire danger is high. Therefore, CFS fire researchers at the time (1984-1991), performed a number of point source ignition experimental burns and compared to line source ignitions. This report is a summary of that work at Sharpsand Creek. Results showed that point-source ignition surface fires conducted within the stand exhibited extremely slow spread rates with no acceleration. In comparison, line-ignition surface fires were found to spread much more easily. The results explored the influence of stand age, structure and continuity on the differences in fire behaviour. The findings support the thesis that a dual equilibrium rate of spread situation exists, an important concept in fire behaviour science. These findings are also important operationally, as they may assist in prioritizing fire suppression responses when multiple fire starts occur in an extreme fire danger period.
