Residents' Responses to Wildland Fire Programs
Residents' Responses to Wildland Fire Programs

Author: James David Absher

Publisher:

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 40

ISBN-13:

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A compilation and summary of four research studies is presented. They were aimed at developing a theoretical and practical understanding of homeowners' attitudes and behaviors in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) in relation to the threat from wildland fires. Individual studies focused on models and methods that measured (1) value orientations (patterns of basic beliefs) toward natural processes, (2) attitudes toward wildland fire policies, and (3) behavioral intentions to adopt defensible space activities or support agency policies/actions. This report presents some of the key findings from these studies, highlights the practical consequences of adopting a theory-based approach to understanding wildland fire management in urbanized areas, and suggests strategies for successful wildfire-prevention education programs.

Mathematical Modeling of Wildland-Urban Interface Fires
Mathematical Modeling of Wildland-Urban Interface Fires

Author: U.s. Department of Commerce

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2014-01-31

Total Pages: 44

ISBN-13: 9781495323386

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Over the past few years, Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) fires have become of much greater concern. The WUI includes people and property, and, therefore, the costs of damage in the built environment, especially when measured in terms of injury to people, death and property damage, are far higher than in wildland settings, National Interagency Fire Center (2006). The WUI has been found to be large and growing rapidly in the United States as population expands and housing development in wildland areas continues. People are building more houses in a wildland setting every year, Environmental Literacy Council (2007). For example, data from year 2000 show that about 36 % or 42 million homes in the U.S. are in the WUI and the numbers are growing rapidly, Radeloff et al (2005) and Gustafson et al (2005). Also, as the average temperature, both within the United States and globally, has increased, earlier snowmelts have taken place, extending the number of weeks every year that forests are exposed to high temperatures and dangerously dry conditions, Andrews et al. (2007). Increasingly hot and dry conditions in the United States have led, in turn, to more acres of wildland fuel consumed by wildfire with greater threat to the WUI, Andrews et al (2007), National Interagency Fire Center (2006).

LES Modeling of Flow Through Vegetation with Applications to Wildland Fires
LES Modeling of Flow Through Vegetation with Applications to Wildland Fires

Author: Eric Victor Mueller

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 188

ISBN-13:

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Abstract: Due to continued outward expansion of industry and community development into the wildland-urban interface (WUI), the threat to life safety and property from wildland fires has become a significant problem. Such fire scenarios can be better understood through the use of computation fluid dynamics based fire-spread models. However, current physical fire models must be specifically adapted to handle the phenomena associated with WUI fires. Only then can they be reliably used as research and decision making tools to help mitigate the problem. In this research, the current standard in wildland fire modeling for representing the effect on wind flow from a porous vegetative medium is examined. The technique used employs basic correlations for object drag, and its validity with respect to real vegetation has yet to be examined in detail by the scientific community. The modeling of vegetation is studied within the framework of the existing Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Dynamics Simulator (WFDS), and the potential need for continued development is assessed. Comparisons are made to both experimental and numerical studies. Additionally, the validity of the model is considered at both the scale of an individual tree, as well as that of a whole forest canopy. Results show that as a first approximation the model is able to perform well in the latter case. At the scale of an individual tree, however, the behavior is governed by theoretical constants. The assumption of cylindrical vegetation elements performs slightly better than the commonly used spherical case, but neither adequately captures experimental tendencies. Accurate flow representation for single trees is crucial to modeling the key driving factors of fire behavior (such as combustion and heat transfer) in small scale WUI scenarios. Ultimately, this study illustrates the need for well-designed experiments, specifically to generate empirical constants which will improve the behavior of the simplified theory.

Residents' Responses to Wildland Fire Programs: a Review of Cognitive and Behavioral Studies
Residents' Responses to Wildland Fire Programs: a Review of Cognitive and Behavioral Studies

Author: James Absher

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2012-10-23

Total Pages: 36

ISBN-13: 9781480172081

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A compilation and summary of four research studies is presented. They were aimed at developing a theoretical and practical understanding of homeowners' attitudes and behaviors in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) in relation to the threat from wildland fires. Individual studies focused on models and methods that measured (1) value orientations (patterns of basic beliefs) toward natural processes, (2) attitudes toward wildland fire policies, and (3) behavioral intentions to adopt defensible space activities or support agency policies/actions. This report presents some of the key findings from these studies, highlights the practical consequences of adopting a theory-based approach to understanding wildland fire management in urbanized areas, and suggests strategies for successful wildfire-prevention education programs.

Standard Fire Behavior Fuel Models
Standard Fire Behavior Fuel Models

Author: Joe H. Scott

Publisher:

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 84

ISBN-13:

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This report describes a new set of standard fire behavior fuel models for use with Rothermels surface fire spread model and the relationship of the new set to the original set of 13 fire behavior fuel models. To assist with transition to using the new fuel models, a fuel model selection guide, fuel model crosswalk, and set of fuel model photos are provided.

Residents' Responses to Wildland Fire Programs
Residents' Responses to Wildland Fire Programs

Author: James D. Absher

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 2010-10

Total Pages: 38

ISBN-13: 1437933343

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A summary of four studies which were aimed at developing a theoretical and practical understanding of homeowners¿ attitudes and behaviors in the wildland-urban interface in relation to the threat from wildland fires. The studies focused on methods that measured: (1) value orientations (patterns of basic beliefs) toward natural processes; (2) attitudes toward wildland fire policies; and (3) behavioral intentions to adopt defensible space activities or support agency policies and actions. This report presents the key findings from these studies, highlights the practical consequences of adopting a theory-based approach to understanding wildland fire management in urbanized areas, and suggests strategies for successful wildfire-prevention education programs. Illustrations.