Help with making crown fire hazard assessments

Document

Title

Document Type: Conference Proceedings

Author(s): Martin E. Alexander

Compiler(s): William C. Fischer; Stephen F. Arno

Publication Year: 1988

Cataloging Information

Keyword(s):

conifer forests
crown fire
hazard mitigation
rate of spread

Topic(s):

Region(s):

Partner Site(s):

Record Maintained By:

FRAMES Staff; https://www.frames.gov/contact

Record Last Modified: November 5, 2019

FRAMES Record Number: 1969

Description

This paper offers some suggestions and field guides with respect to the operational application of C.E. Van Wagner's (1997, Can. J. For. Res. 7:23-34) theory to calculate the threshold conditions for the start and spread of crown fires in conifer forests. Three categories of crowning are recognized (passive, active, and independent); they are determined by three crown fuel properties (live crown base height, foliar moisture content, and bulk density) and two characteristics of fire behavior (spread rate and surface intensity).

[This publication is referenced in the "Synthesis of knowledge of extreme fire behavior: volume I for fire managers" (Werth et al 2011).]

Online Link(s):

Link to this document (654 KB; pdf)

Citation:

Alexander, M. E. 1988. Help with making crown fire hazard assessments. Pages 147-156 in Fischer, W. C.; Arno, S. F. (compilers). Protecting People and Homes from Wildfire in the Interior West: Proceedings of the Symposium and Workshop. General Technical Report GTR-INT-251. Ogden, UT: USDA Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station.