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Type: Journal Article
Author(s): Daniel L. Cheyette; T. Scott Rupp; Sue Rodman
Publication Date: 2008

Fire behavior modeling systems are playing an increasingly important role in identifying areas of the wildland-urban interface (WUI) that could support intense and fast-moving wildfires. The modeling systems also can be used to prioritize areas for fuels reduction treatments. We used forest inventory data to create custom fire behavior fuel models for the Anchorage, Alaska, WUI-an area strongly impacted by a recent spruce bark beetle (Dendroctonus rufipennis) infestation. Eight custom fuel models were developed including a custom fuel model for a spruce bark beetle impacted forest type. NEXUS simulations indicate that the custom fuel models better describe forest structure and predict fire behavior than do parameterized standard fuel models previously used by local fire managers. Rate of spread and fireline ranged from 1-321 chains/hour and 1-2,549 Btu/ft per second, respectively, for the custom fuel models compared with 1-70 chains/hour and 1-7,929 Btu/ft per second, respectively, for the parameterized standard fuel models. Our study shows that it is both possible and feasible to create custom fuel models directly from fuels inventory data. This achievement has broad implications for land managers, particularly managers of the boreal forest, a region that is susceptible to wildfires but also home to a growing human population and increasing amounts of development.

Online Links
Citation: Cheyette, Daniel L.; Rupp, T. Scott; Rodman, Sue. 2008. Developing fire behavior fuel models for the wildland-urban interface in Anchorage, Alaska. Western Journal of Applied Forestry 23(3):149-155.

Cataloging Information

Regions:
Keywords:
  • bark
  • Betula papyrifera
  • boreal forest
  • coniferous forests
  • crown scorch
  • deciduous forests
  • Dendroctonus
  • Dendroctonus rufipennis
  • fine fuels
  • fire intensity
  • fire management
  • fire models
  • flame length
  • forest management
  • fuel models
  • fuel types
  • heavy fuels
  • insects
  • land management
  • litter
  • mortality
  • NEXUS
  • Picea glauca
  • Picea mariana
  • plant diseases
  • population density
  • Populus tremuloides
  • Populus trichocarpa
  • rate of spread
  • wildfires
  • wildland fuel
Tall Timbers Record Number: 22671Location Status: In-fileCall Number: Fire FileAbstract Status: Okay, Fair use, Reproduced by permission
Record Last Modified:
Record Maintained By: FRAMES Staff (https://www.frames.gov/contact)
FRAMES Record Number: 3773

This bibliographic record was either created or modified by Tall Timbers and is provided without charge to promote research and education in Fire Ecology. The E.V. Komarek Fire Ecology Database is the intellectual property of Tall Timbers.