A fire danger rating system for Hawaii

Extremes in rainfall on the Hawaiian Islands make it difficult to judge forest fire danger conditions. The use of an automatic data collection and computer processing system helps to monitor the problem. Note: Messrs. Burgan and Fujioka are on the staff of the Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture. Mr. Hirata is with the National Weather Service. All three are stationed at Honolulu, Hawaii.     

Effect of fire whirlwind formation on solid fuel burning rates

Burning rates of Douglas fir wood were measured using crosspiled sticks 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and 1 in. (0.64, 1.27, 1.90, and 2.54 cm) in cross-sectional dimensions. Burning was 1.4 to 4.2 times as fast with the whirlwind as without. Note: Mr. Martin is Project Leader, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Professor, College of Forest Resources, University of Washington. Mr. Pendleton is a Forester, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Leavenworth, Washington. Mr. Burgess is a Forester, Pack River Forest Products, Peshastin, Washington. This paper was presented at the Combustion Institute, Western States Section at Pullman, Washington, May 6–7, 1974.     

The modeling of pulsating fires

The authors present scaling relationships for modeling pulsating fires. Data gathered from various sizes of pulsating fires compared favorably with the predicted relationships between fire diameter and pulsation frequency. Note: Mr. Byram is Principal Physicist and Mr. Nelson a Forest Products Technologist with the Southern Forest Fire Laboratory. The paper was presented at the fall meeting, Western States Section, The Combustion Institute, La Jolla, California, October 27 and 28, 1969.     

A high temperature water-cooled anemometer

Prior attempts to measure air velocity within and near fires have not been completely successful because of mechanical and electronic failures due to heat. A system of cooling critical mechanical and electronic parts of anemometers using liquids has been developed to overcome this problem. Note: Mr. Palmer is stationed at Riverside, California, and Mr. Northcutt’s current address is Division of Forest Fire and Atmospheric Sciences Research, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250.     

Application of CMA program to wood charring

Experiments were conducted to test the ability of a computer program to describe the charring of ovendried wood. Note: Mr. White is a Forest Products Technologist and Dr. Schaffer is a Supervisory Research Engineer at the Forest Service's Forest Products Laboratory. The Laboratory is maintained at Madison, Wisconsin in cooperation with the University of Wisconsin. Note: The use of trade, firm, or corporation names in this publication is for the information and convenience of the reader. Such use does not constitute official endorsement or approval by the U.S. Department of Agriculture of any product or service to the exclusion of others that may be suitable.     

The effect of humidity,air temperature,and wind speed on fine fuel moisture content

A controlled environmental chamber was used to study the effects of relative humidity, air temperature, and wind speed on moisture content of tobosa grass. Prediction equations were developed to show rates of change in fine fuel moisture content and equilibrium fine fuel moisture content for both absorption and desorption. Note: Mr. Britton is a Research Associate at Texas Tech University; Mr. Countryman, a Project Leader, Forest Fire Laboratory, Riverside, California; Dr. Wright, Associate Professor of Range Management, Texas Tech University; and Dr. Walvekar, Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering, Texas Tech University. Mr. Britton’s current address is Range Science Department, Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas. Note: This paper is College of Agricultural Sciences, Texas Tech University Contribution No. T-9-111.     

Developing a cost-effective fire management plan for California’s Kern Plateau

The Kern Plateau in Sequoia National Forest was selected as a pilot study area for the development and application of a new fire management planning process. Note: Jason M. Greenlee is President of Fire and Land Management Enterprises (FLAME), Boulder Creek, California. Carl C. Wilson was formerly National Fire Specialist for the Forest Service, USDA, and is now a Forest Fire Consultant at Berkeley, California.     

A new fire management policy on Forest Service lands

A new Forest Service policy, effective February 1978, allows some wildfires to burn under prescribed conditions, urges a multidisciplinary approach to fire control, and has applications to rural and urban situations. Note: The author, formerly with the Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Berkeley, Calif., is now with the Forest Fire and Atmospheric Sciences Research Staff, Washington, D.C.     

A study — Early warning fire detection performance in the hospital patient room

These experiments, which represent fire situations in a hospital patient sleeping room, clearly indicate that a door frame-mounted detector provides one of the best locations for optimum detector response in this occupancy. Identification of air motion as the single most important factor influencing reaction time of early warning detection devices emphasizes the need to evaluate smoke and ionization detectors under actual conditions of use. Note: Mr. Waterman is Senior Research Engineer, Safety Research, IIT Research Institute; Mr. Degenkolb is a practicing Fire Protection Engineer from Glendale, California; Mr. Stickney, Oregon State Fire Marshal at the time this paper was written, is now retired.     

Fire severity and response distance: Initial findings

Rational decisions about the number of fire companies a community should have require reliable estimates of the fire losses that would result. Such estimates are not now available. One building block in their development is a relationship between the distance the responding companies travel and physical damage. Note: Professor Ignall is with Columbia University; Mr. Rider is associated with the firm of Deloitte, Haskins, and Sells, and Mr. Urbach is with Citibank. The work described in this paper was sponsored by the City of New York and was performed when the authors were with the New York City — Rand Institute. Any views expressed are those of the authors. They should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of the Rand Corporation or the official opinion or policy of the City of New York.     

A fire station placement model

The authors have constructed an analytical model to solve the fire station placement problem. Quick and ready graphs have been prepared for its application by fire service personnel. Note: Mr. Guild is a member of the Department of Industrial Engineering, and Mr. Rollin is with the Ordnance Research Laboratory.     

Test method for the analysis of toxic products from burning materials — phenolic foam

The authors maintain that conventional laboratory techniques for pyrolizing small samples of organic materials will not yield realistic data regarding the toxicity of products released by them during a fire and describe a test method they consider better suited to the purpose. One that can be applied to field problems. Note: Messrs. Crowley, Brash, Burrell, and Tempesta are with Avco Systems Division, Lowell, Ma., and Mr. Niehaus is assigned to the Naval Ammunition Depot, Crane, In. Mr. Crowley presented this paper at the 76th Annual Meeting of the National Fire Protection Association on May 17, 1972 in Philadelphia, Pa.     

Evaluating fire prevention effectiveness through a probability model

A probability model has been developed to evaluate the effectiveness of fire prevention efforts applied under specific weather conditions. Note: Bradley B. Nickey is assigned to the Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture. Clifford B. Chapman is with the Department of Forestry, State of California.     

Containment tables for initial attack on forest fires

Long-range planning of forest fire initial attack systems requires a method for evaluation of force effectiveness against an assumed pattern of fire occurrence on the planning unit. Note: The author is an Operations Research Analyst at the Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, stationed at Riverside, California.     

Velocity pressure effect on sprinkler system discharge

After conducting a series of sprinkler discharge tests, the authors concluded that the use of velocity pressure in sprinkler system calculations will give a false picture of the ability of the system. Note: Mr. Kirkman is a registered Professional Engineer and a practicing consulting engineer. Mr. Campbell is Vice President and Chief Engineer of The Reliable Automatic Sprinkler Company.     

Fire and high buildings

The time necessary to evacuate today’s high-rise buildings in a fire emergency is unsatisfactory from the standpoint of the development of untenable smoke conditions. The Division of Building Research has been working on the problem for several years and suggests several approaches to controlling smoke movement in buildings. Note: Mr. Wilson is Assistant Director of the Division of Building Research, and Mr. Shorter is Head of the Fire Research Section. Note: The authors presented this paper at the 74th Annual Meeting of the National Fire Protection Association in Toronto on May 20, 1970. It is a contribution from the Division of Building Research, National Research Council of Canada and is published with the approval of the Director of the Division.     

Surface flammability assessment,part II—Validity and application of major current test methods

The authors discuss the detailed application of surface flammability assessment theory to the major test methods available in North America. Note: Dr. Campbell is with the Ontario Research Foundation, and Mr. McGuire is a consultant to the Foundation.     

Model experiment of hazardous forest fire whirl

The fluid dynamical scaling laws of forest fires are derived by dimensional analysis and a scale model is constructed to investigate a forest fire which seriously injured several fire fighters. The result of the small-scale experiment indicate that a fire whirl could be generated in such a fire. Note: Mr. Richard I. Emori is with the Mechanical Engineering Department, Seikei University, 3-Kichijoji Kitamachi, Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. Mr. Kozo Saito is a Research Associate with the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey.     

Sprinkler performance tests—The extended coverage panacea

Performance testing of multiple extended coverage sidewall sprinklers indicates that these sprinklers, installed on spacings that are multiples of specified room areas with ceiling heights up to 9 ft, perform comparably to single sprinkler per room installations under fire conditions. Underwriters Laboratories Inc. Note: Mr. Suchomel and Mr. Castino are Associate Managing Engineer and Managing Engineer of the Laboratories' Fire Protection Department. Mr. Castino presented this paper, under the title “Fire Performance Tests of Sprinklers Under Simulated Field Installation Conditions—The Extended Coverage Panacea,” at the NFPA Fall Meeting on November 12, 1979 in Phoenix, Arizona.     

Handtools and chain saws outproduce hydraulic units

Field tests assessed forest fireline construction capabilities of two power-assisted tooling systems—a chain saw system and a hydraulic power unit system. These were compared with the conventional handtool system as to fireline construction rate, cost, and other considerations. Note: Irene A. Althaus is a Natural Resource Economist assigned to the Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Berkeley, California, stationed at Riverside, California. Robert W. Weaver is Fire Research Coordinator with the California Department of Forestry, Sacramento, California.