Emission of biogenic volatile organic compounds involved in eruptive fire: implications for the safety of firefighters
Toussaint Barboni A B , Magali Cannac A , Eric Leoni A and Nathalie Chiaramonti A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Université de Corse, Equipe Feux, UMR‐CNRS (Unités Mixte Recherches‐Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) 6134, Sciences Pour l’Environnement, BP 52, F‐20250 Corte, France.
B Corresponding author. Email: barboni@univ-corse.fr
International Journal of Wildland Fire 20(1) 152-161 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF08122
Submitted: 14 July 2008 Accepted: 3 June 2010 Published: 14 February 2011
Abstract
Forest fires are can be fatal for firefighters owing to the phenomenon of eruptive fire. The hypothesis of this study is that biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) accumulate in the vicinity of the fire front. One of the factors required for an eruptive fire to take place is that BVOC concentrations must be between their lower flammable limit and upper flammable limit. When this accumulation of BVOCs is exacerbated by specific geographical zones (e.g. small valleys, thalwegs, canyons), the combination of these two factors can lead to situations with a very high flammability potential, representing a considerable risk for firefighters. In France, 16 firefighters have been fatally injured over the last 15 years. This work was carried out on three species of the Mediterranean basin: Pinus laricio Poir., Pinus pinaster Ait. and Cistus monspeliensis L. The maximum BVOCs emitted as a function of temperature (50–200°C) by these species were 147.9, 11.6 and 56.0 g m–3 respectively. The quantities of BOVCs emitted by P. laricio and C. monspeliensis were sufficiently high for eruptive fires to occur.
Additional keywords: blow‐up, BVOC, forest fire, gas flow.
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