Clarifying the meaning of mantras in wildland fire behaviour modelling: reply to Cruz et al. (2017)
William Mell A G , Albert Simeoni B , Dominique Morvan C , J. Kevin Hiers D , Nicholas Skowronski E and Rory M. Hadden F
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Laboratory, US Forest Service, 400 N. 34th Street, Suite 201, Seattle, WA 98074, USA.
B Fire Protection Engineering Department, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA.
C Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, Centrale Marseille, M2P2, Marseille, France.
D Tall Timbers Research Station, 13093 Henry Beadel Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32312, USA.
E Northern Research Station, US Forest Service, 180 Canfield Street, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA.
F School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, King’s Buildings, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JL, UK.
G Corresponding author. Email: wemell@fs.fed.us
International Journal of Wildland Fire 27(11) 770-775 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF18106
Submitted: 11 July 2018 Accepted: 26 July 2018 Published: 20 August 2018
Abstract
In a recent communication, Cruz et al. (2017) called attention to several recurring statements (mantras) in the wildland fire literature regarding empirical and physical fire behaviour models. Motivated by concern that these mantras have not been fully vetted and are repeated blindly, Cruz et al. (2017) sought to verify five mantras they identify. This is a worthy goal and here we seek to extend the discussion and provide clarification to several confusing aspects of the Cruz et al. (2017) communication. In particular, their treatment of what they call physical models is inconsistent, neglects to reference current research activity focussed on combined experimentation and model development, and misses an opportunity to discuss the potential use of physical models to fire behaviour outside the scope of empirical approaches.
Additional keywords: CFD, empirical models, physics-based models.
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