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International Journal of Wildland Fire International Journal of Wildland Fire Society
Journal of the International Association of Wildland Fire
International Journal of Wildland Fire

International Journal of Wildland Fire

Volume 30 Number 3 2021

WF19095Operationalising homeowner wildfire risk mitigation in fire-prone areas

Hugh Walpole 0000-0001-5224-7601, Sarah McCaffrey, Claire Rapp 0000-0003-1579-5208 and Robyn Wilson
pp. 161-169

Common measures of wildfire risk mitigation as the sum of activities ‘completed’ are problematic. Measuring mitigation as the proportion of relevant activities completed and allowing respondents to indicate the amount of work they have undertaken reveals more nuanced relationships between demographics and mitigation than the sum of activities completed.


Potential Wildfire Operational Delineations, or ‘PODs’, are a collaborative planning approach for proactively identifying locations where wildfires potentially could be contained. We found PODs may facilitate communication across actors and jurisdictions and consideration of a greater range of response options. Effective use of PODs will require dedicated leadership and capacity.

WF20096Effects of fuel spatial distribution on wildland fire behaviour

Adam L. Atchley 0000-0003-2203-1994, Rodman Linn, Alex Jonko 0000-0001-6026-5527, Chad Hoffman 0000-0001-8715-937X, Jeffrey D. Hyman 0000-0002-4224-2847, Francois Pimont 0000-0002-9842-6207, Carolyn Sieg and Richard S. Middleton 0000-0002-8039-6601
pp. 179-189

Ensembles of physics-based fire model simulations demonstrate that the fidelity and spatial heterogeneity of fuel influenced simulated fire behaviour. Increased variance of fuel density resulted in decreased fire behaviour metrics compared with a homogenous fuel representation. However, large forest gaps overcame the effect of increased variance of fuel density as fire behaviour metrics rebounded.


We analysed how species composition and climate affect fuel moisture content in Mediterranean plant species. We found that, on average, high diversity decreases fuel moisture in wet sites, but increases fuel moisture in dry sites. As fuel moisture affects combustibility, our results suggest a link between species diversity and fire risk.

WF20088Quantifying merging fire behaviour phenomena using unmanned aerial vehicle technology

Alexander Filkov 0000-0001-5927-9083, Brett Cirulis and Trent Penman 0000-0002-5203-9818
pp. 197-214
Graphical Abstract Image

Merging fires can lead to rapid increases in fire intensity and spread rate. To better understand their behaviour, several field-scale experiments were conducted during April 2019 on harvested wheat fields in western Victoria, Australia. Quantitative analysis of fire behaviour of merging fire fronts and comparison with previous findings were performed.


Using rate of fire spread data from experiments in grass fuels, we comment on the simulation results obtained by Moinuddin et al. (2018). In contrast with these simulations results, available empirical data shows grass height to have a direct (positive) effect on rate of fire spread.


We confirmed that two modes of fire propagation (wind-driven and plume-driven) exist as found in various empirical evidence, including CSIRO data. Many of the apparent discrepancies can be reconciled through the proper observance of the different parametric regimes that are represented in the various experimental and simulation results.

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