Experimental Determination of the Fire-Break Size and Specific Water Consumption for Effective Containment and Complete Suppression of the Front Propagation of a Typical Local Wildfire

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an experimental study of the initiation and containment of the flaming combustion and thermal decomposition of typical forest fuels by creating a fire break in the form of a wet layer of fixed width, length, and depth with a known volume of contained liquid. The ranges of parameter values that ensure stable suppression of the flaming combustion and thermal decomposition of forest fuel material were determined Experiments were performed for all major types of forest fuels: leaves, needles, branches, and mixtures thereof. The minimum water volumes and fire-break sizes required for guaranteed containment of combustion of the investigated forest fuels are predicted.