Interaction of smoldering branches and pine bark firebrands with fuel bed at different ambient conditions

This paper provides the results of the laboratory studies the interaction of smoldering firebrands (pine bark and branches) with fuel bed that is a litter of pine needles. The wind speed and the density of fuel bed were varied during the experiments. The results have shown that the increase in the wind speed leads to the increase in the probability of the fuel bed ignition by firebrands of the same size, and the increase in the density of fuel bed leads to the decrease in the probability of that. The probability of ignition of fuel bed by the branches, all other things being equal, is found to be higher compared to the bark firebrands due to the combustion heat.