A dynamic fuel model for the chaparral brush fields of southern California shows that (a) the fire threat for the first few years after a fire primarily is related to forbs and grasses; and (b) after 10 to 20 years, the brush fields will sustain very fast-spreading, high-intensity fires, depending upon the ratio of the live-to-dead fuel. The mathematical models described permit systematic analysis of the consequences of fuel treatment and fire control and projection of these consequences for the future.
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Rothermel et al. (1973) studied this question.