Investigation of firebrand production during prescribed fires conducted in a pine forest

Abstract

This paper represents a study on the characterization of firebrand production which was carried out, using experimental fires conducted as prescribed fires in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, USA in March of 2013-2015. Several preliminary techniques were tested to characterize the firebrand production. Firebrands were collected from three plots for each year and analyzed for mass and size distribution. Thermal imagery was used to measure the velocity, size and number of firebrands in 2014 and 2015. The distribution of firebrands was evaluated in a monitored volume during the experiment. It was found that not less than 70% of collected particles were bark fragments and the rest were pine and shru..