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Heading fires consume more fuels than backing fires

2023 Research Brief

Description

Researchers from Michigan State University and the USFS Fire Behavior Assessment Team used 15 years of immediate pre- and post-fire fuel and wildfire behavior data to identify the role of fire advancement mode and pre-fire environmental drivers (e.g., topography, fire weather, and fuel loadings) on fuel consumption and fire effects in California mixed-conifer forests.


Author

This brief was written by Joseph Birch and Jessica Miesel and produced by the CFSC.

Contact

For more information, contact coope456@msu.edu and mieselje@msu.edu. 

Additional Information

Birch, Joseph D., Matthew B. Dickinson, Alicia Reiner, Eric E. Knapp, Scott N. Dailey, Carol Ewell, James A. Lutz, and Jessica R. Miesel. 2023. "Heading and backing fire behaviours mediate the influence of fuels on wildfire energy." International Journal of Wildland Fire 32, no. 8 (2023): 1244-1261.