Have you ever wondered how is a fire of a match or candle different from a wildfire? Or maybe rather, why is it different? What is it, that makes the fires at different scales behave in such a different manner? What are the phenomena that drive these fires, and are these the same phenomena across the scales? These are the questions I had in mind when starting the interview with a rising star of Wildfire Science – Dr Sara McAllister of the USDA Forest Service.

Together with Sara we go into a journey across the scales of fire phenomena, discussing what are the key phenomena at particular scales. From matchsticks, through cribs and compartment fires, to wildfires and megafires – probably the most comprehensive discussion on the scales of fire phenomena I’ve ever had. From this episode you will also learn a lot about burning down wood cribs and about the LOF&BE initiative within the International Association for Fire Safety Science.

Learn more about Sara at:

https://www.firelab.org/profile/mcallister-sara

Connect with Sara at LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-mcallister-90b76917/

 LOF&BE group of IAFSS:
https://iafss.org/lofbe-webinar-series/

--- LinkedIn discussion ---

 https://www.linkedin.com/posts/fire-science-show_014-a-joyrney-through-the-scales-of-fire-activity-6833641588724432896-ZEhW

--- Useful links ---

The groundbreaking paper on role of convective heat transfer in the spread of wildfires:

https://www.pnas.org/content/112/32/9833

Prof. Rein explaining why it is a breakthrough:

https://www.pnas.org/content/112/32/9795

Videos of the experiments:

https://movie-usa.glencoesoftware.com/video/10.1073/pnas.1504498112/video-1

https://movie-usa.glencoesoftware.com/video/10.1073/pnas.1504498112/video-2

https://movie-usa.glencoesoftware.com/video/10.1073/pnas.1504498112/video-3

Papers on wood cribs:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10694-015-0536-4

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10694-015-0543-5

1000 MW fire experiment:

https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/bams/61/7/1520-0477_1980_061_0682_iavawa_2_0_co_2.xml

Our paper summarizing the research on wildfires and the role of wind in wildfire spread:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10694-018-0748-5

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