Researchers from the USDA Forest Service Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, Montana, are working with IBHS scientists to investigate the influence of wind speed on flame spread in pine needle beds.

The relation between wildland fire rate of spread and wind speed used in the US wildland fire behavior decision support systems was developed from experiments in the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory wind tunnel that is more limited in size and wind speed than the IBHS wind tunnel. The current model utilizes mean wind speed to predict whether a fire will grow, what direction it will take ,and how fast it will spread.

The researchers are examining the data and video collected during testing in the hope that it will lead a better understanding of wildland fire that could help firefighters manage fire more effectively.