Canadian Mass Fire Experiment,1989

Abstract

Working with Forestry Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, the Defense Nuclear agency carried out an extensively instrumented experiment of a prescribed burn in forest debris to simulate conditions of a mass fire. In addition to the Canadian team, a multi- institutional US team made both ground and airborne measurements of the fire and smoke conditions. The fire reported on was in Hill Township, Ontario and covered nearly 480 ha in its overall burning area. Both flaming and smoldering modes contributed to the energy and combustion products of this fire. Significant quantities measured and determined included estimations of energy release rate, emission factors for smoke particulates and species, ground level wind and temperatures, and aspects of cloud dynamics and cloud particles. The fire caused a capping cloud to form and reach a level of 6.5 km. Rain, snow, hail and lightning were reported along with ground level fire whirls and water spouts on the adjoining lakes. Fire spread rates reached 1 m/s and fire induced winds reached 12 m/s.

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