Firefighter Observations of “Surprising” Fire Behavior in Mountain Pine Beetle-Attacked Lodgepole Pine Forests
The recent mountain pine beetle outbreak affecting lodgepole pine forests in the Rocky Mountains has created a novel fire environment for wildland firefighters. This paper presents results from an examination of firefighters’ observations of fire behavior in post-outbreak lodgepole pine fo...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2019-06-01
|
| Series: | Fire |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/2/2/34 |
| _version_ | 1798002781750034432 |
|---|---|
| author | Kevin Moriarty Antony S. Cheng Chad M. Hoffman Stuart P. Cottrell Martin E. Alexander |
| author_facet | Kevin Moriarty Antony S. Cheng Chad M. Hoffman Stuart P. Cottrell Martin E. Alexander |
| author_sort | Kevin Moriarty |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The recent mountain pine beetle outbreak affecting lodgepole pine forests in the Rocky Mountains has created a novel fire environment for wildland firefighters. This paper presents results from an examination of firefighters’ observations of fire behavior in post-outbreak lodgepole pine forests, with a focus on what they considered surprising from a fire behavior standpoint and how this in turn affected their suppression tactics. The surprises in fire behavior experienced by firefighters during the red phase of post-outbreak forests included an elevated level of fire spread and intensity under moderate weather and fuel moisture conditions, increased spotting, and faster surface-to-crown fire transitions with limited or no ladder fuels. Unexpectedly, during the gray phase in mountain pine beetle-attacked stands, crown ignition and crown fire propagation was observed for short periods of time. Firefighters are now more likely to expect to see active fire behavior in nearly all fire weather and fuel moisture conditions, not just under critically dry and windy situations, and across all mountain pine beetle attack phases, not just the red phase. Firefighters changed their suppression tactics by adopting indirect methods due to the potential fire behavior and tree-fall hazards associated with mountain pine beetle-attacked lodgepole pine forests. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:58:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8460128e9b3d4bb7b54e9d58517fe429 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2571-6255 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:58:38Z |
| publishDate | 2019-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Fire |
| spelling | doaj.art-8460128e9b3d4bb7b54e9d58517fe4292022-12-22T04:25:02ZengMDPI AGFire2571-62552019-06-01223410.3390/fire2020034fire2020034Firefighter Observations of “Surprising” Fire Behavior in Mountain Pine Beetle-Attacked Lodgepole Pine ForestsKevin Moriarty0Antony S. Cheng1Chad M. Hoffman2Stuart P. Cottrell3Martin E. Alexander4Boise District, Bureau of Land Management, 3948 South Development Avenue, Boise, ID 83705, USAColorado Forest Restoration Institute, Campus Delivery 1472, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-14, USADepartment of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Campus Delivery 1472, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1472, USADepartment of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Campus Delivery 1480, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1480, USAWild Rose Fire Behaviour, 180 – 50434 Range Road 232, Leduc County, AB T4X 0L1, CanadaThe recent mountain pine beetle outbreak affecting lodgepole pine forests in the Rocky Mountains has created a novel fire environment for wildland firefighters. This paper presents results from an examination of firefighters’ observations of fire behavior in post-outbreak lodgepole pine forests, with a focus on what they considered surprising from a fire behavior standpoint and how this in turn affected their suppression tactics. The surprises in fire behavior experienced by firefighters during the red phase of post-outbreak forests included an elevated level of fire spread and intensity under moderate weather and fuel moisture conditions, increased spotting, and faster surface-to-crown fire transitions with limited or no ladder fuels. Unexpectedly, during the gray phase in mountain pine beetle-attacked stands, crown ignition and crown fire propagation was observed for short periods of time. Firefighters are now more likely to expect to see active fire behavior in nearly all fire weather and fuel moisture conditions, not just under critically dry and windy situations, and across all mountain pine beetle attack phases, not just the red phase. Firefighters changed their suppression tactics by adopting indirect methods due to the potential fire behavior and tree-fall hazards associated with mountain pine beetle-attacked lodgepole pine forests.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/2/2/34case studyColoradocrown firefirefighter safetyfirefightingfire environmentfire weatherspottingsocial science researchwildland fuelsWyoming |
| spellingShingle | Kevin Moriarty Antony S. Cheng Chad M. Hoffman Stuart P. Cottrell Martin E. Alexander Firefighter Observations of “Surprising” Fire Behavior in Mountain Pine Beetle-Attacked Lodgepole Pine Forests Fire case study Colorado crown fire firefighter safety firefighting fire environment fire weather spotting social science research wildland fuels Wyoming |
| title | Firefighter Observations of “Surprising” Fire Behavior in Mountain Pine Beetle-Attacked Lodgepole Pine Forests |
| title_full | Firefighter Observations of “Surprising” Fire Behavior in Mountain Pine Beetle-Attacked Lodgepole Pine Forests |
| title_fullStr | Firefighter Observations of “Surprising” Fire Behavior in Mountain Pine Beetle-Attacked Lodgepole Pine Forests |
| title_full_unstemmed | Firefighter Observations of “Surprising” Fire Behavior in Mountain Pine Beetle-Attacked Lodgepole Pine Forests |
| title_short | Firefighter Observations of “Surprising” Fire Behavior in Mountain Pine Beetle-Attacked Lodgepole Pine Forests |
| title_sort | firefighter observations of surprising fire behavior in mountain pine beetle attacked lodgepole pine forests |
| topic | case study Colorado crown fire firefighter safety firefighting fire environment fire weather spotting social science research wildland fuels Wyoming |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/2/2/34 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kevinmoriarty firefighterobservationsofsurprisingfirebehaviorinmountainpinebeetleattackedlodgepolepineforests AT antonyscheng firefighterobservationsofsurprisingfirebehaviorinmountainpinebeetleattackedlodgepolepineforests AT chadmhoffman firefighterobservationsofsurprisingfirebehaviorinmountainpinebeetleattackedlodgepolepineforests AT stuartpcottrell firefighterobservationsofsurprisingfirebehaviorinmountainpinebeetleattackedlodgepolepineforests AT martinealexander firefighterobservationsofsurprisingfirebehaviorinmountainpinebeetleattackedlodgepolepineforests |