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Wildland Fire and Its Fuel

In order to kindle a campfire you must have some small, dead, dry fuel which will ignite the heavier fuel. Wildland fires spread in the same manner. The fine fuel produces the peak thermal temperatures and determine how fast the fire will travel. On days when the fine fuel is wet the fire will not sustain itself and it goes out. On very hot and dry days the fire burns hot and travels fast. This kindling fuel is called available fuel and consists of sticks up to one half inch in diameter and dead grasses. Moisten this fuel, or remove it, and the fire will stop spreading.

Now we know what part of the fuel bed to pay attention to.

Forest fuels have a range of flammability which depends on how much it is preheated and how dry it is. It is important to know the condition of the fuel in front of the fire to make good fire behavior forecasts on the fireline. In order to know this, one must know what causes the change in fuel flammability.

Fighting fire safely depends on knowing how flammable the fuel is in front of the flames. The danger is heightened where the fuel is more flammable. Where the fuel is less flammable, the opportunities to suppress the fire are improved. The cause of fuel flammability variation must be known to be able to make these assessments of fuel flammability change and predictions of fire intensity changes. This knowledge is the basis of your tactical plan. What you want to do is to fight the fire where it is the weakest and not the strongest.