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Heat Transfer from Fires

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Encyclopedia of Wildfires and Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires

Synonyms

Heat flux; Heat transmission; Thermal exposure; Thermal load

Definition

The transfer of heat from the flame produced by a fire to objects or vegetation immersed in or adjacent to the flame.

Introduction

The heat transfer in wildland fires plays a critical role in vegetation fire spread, ignition and damage of infrastructure, and injury to people. In wildland fires, heat transfer occurs predominantly through both convection and radiation. The dominant mode of heat transfer will depend on the wind conditions, terrain slope, vegetation type/orientation, and location relative to the fire. These same parameters will also have an impact on the heat transfer level and exposure duration.

A graphical representation of the types of heat transfer that may occur in wildland fires is provided in Fig. 1. Spreading flame fronts produce radiation that preheats and ignites vegetation ahead of the flame front. Convection may also cool or heat the vegetation ahead of the flame front depending...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. R&D, Jensen Hughes, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Brian Y. Lattimer

Authors
  1. Brian Y. Lattimer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brian Y. Lattimer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Fire Research Division, Engineering Laboratory (EL), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD, USA

    Samuel L. Manzello

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Fire Protection Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Michael Gollner

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Lattimer, B.Y. (2020). Heat Transfer from Fires. In: Manzello, S.L. (eds) Encyclopedia of Wildfires and Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52090-2_38

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