In Seattle, Washington, I met up with Dr Roger Ottmar and Bob Vihnanek, part of the Fire and Environmental Research Applications Team at the Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Lab, for the US Forest Service.
On our first day together Roger outlined the Fuel Characteristic Classification System (FCCS) and Bob showed us the Natural Photo Series that we explored in more detail later in the visit. The next day together with Lucrecia Pettinari, an intern at the fire lab for the summer from Argentina via Spain working on a global application for fire fuels using the FCCS, and Jon Dvorak who manages the field crew that collect field data for the Natural Photo Series, we took a trip to Winthrop through the beautiful North Cascades Range to meet up with Dr Susan Prichard, the FCCS Manager.
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| Lucrecia and me in the snow in summer! |
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| Liberty Bell in the Cascades |
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| Along the Cascades Scenic Highway |
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| Jon, Roger, Lu (partly obscured) & Bob sightseeing in the North Cascades |
I learnt that the FCCS is a nationally consistent system that has been developed in the Pacific Wildland Fire Lab to help fire managers characterize fuels (known as fuelbeds), along with classifying the fuels by their potential flammability and fire hazard.
What these guys refer to as fuelbeds – or the specific form and quantity of fuels that result from particular vegetation types; natural and human induced disturbances; and seasons, are compiled by the user in the FCCS to approximate their local fuels and are then characterized and quantified by the software and further used to predict their relative fire hazard. The FCCS is designed to examine and characterize all the fuels in the fuelbed, including fuel characteristics and structural complexity.
Roger explained that there are 3 parts to the FCCS - the preloaded fuelbeds and customized fuelbeds; secondly the calculation of the physical characteristics; and third the calculation of fuel potentials, fire behaviour prediction. The FCCS also can make a correlation to the Anderson and Scott & Burgen fuel models (to build in a comfort factor for managers who are used to using these fuel models).
The fuel beds are made up of 6 strata (including canopy, shrub, non-woody, woody, litter lichen & moss and ground fuels) that are further divided into sub categories. For example canopy fuels are divided into trees, snags (stags), and ladder fuels. Ground fuels are divided in to duff, squirrel middens (yes this is a fuel type in the northern hemisphere!) and basal accumulations.
The FCCS predicts surface fire behaviour, including reaction intensity (BTU) flame length (ft) and rate of spread (ft min). Another very important output from the FCCS is the Fire Potential that rates surface fire behaviour potential, crown fire potential and available fuel potential using an easy to understand numbered system that can be used to describe or map fuelbeds in terms of fire hazard. Each potential is rated separately and three numbers simplifies fire potential so that it can be easily explained and understood by anyone including non fire managers.
The system also generates a carbon report.
In Winthrop I was able to learn more about the intricacies of the system from Susan Prichard who manages the system as well as overseeing its further development and refinement.
Roger told me the FCCS is to be field validated as an upcoming project. Exciting!
Roger told me the FCCS is to be field validated as an upcoming project. Exciting!
Thanks Dr Roger, Bob, Lucretia, Jon and Dr Susan!
