Background Information:
With some parts of Australia being extremely prone to bushfires, ways to prevent them and understand them are vital. They can be caused by unattended fires, glass, cigarettes and flammable chemicals left in the sun. (Bushfires - Get the Facts, 2008) Fires account for approxmately 100 deaths and 3000 injuries every year. (BrianAshe, 2012) The total cost of structural damage estimates around $18 billion and $16 billion devoted to managing the risks. (The Australian National University, 2012) Fires are extremely hazardous in dry areas because they can quickly spread.
PHOTO: The Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre's outlook for bushfire potential for 2014 - 2015. (Bushfire …show more content…
(Department of Land Resource Managment, 2015)
These strategies mainly consist of decreasing the fuel load. Ground burning is carried out every year creating strategic barriers against the spread of bushfires.
Weather plays a massive role in the control of bushfires, unfavourable and favourable. Drought can cause unfavourable conditions for wildfires with wind having the ability to aid it. The three ingredients to a change in fires behaviour are moisture, temperature and moisture. Wind has one of the biggest impacts by blowing additions oxygen into the fire. Wind directions can be very unpredictable pushing the fire in many directions. Moisture content in the air can also decrease the intensity in the fire because all the heat is absorbed by it. (Bonsor, 1998-2015).
Introduction:
When a fire breaks out many variables affect it during its ignition that can cause it to speed up, slowdown or be more intense. Factors such as moisture content, wind speed and humidity can affect a fires behaviour. With fires commonly occurring, knowing what affects a fire is important and can help reduce possible risks. …show more content…
The results supported the hypothesis with the dry fuel having a substantially faster and higher intensity than the fuel with moisture. In all three tests the fuel with moisture burned at a slower rate. This happens because the water content in the paper has to reach boiling point before burning the original element. Meaning the more water absorbed in the element the longer the burning process will take before ignition. Water is an extremely effective element for fighting fires because it makes the burning process less efficient. When the substance is dry the energy taken to ignite is much less. A low expenditure of energy is needed to cause ignition to something with no moisture