Estimation of fire behavior in Eucalyptus grandis burns under different slopes

Abstract

This study had as objective to evaluate the fire behavior of combustible material of a population of Eucalyptus grandis, in different slopes, in laboratory experiment. During the conduction of the burning experiment, the variables monitored were: flame height (AC), propagation time (TP) propagation velocity (VP) and fire intensity (I). The fire behavior was evaluated on a combustion platform with dimensions 1.85 x 0.86 m. The treatments used were slopes 0, 10, 15, 20 e 30º, with four repetitions per treatments. According to the results obtained was verified that the flame height is not influenced statistically by slope. The propagation velocity and the fire intensity of the fire have a direct relation with the slope, occurring a significant increase of these variables with the increase of the slope. In the 30º slope, the highest propagation velocity (0.013888m s^-1) and higher fire intensity of the fire (127.8564 kcal m^-1 s^-1) were obtained, which correspond simultaneously to the order of 3.8 times greater than the slope 0º. For propagation time there was an inverse correlation in function of slope. The results confirm the influence of slope on fire behavior.