Welcome to readers of Wildfire Magazine... 
Here are some references behind the article
WEEDS:
Firebrand Defense for the “Typical Catastrophe”
The ideas underlying the WEEDS concept, the proposition that
firebrands are responsible for a preponderance of home ignitions, and
other concepts put forward in this article come from a number of
sources. For those interested in further research, here they are.
Structure Losses:
Statistics
from the National Interagency Fire
Council for structure losses in the United States due to wildland
fire: 1999 - 817 structures, 2000: 861 structures, 2001 – 731
structures, 2002 - 2381 structures (835 homes)
Self-Organized Critical
Phenonmena:
A great explanation of self-organized
critical phenomena is given in a book by the late
Per Bak, one of the original founders of this
field of research:
Bak, Per - How Nature Works: the science of self-organized criticality;
Copernicus; 1996
Experimental verification that this
theory is applicable to wildland fire was most recently published in the
following:
Malamud, B. D., G. Morein, and D. L. Turcotte (1998), Forest fires: An
example of self-organized critical behavior, Science, 281, 1840- 1842
Firebrands and Structure
Ignition:
Several forensic studies conducted by Australian fire experts revealed
that firebrands are the primary cause of structure ignition during
wildland fire. The most recent of these was based upon satellite
measurements and was published in 2004.
Ramsay, G.C., McArthur, N.A. & Dowling, V.P.; Preliminary
results from an examination of house survival in the 16 February 1983
bushfires in Australia. Fire and Materials, 11 (1987) 49.
Dowling, V.P.; 1994;Ignition of Timber Bridges in Bushfires; Fire
Safety Journal; v. 22; pp. 145-168
Ramsay, G. C., et. al; "Building in a fire-prone environment: research
on building survival in two major bushfires"; Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W;
116; 133-140
Chen, Keping and John McAneney; Geophys. Res. Lett. 31; L12212; 2004
In the United States, USFS Scientist
Jack Cohen has raised the firebrand threat issue in a number of his
publications and videos. A list of these
(http://www.firelab.org/fbp/fbresearch/wui/pubs.htm) can be found
at the Wildland-Urban Interface Research Project site of the Missoula
Fire lab.
The Australian Way:
Some Australian fire authorities encourage
people to stay with their structures and protect them, as described in
last year's Wildfire article by Assistant Commissioner Keith Harrap of
the New South Wales fire protection agency:
Asst.
Commissioner Harrap, Keith; NSW Rural Fire Service; Shelter Shock;
Wildfire; Jan/Feb 2004; p. 18
A self-help book by a woman who has devoted most of her life to
wildland fire safety describes how to do this:
Webster,
Joan; The complete bushfire safety handbook; Random House Australia;
Sydney; 2000
The Ramona Municipal Water District
Hearings:
The testimony of 50 citizens affected by
the Cedar fire was heard by the political body responsible for fire
protection in Ramona, California. The audio tapes have been
transcribed, and are available on the website of the Mussey Grade Road
Alliance, a local activist group.
Ramona
Municipal Water District Cedar Fire Hearings, January 2004; http://www.musseygraderoad.org/CedarFire/CedarIndex.htm;
also available in original audio format from the Ramona Municipal Water
District, 105 Earlham Rd., P.O. Box 1829, Ramona, CA 92065
Wildland Fire Protection Codes:
Current best
practices of the fire protection services can be found in:
National Fire Protection Association, NFPA 1144 Standard for Protection
of Life and Property from Wildfire, 2002 Edition, Quincy, MA.
International Code Council, Inc., 2003 International Urban-Wildland Interface Code;
ISBN 1-892395-70-3 (soft); ISBN 1-892395-88-6 (e-document); 2003
External Sprinkler Systems:
A comparison of various designs can be
found in
Fire Protection Association of Australia; Field Study: External Water
Spray Systems to Aid Building Protection from Wildfire; Ref: 100-0346;
10 June 2000
Two articles give excellent summaries
of the experimental crib data which measure the water spray density
levels capable of extinguishing fire:. Novozhilov,
V., et al.; Solid fire extinguishment by a water spray; Fire Safety
Journal 32; (1999) 119–135
Grant, G., J. Brenton, and D. Drysdale; 2000; Fire suppression by water
sprays; Progress in Energy and Combustion Science; v26; pp. 79-130
WEEDS:
The development of the Wind-Enabled Ember
Dousing System is chronicled here: http://www.mbartek.com/EAM_w0.htm
An academic article on WEEDS will be
sent to an established journal shortly. A link will be made
available on the M-bar home page: http://www.mbartek.com
