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USGS · 70176799

Fuel age and fire spread: Natural conditions versus opportunities for fire suppression

Richard W. Halsey·Jon E. Keeley·Kit Wilson
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Abstract

Wildfires are driven and restrained by an interplay of variables that can lead to many potential outcomes. As every wildland firefighter learns in basic training, the ability of a fire to spread is determined by three basic variables: fuel type and condition, weather, and topography. Fire suppression obviously plays a significant role in determining fire spread as well, so firefighter activity becomes an additional variable.

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Richard W. Halsey, Jon E. Keeley, Kit Wilson. 2009. Fuel age and fire spread: Natural conditions versus opportunities for fire suppression. https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/70176799

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