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The combustion of artificial fuels at Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) homeowner scale has been identified as a contributor to fire spread through a property, often leading to the ignition of structures, hence involving major safety issues at community level. However, little information on the real-scale burning behaviour of these type of fuels is available. These fuels are usually located close to the main structure of a property and are often piled together, forming packs containing different types of materials. Real-scale tests on four different fuel packs have been performed to gather quantitative data on items that are commonly present on WUI properties. The fuel packs consisted of typical combustible materials present in porches, gardens, backyards or stored in secondary structures. Data on Heat Release Rate (HRR), Mass Loss Rate, fire load, smoke species concentration, heat flux, temperature and flame height are provided. The duration of the fires was between 49 and 83 min. Peak HRR values between 383 kW and 2.55 MW were recorded, along with flame heights up to 3.6 m. Radiative heat fluxes were calculated for each test, and safe distances for people were identified. Reported data can be used to quantify vulnerabilities of WUI properties through Performance-Based Design methodologies. Results show that the most hazardous fuel packs out of the four tested are those containing pallets, cardboard, paint, foam mats and garden furniture. In all cases, the flaming area expanded significantly increasing the risk of fire spread through a property even after the passage of the wildfire front., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (author's final draft)

La Interfaz Urbano-Forestal (IUF) constituye uno de los escenarios de mayor riesgo en incendios forestales. Esto se debe –entre otros importantes factores –al aumento en la complejidad de la emergencia, el incremento de daños potenciales y el desvío de recursos desde el incendio hacia la protección de bienes y personas. No existe, sin embargo, un consenso científicamente basado sobre las medidas preventivas sobre la vegetación que mejor contribuyen a construir una IUF más resistente y segura frente al paso de las llamas.El objetivo de este trabajo es la adaptación al entorno mediterráneo del «Australian Standard 3959: Construction of buildings in bushfire-prone areas (AS-3959)», que estima el flujo de calor que impactará en la IUF. Se busca, de esta manera, sentar una base sólida sobre la que tomar decisiones en el ámbito preventivo (diseño de infraestructuras perimetrales de defensa y pirojardinería) y operativo (triaje de estructuras).El AS-3959 se basa en el Modelo de Cuerpo Sólido para obtener el flujo radiante incidente en los objetos cercanos a un incendio, estimando de manera precisa la potencia emisiva de la llama, su factor de vista y la transmisividad atmosférica. En este trabajo se presenta la estrategia de adaptación de este estándar a la IUF mediterránea, tanto por lo que se refiere al modelo matemático como a la implementación del mismo en un software diseñado ad-hoc. La programación de este modelo analítico ha dado lugar a una herramienta con la cual, a partir de una serie de variables de entorno (escenario, fuego y meteorología), es posible estimar el flujo de calor que impacta sobre elementos concretos de la IUF (v.gr. una ventana, un seto, un tanque de GLP, etcétera). Esta herramienta permite, además, comparar de manera gráfica y numérica el efecto que distintos tipos e intensidades de tratamientos preventivos tienen sobre el flujo de calor incidente en bienes expuestos y, por tanto, sobre la seguridad en la interfaz.Este trabajo ofrece, por lo tan, Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

Preprint

In this document, data from a destructive sampling of a Cupressus sempervirens hedgerow are shown, as well as the followed methodology. Measures of sizes and weights have been taken. With these data, moisture content, fuel load and bulk density have been calculated. Different fuel classes (state and diameter) have been taken into account., Postprint (updated version)

In this document, the followed methodology to characterize several natural fuels (trees of Cupressus arizonica, Cupressocyparis leylandii, Prunus laurocerasus and Thuja occidentalis) is presented. Also, the ignition method and the equipment used to monitor the burning of these fuels in two different configurations are described. These activities were performed in ADAI facilities (Lousa, Portugal)., Preprint

Southern Europe is recurrently being hit by forest fires affecting wildland–urban interface (WUI) areas which, particularly in the last decade, have resulted in tremendous consequences. In the years to come, self-protection of communities will be a first priority over fire suppression, demanding better fire-resistant and resilient WUI scenarios through actions grounded on solid and sound regulations and legislation. As of today, the European Union as a whole, and the Member States in particular, are belatedly articulating new and appropriate regulations and implementing policies for the protection of WUI areas against forest fires. Spain is one of the EU Member States, holding 1.1 million ha of WUI areas (above 4% of the total forested land) and experiencing an average of 12,500 forest fires per year over the past decade. In this paper a review of the state of the art on regulations, codes, plans and recommendations on WUI fire prevention and management in Spain is presented. Shortcomings due to the current lack of building and urban planning standards and technical codes for WUI communities are highlighted. We underline some paramount needs to be covered by scientific research and fire engineering in particular topics. Some of them have received little attention in the literature related to European WUI fires while some others have been almost unexplored, such as planning of low-fuel fringes, design of road networks and accessibility, dimension of water supply networks, study of ignitability and combustibility of residential vegetation, role of construction methods and materials, and the wildland–industrial interface. Outcomes from research activities on such topics should lead to appropriately drive and inform the policy making processes on WUI fire prevention and management in Spain and, by extension, in other southern European countries under a similar situation., Postprint (author's final draft)

CFD simulations will be the core activity of the WUVIEW performance based fire safety analysis. The purpose of this document is to provide WUIVIEW partners with a general overview of the CFD codes to be used in the Action. The general simulation framework is described, particularly highlighting data inputs and scenario description requirements, to be developed in subsequent WUIVIEW WPs. This TN provides the technical foundations and main specifications of the databases to be designed within the WUIVIEW working program (ongoing action by UPC)., Postprint (updated version)

The document summarizes the state of the art of the regulationsrelevant to WUI in Europe, providing an organized set of references to the specific regulatory documents. It is focused on three main relevant topics: i) fuel-reduced fringes; ii) Building codes and standards; iii)Wildland-Industrial Interface. Current regulations are analysed and compared, leading to the identification of important needs and limitations of the current European regulatory framework, Preprint