Editorial: Improved Understanding of Firebrand Processes During Large Scale Fire Disasters

Edi o ial: Imp o ed Unde s anding o Fi eb and P ocesses Du ing La ge Scale Fi e Disas e s Samuel L. Manzello 1 *, Sayaka Suzuki 2 , Domingos Xa ie Viegas 3 and Naian Liu 4 1 Reax Enginee ing, Be keley, CA, Uni ed S a es, 2 Na ional Resea ch Ins i u e o Fi e and Disas e , Cho u, Japan, 3 Uni e si y o Coimb a, Coimb a, Po ugal, 4 S a e Key Labo a o y o Fi e Science, Uni e si y o Science and Technology o China, He ei, China Keywo ds: la ge ou doo fi es and he buil en i onmen , fi eb ands, embe s, WUI fi es, igni ion Edi o ial on he Resea ch Topic Imp o ed Unde s anding o Fi eb and P ocesses Du ing La ge Scale Fi e Disas e s All ac oss he globe, la ge ou doo fi es ha e been esponsible o des uc ion o in as uc u e. Wildland fi es ha sp ead in o u ban a eas, o en called wildland-u ban in e ace (WUI) fi es, a e capable o massi e des uc ion. The ise o densely popula ed u ban a eas has also seen he de elopmen o la ge u ban fi es. In China and Japan, such u ban fi es ha e occu ed o hund eds o yea s. Simila ly, he Uni ed S a es has also expe ienced se e al majo u ban fi es, such as he G ea Chicago Fi e in 1872 and he Bal imo e Fi e in 1904. In some cases, ea hquakes ha e se ed o ini ia e hese fi es bu i is no a necessa y condi ion o hese u ban fi es o de elop. In addi ion, he ise o in o mal se lemen communi ies in Sou heas Asia and A ica con inues o esul in la ge ou doo fi es capable o g ea des uc ion. A common ea u e in he apid sp ead o la ge ou doo fi es a e he gene a ion o smalle combus ible agmen s om he o iginal fi e sou ce, e e ed o as fi eb ands. In he case o WUI fi es, he p oduc ion o fi eb ands occu s om he combus ion dynamics o ege a i e, such as ees and sh ubs, and human-made uel elemen s, such as homes and o he s uc u es. Fo u ban fi es and in o mal se lemen fi es, fi eb ands a e p oduced p ima ily om human-made uel elemen s. Fi eb and combus ion has a se ies o impo an aspec s: ini ial gene a ion o o ma ion om he combus ion o bo h ege a i e and s uc u al uel ypes, anspo , deposi ion, and igni ion o uel sou ces gene ally a emo ed he o iginal fi e sou ce. Pos -fi e in es iga ions, o WUI fi es, ha e epo ed ha fi eb and p ocesses a e esponsible o a majo i y o s uc u e losses in hese fi es (h ps://link.sp inge .com/ e e encewo ken y/10.1007/978-3-319-51727-8_46-1). As pa o his Resea ch Topic in F on ie s in Mechanical Enginee ing, nine pape s we e ul ima ely accep ed o publica ion. Se e al s udies in his Resea ch Topic a e ocused on fi eb and gene a ion cha ac e is ics om bu ning ege a ion. In he s udies by Adusumilli e al. and Almeida e al., expe imen s we e unde aken o be e unde s and fi eb and gene a ion cha ac e is icsa heindi idual eeandsh ub le el. No ewo hy is he use o ad anced diagnos ics, such as pa icle image elocime y (PIV), o in es iga e hese gene a ion p ocesses (Almeida e al.). In he wo k o Thomas e al.,field expe imen s we e unde aken o a emp o couple he fi e dynamics o he fi eb and p ocesses. Two o he con ibu ed pape s in es iga ed he complex p ocess o fi eb and deposi ion. Mankame and Sho o ban conduc ed nume ical simula ions a ound simplified flow obs acles and Suzuki and Manzello conduc ed eal-scaleexpe imen s,inane o o shedligh on hephysicso fi eb anddeposi ion.Fi eb and deposi ion p ocesses wi hin communi ies emain an a ea ha has been la gely unexplo ed. Las ly, ou o he con ibu ed pape s all ocused on he p ocesses o igni ion by fi eb ands. Salehizadeh e al., a emp o de e mine c i ical condi ions o wood igni ion by simula ed fi eb and Edi ed and e iewed by: Xinyan Huang, Hong Kong Poly echnic Uni e si y, Hong Kong SAR, China *Co espondence: Samuel L. Manzello [email p o ec ed] Special y sec ion: This a icle was submi ed o The mal and Mass T anspo , a sec ion o he jou nal F on ie s in Mechanical Enginee ing Recei ed: 22 No embe 2021 Accep ed: 04 Feb ua y 2022 Published: 23 Feb ua y 2022 Ci a ion: Manzello SL, Suzuki S, Viegas DX and Liu N (2022) Edi o ial: Imp o ed Unde s anding o Fi eb and P ocesses Du ing La ge Scale Fi e Disas e s. F on . Mech. Eng 8:819633. doi: 10.3389/ mech.2022.819633 F on ie s in Mechanical Enginee ing | www. on ie sin.o g Feb ua y 2022 | Volume 8 | A icle 8196331 EDITORIAL published: 23 Feb ua y 2022 doi: 10.3389/ mech.2022.819633 piles using small-scale expe imen s. Wang e al.,conside ed undamen al expe imen s o wood discs o be e unde s and combus ion p ocesses need o unde s and fi eb and igni ion. In he wo k o Bean and Blunck, igni ion o bo h solid and po ous su aces was conside ed. Bea inge e al., ied o look a a ious pa ame e s o de e mine wha a e he key sensi i i ies o igni ion om fi eb ands. AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS SM was in i ed o de elop and lead his Resea ch Topic by F on ie s in Mechanical Enginee ing. He in i ed and assembled he eam o gues edi o s. SS, NL, and DV each se ed as edi o o a ious pape s in he Resea ch Topic. Conflic o In e es : The au ho s decla e ha he esea ch was conduc ed in he absence o any comme cial o financial ela ionships ha could be cons ued as a po en ial conflic o in e es . Publishe ’s No e: All claims exp essed in his a icle a e solely hose o he au ho s and do no necessa ily ep esen hose o hei a filia ed o ganiza ions, o hose o he publishe , he edi o s and he e iewe s. Any p oduc ha may be e alua ed in his a icle, o claim ha may be made by i s manu ac u e , is no gua an eed o endo sed by he publishe . Copy igh © 2022 Manzello, Suzuki, Viegas and Liu. This is an open-access a icle dis ibu ed unde he e ms o he C ea i e Commons A ibu ion License (CC BY). The use, dis ibu ion o ep oduc ion in o he o ums is pe mi ed, p o ided he o iginal au ho (s) and he copy igh owne (s) a e c edi ed and ha he o iginal publica ion in his jou nal is ci ed, in acco dance wi h accep ed academic p ac ice. No use, dis ibu ion o ep oduc ion is pe mi ed which does no comply wi h hese e ms. F on ie s in Mechanical Enginee ing | www. on ie sin.o g Feb ua y 2022 | Volume 8 | A icle 8196332 Manzello e al. Edi o ial: Fi eb and P ocesses in La ge Fi es