THE TEMPERATURES OF SURFACE FIRES IN JACK PINE BARREN: II. THE EFFECTS OF VEGETATION COVER, WIND SPEED, AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY ON FIRE TEMPERATURES

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Abstract
The maximum temperature attained during surface fires in a jack pine barren, near Timmins, Ontario, was found to vary from 120° to 545 °C. The temperature of the fire is dependent upon a number of variables, of which vegetation biomass and height, wind speed, the speed of the fire front, and moisture content of litter and vegetation, are most important.Temperatures of fires studied depended mainly on the height and amount of burning vegetation. All fires with temperatures greater than 350 °C occurred in dense vegetation with more than 235 g/m2. The effects of wind velocity were less obvious; however, high wind speed appeared to have a cooling effect on the fire temperature.There was no evidence of any significant effect of atmospheric humidity on fire temperature.