Fire behavior in maquis fuels in Turkey

A series of 25 experimental fires was carried out in a maquis fuel type in southwestern Turkey. The fires were conducted under a range of weather and fuel conditions to gather quantitative data on fire spread, fuel consumption and fire intensity, and develop fire behavior prediction models for fire management purposes. Of the fire behavior characteristics, rate of spread and fire intensity were related to both fuel loading and wind speed, whereas fuel consumption was related to fuel loading and fuel moisture. Regression models developed using the data gathered are able to predict fire behavior in terms of wind speed, fuel loading and fuel moisture. Results obtained in this study should be invaluable in overall fire management practices. But its use should be restricted to the range of conditions within which the data were gathered.