Published works

Spotting is a hazardous phenomenon that leads to unpredictable fire behaviour and accelerated fire spread. Spot fires occur when embers are launched by bushfire plumes into the background wind, which then carries the embers a significant distance from the fire front. If the embers land in a suitable fuel bed and are still smouldering a spot fire may be ignited. The magnitude of the problem is illustrated by Cruz et al. (2012), who provide evidence of long-range spotting in excess of 30 km during the Black Saturday bushfires of February 2009. Therefore a better understanding of the processes that contribute to long-range spotting is essential for the prediction of fire spread. In this paper we aim to assess the contribution of turbulent plume dynamics to the process of long-range spotting.