CORVALLIS, Ore. — Test burns involving wooden structures of varying heights suggest taller buildings tend to be more prolific producers of the wind-carried firebrands that are a leading cause of structure ignition in wildfires, researchers at Oregon State University reported.
The findings by Oregon State University College of Engineering researchers are a step toward better predicting how fires in the wildland-urban interface will spread and also toward designing buildings that can help communities be more resilient to wildfire, the authors say.
Firebrands, also known as embers, can be responsible for up to 90% of the structure losses in community wildfires, the researchers note. Last year, wildfires in greater Los Angeles destroyed approximately 18,000 structures in a span of two days…