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Ignition Devices

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Encyclopedia of Wildfires and Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires

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Synonyms

Ping-pong ball; Road flare

Definition

Tools used to ignite a fire. They can range in size from a handheld fusee to helicopter-mounted helitorches. The common devices used are detailed below.

Fusee

Definition

A handheld flare device that allows an operator to ignite vegetation with the flame or molten material.

Introduction

A fusee is a handheld ignition device that is similar to a road flare. Fusees create a high-temperature flame and molten material that drips as the fusee burns. They are used to ignite light vegetation and are often carried by firefighters as an emergency device in the event that they need to burn an area in an entrapment, emergency, or burnover situation. In the USA, specific instructions for their use and safety precautions are given by NWCG (2019b).

Design

The fusee (Fig. 1) is a self-contained ignition device with a tube-shaped body, typically with a total length of about 13 inches (33 cm) and 1 inch (2.5 cm) in diameter (USDA 2009b). It is ignited by...

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References

  • National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) (2018) NWCG standards for aerial ignition, PMS 501, Boise, pp 8–18, 19–41

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  • National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) (2019a) NWCG standards for transporting fuel, PMS 442, Boise, pp 14–15, 31–35

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  • National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) (2019b) NWCG standards for ground ignition equipment, PMS 443, Boise, pp 17–32, 49–54, 61–72, 93–120

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  • USDA Forest Service (2008) Specification, drip torch – extended burner (diesel and gasoline mixture), 5100-616, Missoula, 8p

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  • USDA Forest Service (2009a) Specification, drip torch (diesel and gasoline mixture), 5100-614A, Missoula, 8p

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  • USDA Forest Service (2009b) Specification, fusee, backfiring, 5100-360F, Missoula, 11p

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Technology and Development Program, USDA Forest Service, Missoula, MT, USA

    Shawn M. Steber

Authors
  1. Shawn M. Steber
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shawn M. Steber .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. United States Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA

    Samuel L. Manzello

Section Editor information

  1. USDA Forest Service, RMRS Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT, USA

    Sara McAllister

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© 2020 This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the U.S.; foreign copyright protection may apply

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Steber, S.M. (2020). Ignition Devices. In: Manzello, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Wildfires and Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51727-8_202-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51727-8_202-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-51727-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-51727-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EngineeringReference Module Computer Science and Engineering

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