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Encyclopedia of Wildfires and Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires pp 1–3Cite as

Creeping Fire

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Synonyms

Creeping ground fire; Creeping surface fire

Definition

A fire that spreads slowly and exhibits low fireline intensity and, therefore, low flame length

Introduction

Creeping fire has been defined both as creeping ground fire (Kourtz and O’Regan 1971) and creeping surface fire (Ryan 2002). A creeping fire is a fire with negligible or slow rate of spread and low flames (NWCG 2019) (see Fig. 1). These fires generally burn under marginal conditions or in areas of low fuel density. Moisture content is generally high, winds are light, and there are few fine fuels. As with other fires, they can be ignited from lightning or human causes.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Creeping fire exhibited in (a) a laboratory burn and (b) in the field. Both fires exhibit low fire intensity and slow rates of spread. (Photos: US Forest Service)

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References

  • Bureau of Indian Affairs, Branch of Wildland Fire Management (2015) Fuels treatment assessments: Northwest Region. 16 p. https://www.bia.gov/sites/bia.gov/files/assets/public/pdf/idc2-051015.pdf. Accessed 1 July 2019

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  • Kourtz PH, O’Regan WG (1971) A model for a small forest fire… to simulate burned and burning areas for use in a detection model. For Sci 17(2):163–169

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  • NWCG (2019) Glossary: creeping fire. https://www.nwcg.gov/term/glossary/creeping-fire. Accessed 1 July 2019

  • Rothermel RC (1983) How to predict the spread and intensity of forest and range fires. General technical report INT-GTR-143. USDA Forest Service, Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Ogden, 161 p

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  • Ryan KC (2002) Dynamic interactions between forest structure and fire behavior in boreal ecosystems. Silva Fennica 36(1):13–39

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  • Van Wagner CE (1977) Conditions for the start and spread of crown fire. Can J For Res 7:23–34

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. Forest Service, Missoula, MT, USA

    Faith Ann Heinsch

Authors
  1. Faith Ann Heinsch
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Correspondence to Faith Ann Heinsch .

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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Heinsch, F.A. (2019). Creeping Fire. 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_177-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51727-8_177-1

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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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