Urban Wildlife Interface Testing
A New Fire Test Standard Developed with Help from WFCi
A UWIT Test Being Performed
WFCi has been hard at work as part of the Wildland Fire Task Group developing
a new test standard to assist in preventing fires in urban wildland settings.
A recent testing series was performed in WFCi's lab using the working version
of this standard. Here is a portion of the Summary of Test Method from the
report detailing these tests:
"Structures at the urban-wildland interface can be very vulnerable to
wildfires. They may be threatened by lofted brands (embers), radiation, direct
flame impingement, and combinations of these sources.
This test method is based on a protocol developed at the University of
California, Berkeley, Forest Products Laboratory (UC FPL). The fire test
procedure developed at UC FPL addressed three main types of systems used in
building construction: 1) decks, 2) walls, eaves and gutters, and 3) roof
assemblies. This method is a modification of item 2, and it determines the
performance of exterior walls of structures, including siding, soffits/eaves,
and gutters when exposed to a simulated urban-wildland interface fire. The UC
FPL protocol as written does not have component of thermal radiation exposure
for wall systems. The WFTG recommended that a hybrid test method be developed
that incorporated the UC FPL Protocol for walls/eaves with the ASTM E1623
ICAL."
To see a full pdf of this test report...
Click
HERE to see the full test
report documenting the first round of UWIT testing.