On the use of time-resolved three-dimensional diagnostics to characterize firebrand showers in the WUI

A time-resolved, three-dimensional particle tracking and sizing diagnostic (a.k.a “emberometer”) is currently being developed. It will be applied to airborne firebrands during wildland-urban interface fires; quantification of firebrand exposures would greatly improve the technical basis for WUI building codes and standards to address ignition vulnerabilities. The present paper provides an overview of the current system and reports test results demonstrating the ability of the system to characterize fluxes of artificially generated airborne firebrands.