Thermochemical Study of Wildfire Propagation – TSWP

Wildfires are a growing issue, especially during periods of drought in areas with Mediterranean climate where uncontrollable fires are observed such as megafires, too large and strong to be confined, and eruptive fires, too fast and unpredictable to be able to fight. There are several firefighting capabilities but no one is currently efficient against these types of fires. What is favouring wildfire propagation? Is it only a question of humidity? This project suggests a prospective study in order to identify chemical compounds favouring auto-ignition of vegetation, and thus wildfire propagation. Schneider et al. (2021) wrote that “there is a strong need to increase the basic understanding of the propagation mechanisms in wildfires to improve the scientific tools needed for firefighting and fire prevention”. This project intends to better understand the thermochemical aspect of wildfire propagation, which could permit to find new means to fight against megafires and eruptive fires which remain unstoppable. Most studies on wildfire propagation only take into account large scale mechanisms, notably physical aspects (thermal and fluid mechanics ones), or only take into account the main chemical compounds resulting from combustion (CO, CO2, H2O). Originality of this study is to suggest complementary chemical, biological and flammability analyses in order to identify the role of a large range of molecules in vegetation auto-ignition, and thus, fire propagation.