Students replicate wildfire behavior to help mitigate risk, improve safety

MOSCOW, Idaho — University of Idaho students are developing a prototype to improve understanding of wildfire behavior and further risk mitigation and safety research.

The partnership includes the College of Engineering and College of Science. Engineering students designed and constructed a device that can produce embers for observing and testing ember-structure interactions in controlled environments and mimic real wildfire conditions.

“This isn’t just playing with fire,” said Peter Wieber, a recent biological engineering graduate involved in the project. “We’re providing a wildfire research tool for the world.”

A total of 97,504 acres were consumed by wildfire in Idaho in 2023, according to a report by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. Impacts — including property damage, timber loss, exposure to wildfire smoke, watershed pollution, death and injury — are important factors behind the student-led innovation.

Embers are a natural byproduct of wildfires, playing a significant role as they can be carried long distances and ignite spot fires downwind. These embers pose a significant threat in the wildland-urban interface, where structures and undeveloped wildland meet, potentially causing loss of property, injury and fatalities.

Understanding the dynamics of ember interaction with both natural and human-made materials is crucial to mitigate wildfire expansion and identify and develop fire-resistant building materials, said Alistair Smith, project sponsor and professor and department chair in the U of I Department of Earth and Spatial Sciences.

“This device provides a safe way of understanding the mechanisms for how heat and fire impact everything from structures to plant physiology,” Smith said.

Smith’s team includes physicists, fire ecologists, chemists, plant ecophysiologists and remote-sensing scientists all interested in improving the mechanistic understanding of fire in Earth environments.

The student design and prototype use a motorized auger woodchip feed system and propane flame to output a steady stream of embers for 15 minutes without refueling. Their device ensures accurate assessments while minimizing risks.

“This second-generation design is a significant step forward, specifically addressing areas for improvement identified in the first iteration,” said Mark Roll, mechanical engineering faculty member and team mentor. “The recent wildfires in New Mexico only highlight the pressing need for well-engineered fire-safety solutions informed by controlled testing.”

The engineering student team includes Jackson Coleman of Boise, Caleb Hanson of Idaho Falls, Aleczander Smart of Caldwell, Cassidi Shindler of Colfax, Washington, and Wieber of Boise.

MEDIA NOTE: Photos of the ember generator are available for download. Students are available for interview. Contact Alexiss Turner at alexisst@uidaho.edu to schedule.

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Media contact

Alexiss Turner
Marketing and Communications Manager
U of I College of Engineering
208-885-7511
alexisst@uidaho.edu