With information about fuels, weather, and terrain, the spread of widlfire can be modeled. Recent WHC modeling efforts have focused on the Corral Canyon blowup in the 1996 Calabasas Fire.
Fig 1) A FARSITE simulation of Corral Canyon. White lines indicate 1-hour time intervals. Blue cells are Ceanothus megacarpus, brown cells are Adenostoma fasciculatum, and magenta cells are sage scrub. Black cells indicate roads, structures, or bare soil.
The Corral Canyon blowup has also been simulated by the more advanced FIRETEC model developed by Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Click here to see an Animated GIF of this simulation (2.7 MB, download time w/56K modem: 6 min 29 sec)
Click here to see a QT animation of this simulation (11.8 MB, download time w/56K modem: 28 min 13 sec)
