City Trees

May/ June 2012

City Trees is a premier publication focused on urban + community forestry. In each issue, you’ll learn how to best manage the trees in your community and more!

Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/65193

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Literally Burning Rubber Highlights from the University of Nevada Mulch Combustibility Trial Photos used with permission from the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension and the Living with Fire program Rubber mulch produced the greatest flame height and temperature of the mulch treatments evaluated in this study. SMA members in Texas and California and many other states are dealing with the impacts of wild- fire. In an urban landscape context, does mulch com- bustibility affect the spread of these devastating fires? In 2008, an evaluation of mulch combustibility was performed in Carson City, Nevada by the Carson City Fire Department, Nevada Tahoe Conservation District, University of California Cooperative Extension, and University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. Last sum- mer, an Extension document about the study was pub- lished, authored by Stephen Quarles of the University of California Cooperative Extension and Ed Smith of the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. 16 All of the mulches (shredded rubber, pine needles, shredded western red cedar, pine bark nuggets, and wood chips with different characteristics) evaluated were combustible under the test conditions of dry, hot, and windy weather and more than 21 ⁄2 months of outdoor exposure. However, the mulch treatments varied considerably in terms of flame height, speed at which fire spread, and temperature measured above the mulch bed. With the exception of composted wood chips, all of the mulch treatments demonstrated active flaming combustion. Composted wood chips produced only incidental flaming with smoldering as the primary form of combustion. City Trees

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