the properties that describe wildland fuel include the following:

—chemistry the makeup of wildland fuels —note fuel chemistry consists of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and nonstructural components; extractives (volatiles), which tend to increase flammability; and mineral ash, which tends to decrease flammability

—compaction the ratio of space occupied by fuel particles in a given volume of space —synonym packing ratio (β)

—continuity the degree or extent of continuous or uninterrupted distribution of fuel particles, horizontally or vertically, which allow fire to spread

—load the oven-dry weight of fuel per unit area —note load is often described by size or timelag class, and as live or dead, herbaceous or woody

—moisture content the amount of water in a fuel per oven-dry weight —note moisture content is usually expressed in percent

—size the size of individual fuel particles —note size is usually expressed as a timelag size class or as the surface area to volume ratio (σ)This definition last updated 10/24/2008