Two wildland-urban interface fires earlier this year outside of Amarillo, Texas, that destroyed 70 homes, burned more than 25,000 acres of land, and caused nearly $6 million in property damage. But thanks to a collaborative effort between the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Texas Forest Service, they are now the most thoroughly investigated and scientifically evaluated events of their kind.

During a three-week reconnaissance following the start of four fires in the Amarillo area on Feb. 27, 2011, a NIST-TFS study team — for the first time in an actual fire situation — used a NIST-developed, two-tiered WUI data-collection methodology to acquire approximately 163 GB of data and more than 29,000 photographs to document two of the blazes, now known as the Willow Creek and Tanglewood Complex fires.

This massive amount of accumulated information is the foundation of a NIST-TFS study assessing the impact of the two wildfires on structures in the region. The first report from that study is available online at www.nist.gov/manuscript-publication-search.cfm?pub_id=908719.
The Amarillo study is part of a broad NIST program to study WUI fires around the nation to gain a better understanding of their behavior; develop and standardize data collection and computer modeling tools; and facilitate the creation, testing and implementation of innovative fire protection and prevention methods. These research efforts will lead to improved standards, codes and practices to address WUI fires in the United States.