Fire scientists have known for decades that fires — especially large fires — could disperse potentially dangerous embers, but it's only in more recent years that the role of embers has begun to influence building regulations in Australia.
A 2010 paper published by Australia's national research agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, suggested that the vast majority of homes that burn during bushfires are ignited by embers.
In the last decade, "we've shifted toward a recognition that ember attack on the house, and on things around the house, is the process that's most dominant in causing houses to ignite, and therefore [we're] focusing on building design and landscaping design that's more resistant to embers," says Justin Leonard, a research leader in bushfire urban design at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.
One of the ranch families I follow on Facebook lives in Oklahoma has to worry about wildfire a fair bit, and has their whole farm operation planned in such a way to limit and slow fire should it approach their barns and homestead. It's really a fascinating science, for those who have to deal with fire every day as part of their lives. Planned right, fire can be an asset not a threat to an ecosystem.
