Araucaria a Fire Promoter or Retardant?

[Richard on Maui]

Wondering if anyone here knows how much about how the araucarias respond to fire or more saliently how they behave when they are on fire... The land I am working on has a row of Araucaria columnaris (Cook Pine - almost indistinguishable from Norfolk Pines) on the neighbouring property on the windward side. A prior designer/consultant/character who was here warned the owner of this property that they are a fire hazard, quoting something Bill said about the propensity of pines to become flame throwers in firey situations.
My intial reaction was to laugh at this concern. The trade winds which would blow fire at us through those trees almost invariably bring moisture too, so a fire from that direction seems unlikely.
Also, it is my impression that although we call them pines, and they are a softwood, the araucaria's are more like a rainforest tree and would seem poorly adapted to that environment if they went about being highly combustible.
But then, they are quite resinous and I wonder if this bloke had a valid point or not? They are certainly very fine windbreaks.
Any thoughts?

[Richard on Maui]

[Richard on Maui]

anyone? :roll: :lol: I'd be interested to hear any of you even have a stab at this one, I'm not too concerned if your responses are absolutely correct. C'mon... I'll keep bumping this until I get satisfaction!

[bazman]

I'm pretty sure they would burn, have a bonfire some time, cut off some large branches and throw them on the fire when its well alight, and you will get your answer.

I don't know of many trees here in aus that don't burn because as the fire approaches it eats up any moisture in the air, succulents won't burn that well but in the heat of a bush fire they will still burn.

If a bush fire is hot enough to melt steel columns in a house it would be enough to burn any tree down, me thinks.

[SueinWA]

The site below lists trees & shrubs by their flammability. Araucarias are listed as moderate.

(Adobe, very slow to load the 2 pages)
http://www.fire.tas.gov.au/mysite/publi ... ochure.pdf

Excerpts from two other sites indicate that they are somewhat fire resistant, as if from a low-intensity brush fire they would mostly survive (except for young ones), but wouldn't survive a firestorm, but then, what would? If you are asking if they would stop or slow a moving fire like a succulent, the answer would probably be NO. But are fires common where you are? The moisture there would seem to indicate not, but you know your area best.

http://www.conifers.org/ar/ar/araucana.htm

Excerpt: “Both species are adapted to survive fire. Adaptations of A. araucana include thick bark, sprouting from epicormic buds and protected terminal buds on branches. N. antarctica resprouts vigorously after fire with multiple shoots. This study investigated the dynamics of this community, particularly in relation to fire. Recently burnt stands were examined for size-related response to fire. All A. araucana < 30 cm d.b.h. were killed with larger trees surviving. The size of these surviving A. araucana is probably related to fire intensity.” (more info available)

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/ab ... 05.01262.x

Excerpt: "The lack of evidence for older fire dates (pre-1900) in Nothofagus species was due to their shorter longevity and greater susceptibility to being killed by more severe fires. Whereas the thin-barked N. pumilio and N. antarctica are often destroyed in catastrophic fire events, large and thick-barked Araucaria trees typically survive."

Sue

[Richard on Maui]

Thanks a lot Bazza and Sue.
Sue, what marvellous research skills you have! That was pretty well the info that I was looking for but gave up searching for after a few unsuccessful googles.
Yeah, we are not in a fire prone place that is for sure. Right now we are in the middle of the wet season, and we've been getting nearly an inch a day for as long as I can remember. (Actually only about 2 weeks but I am ready for a rest). Everything is sodden, all the tanks and ponds are overflowing. The potholes in the roads are getting bigger everytime I look at them... The chooks are almost drowning! If I tried to start a bushfire out there right now I doubt I could get it hot enough to boil a billy.
Still, it is interesting that the Norfolk Pine is considered moderately fire prone, and shouldn't be placed in the "building zone". I wonder how Bamboo measures up. It can generate a pretty large fuel load I would imagine.