About half of the Forest Service budget is spent on fire suppression, yet we still can’t explain exactly how wildland fires spread. In order to make more informed decisions and improve fire fighter safety, a new research program at the Missoula Fire Lab is going back to the basics. This webinar with Sara McAllister discusses the current state of knowledge, available tools, and holes in our understanding; overviews of specific research topics; balance between radiation and convection; the role of buoyancy in fire spread; the convective ignition process; flammability of live fuels; the burning rate of fuel beds; a one-dimensional research spread model; and future research topics.