forefire
ForeFire is an open-source code for wildland fire spread models
Science Score: 77.0%
This score indicates how likely this project is to be science-related based on various indicators:
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✓CITATION.cff file
Found CITATION.cff file -
✓codemeta.json file
Found codemeta.json file -
✓.zenodo.json file
Found .zenodo.json file -
✓DOI references
Found 3 DOI reference(s) in README -
✓Academic publication links
Links to: researchgate.net -
✓Committers with academic emails
4 of 21 committers (19.0%) from academic institutions -
○Institutional organization owner
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○JOSS paper metadata
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○Scientific vocabulary similarity
Low similarity (17.4%) to scientific vocabulary
Keywords
Keywords from Contributors
Repository
ForeFire is an open-source code for wildland fire spread models
Basic Info
Statistics
- Stars: 47
- Watchers: 6
- Forks: 27
- Open Issues: 4
- Releases: 4
Topics
Metadata Files
README.md
<!-- Or use Zenodo DOI if available -->
ForeFire is an open-source wildfire simulation engine written in C++. Developed by CNRS at the Université de Corse Pascal Paoli, it is used for research and operational forecasting. The engine implements various fire behavior models and enables high-fidelity coupled fire-atmosphere simulations, aiming to improve wildfire prediction and understanding for complex environments.
Key Links: - 📚 Full Documentation: forefire.readthedocs.io - 🚀 Live Demo: forefire.univ-corse.fr/sim - 🌍 Website: forefire.univ-corse.fr
Features
- Advanced Simulation Engine: Core C++ logic for fire propagation using various Rate of Spread (ROS) models and handling complex geospatial data (NetCDF).
- Fire-Atmosphere Coupling: Designed for two-way coupling by linking the core library with atmospheric models like MesoNH (developed by CNRS & Météo-France).
- High Performance: Optimized C++ core with MPI support for parallel computing.
- Flexible Interfaces: Built upon a core C++ Simulation Engine (Library):
-
forefireInterpreter: The primary way to run simulations using script files (.ff), interactive console commands, or the web interface (vialistenHTTP[]). - C++ Library (
libforefireL): Allows direct integration into other software. - Python Bindings: Enable scripting and control from Python (see ./bindings/python/README.md).
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- Flexible Output: Can generate outputs in various formats, including KML for visualization in Google Earth, Geojson, NetCDF, and custom binary/text formats.
- Extensible: Add custom ROS models in C++; customize web interfaces.
- Applications: Research, case reanalysis, ensemble forecasting.
Quick Start with Docker
The easiest way to get started is often using Docker and the interactive console, via the forefire command-line interpreter

Clone the repository
``` bash
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/forefireAPI/forefire.git cd forefire ```
Build the Docker image
bash docker build . -t forefire:latestRun the container interactively
bash docker run -it --rm -p 8000:8000 --name ff_interactive forefire bashInside the container navigate to test directory and launch the forefire console: ```bash cd tests/runff
start the forefire console with the command
forefire ```
Inside the console launch an http server with listenHttp[] command
```bash forefire> listenHTTP[]
the output should be
ForeFire HTTP command server listening at http://localhost:8000 ```
This server provides a graphical user interface that you can access on your browser at http://localhost:8000/
Run your first simulation
- Run the command
include[real_case.ff] - Then press Refresh Map
You should see a simulation running in the Aullène region of Corsica. This confirms your Docker setup is working! Check the full documentation for more details on this example
- Run the command
Build from source
See the Full Documentation for more details on building from source with the install-forefire.sh file
Python Bindings
ForeFire provides Python bindings for easier scripting and integration. See the Python Bindings ./bindings/python/README.md for details.
Contributing
We welcome contributions to ForeFire! We especially appreciate help with:
- Improving documentation and tutorials.
- Python bindings
- Enhancing packaging (Docker, Pip, etc.) and cross-platform compatibility.
Please read our Contributing Guidelines to learn how you can help, including how to report bugs, suggest features, and submit code changes.
All contributors are expected to adhere to our Code of Conduct.
License
ForeFire is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0. See LICENSE for full details.
Citation
If you use ForeFire in your work, please cite:
BibTex
bibtex
@article{article,
author = {Filippi, Jean-Baptiste and Bosseur, Frédéric and Grandi, Damien},
year = {2014},
month = {11},
pages = {},
title = {ForeFire: open-source code for wildland fire spread models},
isbn = {9789892608846},
doi = {10.14195/978-989-26-0884-6_29}
}
Plain Text
Filippi, Jean-Baptiste & Bosseur, Frédéric & Grandi, Damien. (2014). ForeFire: open-source code for wildland fire spread models. 10.14195/978-989-26-0884-6_29.
Owner
- Name: forefireAPI
- Login: forefireAPI
- Kind: organization
- Repositories: 1
- Profile: https://github.com/forefireAPI
JOSS Publication
ForeFire: A Modular, Scriptable C++ Simulation Engine and Library for Wildland-Fire Spread
Authors
Tags
wildfire simulation wildland fire forest fire bushfire fire behaviour fire spread front‑tracking discrete‑event simulation DEVS combustion fire physics numerical solver numerical modeling high‑performance computing parallel computing MPI fire‑atmosphere coupling atmospheric modeling mesoscale meteorology weather coupling data assimilation fuel models hazard prediction risk assessment decision support emergency management operational forecasting software library python bindings command‑line tool simulation engine model validation benchmarking machine learning neural networks smoke modelingCitation (CITATION.cff)
cff-version: 1.2.0
message: "If you use ForeFire in your work, please cite it using the metadata below."
authors:
- given-names: Jean-Baptiste
family-names: Filippi
# orcid: https://orcid.org/XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX # TODO: Add J-B's ORCID (use the full URL format)
affiliation: "SPE, UMR 6134, CNRS, University of Corsica Pascal Paoli, Corte, France" # TODO: Verify exact affiliation name
# TODO: Add any other major contributors who should be listed as authors of the software
title: "ForeFire: An Open-Source C++ Engine for High-Performance Wildfire Simulation"
# version: Use the version number that is being submitted/reviewed.
version: "2.0.0"
# doi: Uncomment and add the software DOI after archiving the reviewed version on Zenodo/Figshare.
# Do NOT use the DOI of the 2014 paper here.
# doi: 10.5281/zenodo.XXXXXXX
# date-released: Set this to the date of the release corresponding to the 'version'.
date-released: 2025-04-29
url: "https://github.com/forefireAPI/forefire"
license: GPL-3.0-only
keywords:
- C++
- Python
- wildfire simulation
- fire behavior modeling
- high-performance computing
- fire-atmosphere coupling
- numerical modeling
# Optional: Add preferred-citation once the JOSS paper is accepted/published
# preferred-citation:
# type: article
# authors:
# # List authors of the JOSS paper here, matching paper.md
# - given-names: Jean-Baptiste
# family-names: Filippi
# # orcid: https://orcid.org/XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX
# affiliation: "SPE, UMR 6134, CNRS, University of Corsica Pascal Paoli, Corte, France"
# title: "ForeFire: An Open-Source C++ Engine for High-Performance Wildfire Simulation" # Title of the JOSS paper
# journal: "Journal of Open Source Software"
# # volume: X # JOSS will assign
# # issue: Y # JOSS will assign
# # year: ZZZZ # Year JOSS paper published
# doi: "10.21105/joss.XXXXX" # TODO: Add the JOSS paper DOI once assigned
GitHub Events
Total
- Create event: 9
- Release event: 1
- Issues event: 25
- Watch event: 4
- Delete event: 12
- Member event: 3
- Issue comment event: 32
- Push event: 150
- Gollum event: 1
- Pull request review event: 8
- Pull request event: 39
- Fork event: 2
Last Year
- Create event: 9
- Release event: 1
- Issues event: 25
- Watch event: 4
- Delete event: 12
- Member event: 3
- Issue comment event: 32
- Push event: 150
- Gollum event: 1
- Pull request review event: 8
- Pull request event: 39
- Fork event: 2
Committers
Last synced: 5 months ago
Top Committers
| Name | Commits | |
|---|---|---|
| antonio-leblanc | a****c@p****r | 259 |
| FILIPPI Jean-Baptiste | f****i@u****r | 179 |
| CI BOT | c****t@e****m | 84 |
| Batti Filippi | b****i@g****m | 49 |
| ludobegins | l****n@g****m | 34 |
| filippi_j | f****j@U****l | 12 |
| ronan | r****m@g****m | 11 |
| Frederic Allaire | f****e@i****r | 6 |
| Thoreau Romain | r****u@c****r | 6 |
| th96r4ss | a****a@u****r | 5 |
| jdurand | j****d@u****r | 3 |
| baggiocolpir | 1****r | 3 |
| Dominik Laux | d****x@o****m | 2 |
| Damien Grandi | d****i@g****m | 2 |
| serbal193 | j****s@g****m | 1 |
| BAGGIO_R | b****r@o****l | 1 |
| Jean-Baptiste FILIPPI | f****j@B****) | 1 |
| damien | d****n@d****) | 1 |
| rbaggio | r****i@g****m | 1 |
| dependabot[bot] | 4****] | 1 |
| Johanna Strebl | j****l@g****m | 1 |
Committer Domains (Top 20 + Academic)
Issues and Pull Requests
Last synced: 4 months ago
All Time
- Total issues: 28
- Total pull requests: 53
- Average time to close issues: about 1 month
- Average time to close pull requests: 5 days
- Total issue authors: 9
- Total pull request authors: 9
- Average comments per issue: 1.54
- Average comments per pull request: 0.19
- Merged pull requests: 41
- Bot issues: 0
- Bot pull requests: 4
Past Year
- Issues: 16
- Pull requests: 40
- Average time to close issues: 10 days
- Average time to close pull requests: 1 day
- Issue authors: 4
- Pull request authors: 6
- Average comments per issue: 1.06
- Average comments per pull request: 0.2
- Merged pull requests: 31
- Bot issues: 0
- Bot pull requests: 4
Top Authors
Issue Authors
- antonio-leblanc (9)
- xiazeyu (8)
- gmarujo (3)
- julimi26 (2)
- jimDunn85 (2)
- ConorHackett98 (1)
- Xbotgo-Justin1 (1)
- chemben17 (1)
- 3dfirelab (1)
Pull Request Authors
- antonio-leblanc (33)
- filippi (5)
- dependabot[bot] (4)
- dominiklaux (3)
- ludobegins (3)
- serbal193 (2)
- baggiocolpir (1)
- Romain3Ch216 (1)
- 3dfirelab (1)
Top Labels
Issue Labels
Pull Request Labels
Dependencies
- actions/checkout v3 composite
- osgeo/gdal ubuntu-small-3.3.1 build
- pyproj ==3.4.0
