Every year, wildland fires seem to be more unpredictable, causing losses of both lives and property. Without a better understanding of the detailed mechanisms and underlying physical processes of wildland fire spread, our ability to predict, mitigate, and safely fight these fires will not advance. This seminar will start by outlining and explaining this need for fundamental fire behavior research. A general overview of the research approach in use by the team at the Missoula Fire Sciences lab will be given. Brief discussions of current and on-going laboratory-based experiments into ignition and heat transfer to unburnt fuels will follow, including important findings and challenges. A deeper discussion of some of the work addressing the burning rate of fuel beds will conclude the talk.