August 7, 2021

Wildfires are large uncontrolled fires that spread at a rapid rate. They are caused by accumulations of dead matter, such as leaves and trees, that create excess heat, and therefore combust within the surrounding area. Recently, 91 wildfires have begun across the United States, burning more than 1.8 million acres of land.

Currently, the Bootleg Fire has burned over 413,734 acres, taking place in Oregon. The wildfire was described as a 'running crown fire', describing a fire which has reached the top of trees and is being pushed by wind, in this case moving as fast as 30 mph. The Bootleg fire caused firefighters to retreat and find safety due to its extreme hazards, turning it into the nation's largest active blaze. The fire was so dangerous that it created its own weather system, causing a heat generated cloud called a pyrocumulus cloud.

A pyrocumulus cloud is formed when the sun heats the air creating normal clouds, that the fire then produces heat, smoke, and water vapor rises. This can cause thunderstorms with lightning or even tornados to spread the fire.

Humid air and wind shifts therefore are additional help to firefighters when containing the fire.

Yet, because of dry grounds, the fire is still hard to control. One of the many challenges with a fire can be the multiple pounds of fuel located on the ground. This fuel is called ground fuel and consists of items that burn below surface fuels such as leaves and branches, that eventually become fuel ladders that move the fire up from ground level to tree tops.

Wildfires continue to not only burn millions of acres throughout the year, but also destroy homes in cities and leave people with unhealthy levels of smoke to inhale. Wildfires can begin at any time within the year but the risk increases in dry and warm conditions, such as droughts.

On a positive note, wildfires are able to clear heavy invasive weeds from forest floors, as well as thin out tree canopies to allow more sunlight to hit the ground and grow grass, herbs and shrubs. Many Southeastern ecosystems depend on these fires to maintain desired conditions without hardwood seedlings dominating communities, which would provide bad habits with rare species. Once the forest floor can regenerate from a wildfire, new vegetation could also help provide food and habitat for grazing animals such as rabbits and deer. This is why many animals have nowhere to go to escape when hit with the wildfire.

Though, there are multiple negative impacts to the environment when it comes to wildfires as well. This is because the loss caused by the wildfire makes the ground soil lose its ability to absorb as much water as before, leading to floods carrying heavy metals like ash and soil into waterways. They can also release large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere which further impact climate change.

The destruction caused by wildfires within the US has significantly increased within the last two decades every year since 2000 and an average of 71,000 wildfires have burned an average of 7 million acres of land. The intensity is increased because of drought as well as fire suppression policies allowing increased fuel loads to accumulate.

Forest Service management agencies suppressed all wildfires in the past, but that led to more living and dead vegetation stored on the ground which therefore increased the fuel load, and as a result increased the risk of wildfires. The risk was also increased due to the mass amount of people living in fire hazard areas.

One process that is used to decrease the risk of wildfires is prescribed fire. This is also called controlled burning in which fire companies plan and apply fire to permitted areas under specific weather conditions to help reduce a large amount of vegetation and therefore reduce the risk of massive wildfires.