Wildfires

Wildfires are pretty big disasters. They can cause a lot of damage, much more than you think. There are 2 causes of wildfires: man made wildfires, and nature made wildfires.

A lot of people believe that most wildfires are started by lightning or other natural causes. But most wildfires are started by human carelessness.

Why Should We Care About Wildfires?

As I said earlier, wildfires cause a lot of damage. When someone hears the word wildfire, they usually think of a massive forest or bush fire doing too much landscaping and destroying property. But wildfires are much worse than that.

Wildfires destroy the area they are in. As the area is destroyed, the ecosystem also gets destroyed. The wildfire keeps on spreading, eventually reaching civilization. Now the wildfire destroys property, farms, resources, and human lives.

The area(s) the wildfire was in will take a long time to recover, or never recover at all.

Types of wildfires

There are four types of wildfires: forest fires, crown fires, ground fires, and surface fires.

• Forest fires: uncontrolled burning of a woodland area.
• Crown fires: fire that advances at great speed from crown to crown in tree canopies, often well in advance of the fire on the ground.
• Ground fire: fire that burns organic matter in the soil, or humus; usually does not appear at the surface.
• Surface fires:fire that typically burns only surface litter and undergrowth.

These vocabulary terms are from National Geographic

The trinity of fire

Fire requires 3 conditions. These conditions are known as the trinity. A fire must have an oxidizer, fuel, and heat. Take any of these away, and there is no longer any fire.

An example of an oxidizer is oxygen. An example of fuel can be dry wood.

Nature made causes

Nature made wildfires are not the majority of wildfires. But they still are dangerous.

The most common nature made wildfires are from thunder, heat from the sun, or volcanic eruptions.

Man made causes

The majority of wildfires are made from human carelessness. The man made causes include improper disposal of cigarettes, unattended campfires, ect. Sometimes, Wildfires are started by arson.

How can you prevent wildfires?

There are a lot of things you can do to prevent wildfires. First, make sure you properly dispose of cigarettes. Second, never leave campfires unattended. Third, think before you do something with fire or sparks, especially in a forest.

How do we prevent wildfires?

There are a lot of things done to prevent wildfires. Lightning rods prevent lightning from striking forests (Or anything). Arson has also been made illegal. It is also highly discouraged to set up campsites in non-designated areas.

How are wildfires put out?

Wildfires are fought with a variety of methods and personal. Hotshots make firebreaks around the fire. Smoke jumpers are paratroopers who jump out of planes to put out small fires before they become big fires. Backfires are also started by ground crews.

The firefighters are assisted from the air as well. Airplanes or helicopters drop water or fire retardant from the sky.

Conclusion

Wildfires are much more dangerous than you think. We should not ignore them as they cause a lot of destruction. While some wildfires are nature made, most wildfires are man made. Wildfires are put out in a variety of ways and there are a lot of things done to prevent wildfires.

But the best way for you to prevent wildfires is to not be careless, especially in a forest.

Glossary

Arson - The crime of purposely setting fire to property. While this term is usually used for buildings, it can also be for vehicles, forests, etc.

Firebreaks - Area(s) of land that have been cleared of any fuel the fire can use

Backfire - a fire set intentionally to stop the progress of an approaching fire by creating a burned area in its path, thus depriving the fire of fuel.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildfire https://smokeybear.com/en/about-wildland-fire https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/wildfires/ by Claire Wolters https://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/wildfire4.htm by Kevin Bonsor

This article only covers the basics. I highly recommend these sites if you want to learn more.