Wildfires
Wildfires |
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During the Fire |
After the Fire
wild·fire
a sweeping and destructive conflagration especially in a wilderness or a rural area
A Wildfire is an uncontrolled blazed that is fueled by weather, wind and dry underbrush. Wildfires can burn acres of land in minutes and consume anything in their path including homes or communities as it moves at speeds up to 14 miles per hour. On average, 1.2 million acres of U.S. woodland burn every year and four out of every 5 wildfires are caused by people. Negligent human behavior such as smoking in forested areas and improperly extinguishing campfires are common causes of forest fires. The U.S. Fire Administration reported that in 2005 alone, 66,552 wildfires took place and 8,686,753 acres were burned.
Advance planning and taking steps to protect your home in the case of a fire can lessen the devastation of a wildfire. Protecting your home is your responsibility. This section of our site will strive to inform you on safety precautions that you can take to reduce the risk of fire losses.
Fire Conditions
In order for a wildfire to burn, certain conditions must be present. These conditions, often referred to as a fire triangle by firefighters, are fuel, oxygen and a heat source. The fuel is any flammable material surrounding a fire. This can include trees, grasses, brush, homes and anything else in the path of a fire. The greater the fuel source, the more intense the fire. With oxygen ever present, the third condition needed for a fire to burn is a heat source. Heat sources can be natural like lightning, hot winds or even the sun but many are provided by man. Burning campfires and cigarettes have been known to be the source of many wildfires. No matter how the fire is started, nature can help fan the flames. Dry weather and drought conditions can provide optimal conditions for a fire. The dry brush and land will burn more quickly and allow the fire to spread.
Where do Wildfires Occur?
Wildfires can occur anywhere but are most common in the forested areas of the United States and Canada, where heat, drought and frequent thunderstorms can create the perfect conditions for a fire. Other places, like Australia and the Western Cape of South Africa, are also susceptible to wildfires as their climates have extended dry hot periods. Fires are more prevalent in the summer and fall when fallen branches or leaves dry out and become highly flammable. In California, wildfires, are made worse by the hot, dry Santa Ana winds.
Types of Wildfires
- Surface Fires - This is the most common type of wildfires. They move slowly and burn along the forest floor killing and damaging vegetation.
- Ground Fires - This type is usually started by lightning. They burn on or below the forest floor through the root system.
- Crown fires - This type is spread quickly by wind. They move along the tops of trees.
Santa Ana Winds
Santa Ana winds are gusty northeast or east winds that occur in Southern California during the fall and winter months. They are often hot and very dry. Under the influence of Santa Ana winds, wildfires can move at speeds up to 40 miles in a single day as they consume up to 1,000 acres an hour. The winds push dense clouds of burning embers ahead of the flames allowing the fire to cross firebreaks without a problem.
Fire Tornado
Fire tornadoes occur when intense heat and turbulent wind conditions combine to form whirling eddies of air. A fire tornado consist of two parts. The core is the part that is actually on fire and an invisible pocket of rotating air that feeds oxygen to the core. The core is normally 1-3 feet wide and 50-100 feet tall but under the optimal conditions they can grow much larger. The temperature of the inside of the core can reach up to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Fighting a Wildfire
Firefighters fight wildfires by depriving them of either one of the fire triangle conditions (fuel, oxygen or heat source). Traditional methods include dousing and spraying fire retardants to put out the fire. Cleaning vegetation to create a firebreak that is mean to starve a fire of fuel. This is helpful in trying to slow a fire or contain one. Firefighters are start controlled burns to fight fires. These fires remove undergrowth, brush and ground litter from a forest depriving a wildfire of fuel.
Wildfire Impacts
Even though wildfires are harmful to humans, naturally occurring wildfires have an important role in nature. They return nutrients to the soil by burning dead or decaying matter. They act as a disinfectant by removing disease-ridden plants and harmful insects from the forest ecosystem. They also allow sunlight to reach the forest floor by burning through thick canopies and brushy undergrowth. This allws new seedlings to grow.
The Federal Government spends billions of dollars each year to suppress wildfires. A large Wildfires is capable of modifying the local weather conditions and produce it's own weather. Pyrocumulus clouds are large clouds fed by a large fire. They can form over a fire due to the intense heat. They produce little or no precipitation, but usually have strong gusty winds that can alter how the fire spreads and endanger firefighters, as well as the general public. Incident meteorologists, or IMETs, are specially trained and certified to provide weather support at a fire location. IMETs work to keep firefighters safe by interpreting the weather information to assess its affect on the fire and assit to develop strategies to best fight the fire.
Wildfire impacts can extend well after the fire and include:
- Increase risk of flooding, erosion, debris flows, and landslides due to the exposure of bare ground and loss of vegetation.
- Smoke can contain pollutants that can cause significant health problems.
- Destruction of timber, forage and wildlife habitats
- Can reduce the access to recreational areas
- Home and community damage
- Changes in water quality due to the sediment, burned debris and chemicals
Wildfire Facts
- Careless debris burning is a leading wildfire cause.
- More land has been affected by wildfires in recent years than at any time since the 1960s.
- In 2004, Wildfires burned more than 8 million acres in 40 States.
- The greater Yellowstone National Park fire of 1988 burned more than 1.2 million acres.
- Many species depend on wildfires to improve habitat, recycle nutrients, and maintain diverse communities.
- Land management agencies light "prescribed fires" under controlled conditions for specific management objectives.