Fire
is nature's most deadly weapon and kills more Americans
than all other natural disasters combined (smokeybear.com).
The term "wildfire" is used to describe any
kind of unwanted fire in a natural area such as a forest
or prairie.
There are two basic kinds of fires - good
fires and bad fires. Prescribed fires are good fires.
As part of forest management, prescribed fires are set
on purpose by trained forest officials in order to help
maintain a healthy forest and reduce the chance for unwanted
wildfires by burning off fuel such as dead wood, leaves
and branches. Fire is also natural and necessary for forest
rejuvenation. Wildfires are bad fires. Wildfires destroy
property, wilderness areas, and lives. In 2000, fire burned
7.5 million acres in the U.S. This is about as much land
as the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Delaware
combined.
There are four different kinds of wildfires:
ground fires, surface fires, crown fires, and mass fires.
Ground fires burn beneath
the leaves and branches on the ground. They can destroy
a lot of vegetation.
Surface fires burn undergrowth
and dead material like twigs and leaves. These types of
fires do not damage trees too much and are actually good
as long as they don't get big since they help clear out
dead material that can clutter the forest and provide
fuel for larger fires.
Crown fires burn the
tops of trees and are very hot, violent and fast moving.
They may not cause much damage because they move fast
and trees can loose 20 - 30 percent of their crowns before
the growth is affected. They can become highly destructive
if they escalate into fast moving mass fires called conflagrations.
Mass fires are fires
that are large and intense. There are two types. Firestorms
are stationary (meaning they don't move much) mass fires
that can begin to spin like tornadoes. Temperatures can
reach 2,000 degrees. Conflagrations are fast-moving mass
fires that form when a crown fire flares up and spreads
extremely quickly. Both types can throw off burning embers
that can spark new fires.
REMINDER: keep children away from gasoline
and other flammable materials, matches, and lighters.
Wildfires can destroy almost any thing in their path.
Adults should also take care with fire including cigarettes
and campfires.
