The Forest Fire Dilemma and What We Can Do

About It

Chas Porter
Table of Contents

Abstract……………………………………………………………………………….….….….…3

Forest Fire Problems…………………………………………………………….…………..….…3

Preventing and Extinguishing Fires…...……………………………………………………….….4

The Results of Our Efforts………………………………………………………………………...5

Conclusion....……………………………………………………………………………...………5

Sources…………………………………………………………………………………….………6

Table of Figures

Figure 1……………………………………………………………………………………………3

Figure 2……………………………………………………………………………………………4
Abstract
Forest fires plague tens of thousands of forests each and every year. Despite this large number,
only very few are widely reported throughout the world such as the Australian Bushfires and
various forest fires in California over the past few years. These rare, widely reported cases show
just how damaging these fires can be. Lots of these fires are actually started by the hands of
humans and devastate natural habitats, human structures, and endanger the lives of others. The
sheer quantity of these fires can be prevented if individuals take a few simple steps to ensure that
they do not start a wildfire. Prevention begins with the education of the general public on the
roles they can play in preventing these fires. But if fires do break out, there have to be
appropriate countermeasures taken to protect the forests and those who inhabit the forests.
Adequate fire control would help minimize the damage done by the forests fires that do
inevitably break out.

Forest Fire Problems

Forest fires are one of the most dangerous forms of fire. This is due to the fact that forest fires
are extremely hard to contain. As one could imagine, forests contain many dead trees, brush, and
other plant life which acts as fuel for a fire. This allows the fire to grow at an exponential rate
which makes fighting it a very strategic and hard-fought battle.

Inadequate Fire Control

If a nation is not well-equipped to fight such a fire, it
will suffer irreparable damage. This was true of the
countries who formed out of the breakup of the
Soviet Union. When the USSR was broken up in
1991, its fire fighting assets were distributed amongst
many nations. However, these nations were not able
to keep up with the large economic cost of fighting
fires which made the fire-fighting infrastructure
unsuccessful at taming large wildfires that plagued
the area. A prime example of this occurred when a
large fire broke out in the Volga region of Siberia in Figure 1: This photo depicts the smoke caused
2010. A fire of this proportion requires extensive air by the Russian wildfires in 2010 (“Wildfires in
and ground tactics to keep it under control. These Siberia”).
methods were ultimately insufficient in this instance and required the area to be flooded to
contain the fire. The lack of success in fighting this large fire resulted in Moscow, a densely
populated area, suffering large amounts of smoke causing numerous health problems within the
large population. This fire was so devastating due to the combined factors of drought, inadequate
fire control, and land use history (Pyne 182-183).
Danger to the Environment
The dangers of forest fires don’t merely
occur during the existence of the fire, but
they also take a toll on the land in which
they occur. In some instances, forest fires
can cause erosion and water run-off issues in
residential areas as well as damage water
supplies used by civilization and wildlife
(“After the Fire”). This damage is
considerable when the sheer vastness of
these fires is understood. Figure 2 depicts
the number of acres that were burned in
America each year from 2000 to 2020. The
most exasperating statistic comes from 2011
in which 1.8 million acres were burned in
the United States (Gleason). That is an Figure 2: This graph represents the number of fires and acres
extremely significant amount of land that burned from the year 2000 to the year 2020 (Gleason).
was once habitats to wildlife and possibly
also human inhabited areas.

Caused by Humans
The most discouraging fact is that many of these fires were stoked by humans and the damage
that was caused could possibly have been prevented. A mind-boggling statistic is that 85% of
wildfires in the United States each year are caused by humans. This can be due to negligence in
the instance of discarded cigarette butts, untended campfires, and unsafe firework practices or
they can be attributed to freak accidents that can only be explained on a case by case situation.
Many of these fires could be prevented if individuals obtained greater education about the causes
and impacts of wildfires (“Wildfire Causes and Evaluation”).

Preventing and Extinguishing Fires

The sheer impact of forest fires on the environment can be alleviated by educating the public on
wildfires and their causes as well as equipping nations and private organizations to fight fires
early on so that damage can be minimized.

Educating the Public

If individuals around the world have a better understanding of how they can personally play a
role in preventing forest fires, the number of forest fires annually will be greatly reduced.
Minimizing negligence is one of the best ways to fight forest fires. This would be accomplished
by a mandatory fire training unit in all private and public schools throughout the world. This
simple class would educate individuals about the dangers of forest fires, how to report a forest
fire to the correct authorities, and how to prevent a forest fire from starting. This simple class
will play a large role in preventing the sheer number of forest fires worldwide.
Fighting Fires Efficiently
Unfortunately, forest fires are inevitably going to occur so there must also be a way to efficiently
stop the fires before insufferable damage has been done. In order to do this, the Environmental
Defense Fund is proposing a nationwide forest fire prevention force that will solely focus on
eliminating forest fires before they have the chance to severely impact communities. Its main
goal is to minimize lives lost and habitats damaged as well as to prevent local fire departments
from being the only boots on the ground fighting a seemingly uncontrollable fire.

The Results of Our Efforts

The efforts made by individuals to fight such a large problem may seem minimal, but minimal
effort made by many is a force to be reckoned with. If an effort is made to both minimize the
amount of fires as well as diminish the impact of fires that do occur, a significant decline in the
damage done by forest fires will occur.

Impact of Education
At the moment, fire education is dependent on the marketing done by fire protection agencies
and their ability to reach people who are not educated about fires. While this effort is valiant and
important, it is incomparable to having a mandatory class taught in both private and public
schools in the United States. Having such a class will ensure that people are educated about the
impact that their actions have. This will completely resolve the issue of negligence because in
order to be negligent, one must lack proper education on a specific topic. However, this cannot
cure apathy. Apathy can only be cured by imploring others to care about an issue that is so
pressing. This would also be addressed in this class. Expounding on the severity of wildfires and
the people and animals that are impacted by them would be a fantastic way to fight against
apathetic individuals. This mandatory class will be a very proactive way to minimize the number
of wildfires that occur annually.

Impact of Task Force

A universal fire protection task force is integral in the effort of minimizing the severity of
wildfires. This will allow for early action against wildfires. There is currently a major reliance
on local fire departments to maintain forest fires at least until outside departments and
organizations are able to come to their assistance. A universal task force equipped with adequate
fire control technology will allow forest fires to be tamed with the greatest punctuality and
minimal loss of life and land. The task force will also be specifically trained to fight fires of this
scale which will make them better equipped to fight such fires as opposed to local fire
departments. This task force will be structured in such a way that if two major wildfires were
occurring during the same time period in different areas of the country, both areas will have
adequate fire control technology and manpower so that both fires can be tamed in a reasonable
amount of time. The end goal of this task force would be to be the first responders to fires of
great magnitude and fight them with the utmost strategy and power to prevent devastating losses
often suffered by these fires.

Conclusion
Forest fires are a large problem in our world and greater action can be taken to prevent their
severity. Action will not totally solve the problem, but it will minimize the impact of forest fires
on the United States and the world. Offering education programs and a united task force aimed at
fighting forest fires are ways the impacts of forest fires can be diminished. Though actions may
seem small, their impact can be greater than ever imaginable.
 Sources
“After the Fire.” After the Fire | US Forest Service, www.fs.usda.gov/science-technology/fire/after-
fire.

Gleason, and Enloe. “U.S. Wildfires.” National Climatic Data Center, www.ncdc.noaa.gov/societal-

impacts/wildfires/.

Pyne, Stephen J. Fire: Nature and Culture. Reaktion, 2012.

“Wildfire Causes and Evaluations (U.S. National Park Service).” National Parks Service, U.S.
Department of the Interior, www.nps.gov/articles/wildfire-causes-and-evaluation.htm.

“Wildfires in Siberia.” NASA, NASA, earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/79161/wildfires-in-siberia.