A forest fire is an uncontrolled fire occurring in nature.

Sometimes, the forest fire is so large

that it takes a long time for the fire fighting crews to gain control over the situation. This
could result in massive destruction.

In Norway, an average of about 1100 forest fires occur each year. Most of these are small and
relatively easy to control. Only two per cent of the registered forest fires in Norway are larger
than 100 decares (100 000 m2).

Many forest fires are due to human activity

The number of forest fires varies from year to year, and quite a long time may elapse between
forest fires that are considered to be large. Climatic conditions are the factor that has greatest
impact on the extent of forest fires. The forest is most vulnerable in spring and summer
seasons when there are long dry spells. Weather conditions such as precipitation and wind, as
well as the layout of the terrain, are important factors in determining the size of the forest
fire.

It is estimated that as many as nine out of ten forest fires are caused by humans, although the
causes of a significant number of forest fires remain unknown. The most common cause of
such fires is the use of open flames and disposable barbecue grills. Even a cigarette that is not
properly extinguished can cause a forest fire. Some forest fires also start as a consequence of
downed power lines, sparks from trains, sparks from edge trimmers along roadways or sparks
from tools and forestry machinery doing work in the forest. Natural forest fires are due to
lightning strikes.

How Do Forest Fires Start?

Naturally caused forest fires are usually started by dry lightning where little to no rain
accompanies a stormy weather disturbance.

Lightning randomly strikes the earth an average of 100 times each second or 3 billion times
every year and has caused some of the most notable wildland fire disasters in the western
United States.

Most lightning strikes occur in the North American southeast and southwest. Because they
often occur in isolated locations with limited access, lightning fires burn more acres than
human-caused starts. The average 10-year total of U.S. wildfire acres burned and caused by
humans is 1.9 million acres where 2.1 million acres burned are lightning-caused.

Still, human fire activity is the primary cause of wildfires - having nearly ten times the start
rate of natural starts. The average 10-year percent U.S. wildfire starts are 88% human caused
and 12% lightning caused. Most of these human fires result from accidental causes.
Accidental fires are usually caused by carelessness or inattention by campers, hikers, or
others traveling through wildland or by debris and garbage burners. Some are intentionally
set by arsonists.

I want to stress that many human-caused fires are started to reduce heavy fuel buildup and
used as a forest management tool. This is called a controlled or prescribed burn and used for
wildfire fire fuel reduction, wildlife habitat enhancement, and debris clearing. They are not
included in the above statistics and ultimately reduce wildfire numbers by reducing
conditions that contribute to wildfire and forest fires.

How Fire Came to Be

It is interesting to note that, of the four billion years of earth's existence, conditions were not
conducive for spontaneous wildfire until the last 400 million years. Naturally occurring
atmospheric fire did not have the chemical elements available until major several earth
changes occurred.

The earliest life forms emerged without needing oxygen (anaerobic organisms) to live about
3.5 billion years ago and lived in a carbon dioxide based atmosphere. Life forms that needed
oxygen in small amounts (aerobic) came much later in the form of photosynthesizing blue-
green algae and ultimately changed the earth's atmospheric balance toward oxygen and away
from carbon dioxide (co2).

Photosynthesis increasingly dominated earth's biology by initially creating and continuously

increasing the earth's percentage of oxygen in the air.

Green plant growth then exploded and aerobic respiration became the biologic catalyst for
terrestrial life. Around 600 million years ago and during the Paleozoic, conditions for natural
combustion started developing with increasing speed.

Wildfires are usually preventable because many originate from human error. Unlike many
natural disasters, most wildfires are caused by people—and can be prevented by people, too.
Meteorologists are not yet able to forecast wildfire outbreaks, so people in fire-prone areas
should plan ahead and prepare to evacuate with little notice. Here are some tips on how to
prevent wildfires and what to do if you're caught in the middle of one.

How to Prevent a Wildfire

• Contact 911, your local fire department, or the park service if you notice an unattended or
out-of-control fire.

Never leave a fire unattended. Completely extinguish the fire—by dousing it with water and
stirring the ashes until cold—before sleeping or leaving the campsite.
• When camping, take care when using and fueling lanterns, stoves, and heaters. Make sure
lighting and heating devices are cool before refueling. Avoid spilling flammable liquids and
store fuel away from appliances.

• Do not discard cigarettes, matches, and smoking materials from moving vehicles, or
anywhere on park grounds. Be certain to completely extinguish cigarettes before disposing of
them.

• Follow local ordinances when burning yard waste. Avoid backyard burning in windy
conditions, and keep a shovel, water, and fire retardant nearby to keep fires in check. Remove
all flammables from yard when burning.

Evacuation Tips

• If advised to evacuate, do so immediately.

• Know your evacuation route ahead of time and prepare an evacuation checklist and
emergency supplies.

• Wear protective clothing and footwear to protect yourself from flying sparks and ashes.

Before You Leave, Prepare Your House

• Remove combustibles, including firewood, yard waste, barbecue grills, and fuel cans, from
your yard.

• Close all windows, vents, and doors to prevent a draft.

• Shut off natural gas, propane, or fuel oil supplies.

• Fill any large vessels—pools, hot tubs, garbage cans, or tubs—with water to slow or
discourage fire.

If Caught in a Wildfire

• Don't try to outrun the blaze. Instead, look for a body of water such as a pond or river to
crouch in.

• If there is no water nearby, find a depressed, cleared area with little vegetation, lie low to
the ground, and cover your body with wet clothing, a blanket, or soil. Stay low and covered
until the fire passes.

• Protect your lungs by breathing air closest to the ground, through a moist cloth, if possible,
to avoid inhaling smoke.
Solutions to Wildfires

1. Make sure you are following all of the local regulations and laws regarding burning fires
during various times of day, year, and what materials and substances are permitted to be
burned. If you do not see a sign with the rules find a park ranger or someone close by and
keep a list of the rules and regulations on hand.

2. Keep up to date with the weather forecast so you are sure not to burn any substances
while there are high winds or other treacherous conditions. Certain areas are more prone to
wildfires than others so make sure that you check with the area to see if they are more at risk
than other areas. The Wildland Fire Assessment System will give you an updated map on
which areas are more at risk. Weather is one of the biggest reasons why wildfires occur.
Always keep in mind the weather before you ever even plan your trip.

3. Only light fires in areas that are easily controlled locations. Make sure when you are
creating fire pits or other fires that you are doing so in areas that are controlled and fires
cannot spread into other areas. A fire will need to be contained so that it will be easy to put
out especially if a dangerous situation would arise.

4. Do not burn any materials that are combustible or unusual in nature. Do not throw
garbage onto campfires or any other materials that should not be burned. You should only be
using materials that are organic such as leaves, woods, or yard waste. If you put unusual
materials into a fire it is only going to make the fire spread at a rapid rate which causes more
problems for the area you are in.

5. If you are a cigarette smoker it is important not to smoke cigarettes where you are not
supposed to. If you do smoke you need to make sure that you put your cigarette out
completely before disposing of it. Under no circumstances should you throw cigarettes onto
the ground. Make sure they are completely put out and dispose of them properly. Most
camping and picnic areas do not allow smoking so if you are going to smoke you need to
know the rules beforehand.

6. Teach your children the rules and safety precautions of camping and being outdoors.
Make sure they know to stay away from fires and to always allow an adult to start and put out
fires. Many wildfires are caused by unattended children near fires. Teaching them the ways of
nature could make all of the difference.

Effects of Wildfires

1. Wildfires take away homes, wildlife, as well as vegetation. All of the inhabitants of the
wildlife environment now are found homeless. People often lose their houses as well if the
fires are close enough to human housing. Vegetation is now obsolete if this area is near a
farm or near the food of other inhabitants. Millions of dollars are spent repairing these
damages and re-building homes and areas of vegetation.

2. The soil in the area of the wildfire has been completely destroyed. The soils in the forest
are made with decaying nutrients and debris that have a lot of natural ingredients that help
make the earth what it is. When a wildfire hits this soil it becomes too hot and all of those
nutrients are gone for good.

3. Animals lose their lives. It is sad but true fact that birds, squirrels, rabbits, and other
wildlife animals are no longer a part of this great earth.

4. Trees and plants are gone as well. Trees and plants help to produce oxygen in the world.
The less trees and plants there are the less clean air we have to breathe. With no plants or
trees, the animals that did survive no longer have anything to eat.

5. Too much water in the soil can cause erosion. Firefighters use a great deal of water to put
out these vicious wildfires. Too much water in the soil causes it to erode and make it useless.

6. Large amounts of smoke is released into the air which makes it difficult to breathe and also
causes air pollution.

7. Unfortunately, some human lives are also lost in wildfires. Typically people who are
fighting the fire who lose their lives trying to save others.

Fighting Forest Fires

Perhaps the most overlooked aspect of fighting forest fires is communication. It is vital that the proper
authorities be notified as soon as possible when a fire occurs. Obviously, a fire that is detected in its
early stages will be much easier to extinguish than a fire that has been burning for some time but has
only just been disovered because of lack of communication. Once a fire has been detected, the fire
fighters must be transported to the fire and then apply suppression methods.

How Forest Fires Burn

There are three elements that are required for a forest fire to burn: Heat, Oxygen, and Fuel.
This is the so-called "fire triangle". Without all three of these elements, the fire will go out.
Furthermore, the fire will spread in the direction of the most abundant supply of the three
elements, while its rate of combustion is usually limited by one of the three elements. Once
the fire enters the combustion stage, there are three main types of classifications for the fire.
A smoldering fire is one that emits smoke but no flame and is rarely self-sustained. A fire is
classified as flaming combustion when flames are present. Charcoal can be formed in the
absence of oxygen with this type of fire. Glowing combustion is a later stage of the fire and is
characterized by a slower rate of combustion and blue flame. Forest fires can also be
classified by what part of the forest they burn in:

 Ground fires occur on the ground, often below the leaves.

 Surface Fires occur on the surface of the forest up to 1.3 meters high.
 Crown fires are the most dangerous fires and can spread the fastest. They occur in the
tops of the trees. They can be: (a) dependent upon surface fires to burn the crowns, (b)
active in which they occur at the same rate as surface fires, or (c) the most destructive,
independent, where fire can "jump" from crown to crown.
It is not uncommon for two or three types of fires to occur simultaneously.

Why do they spread so quickly?

This year, over 2.8 million acres have been burned by wildfires in the US alone, as over 30
fires have raged across the dryer, more arid west of the country.

Some of the fires are intentional, or prescribed. They are set in fire-dependant ecosystems and
burn away dead fuel that obscures sunlight for incoming vegetation, allowing regrowth.

However, most are unplanned and spread rapidly

They do so for a number of reasons, primarily the abundance of fuel available in dry, warm
forests.

Many aren’t even reported until they are out of control, such is the sheer scale of American
forests and national parks. By the time fire fighters are alerted, containment, not
extinguishing, is the name of the game.