Figure 1 Wildfire on Grasslands

The Impacts of Wildfires

Emmanuel Harley

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Table of Contents
Abstract 3
Wildfire ImpactWhat Causes Wildfires?
The Good 4
The Bad 43
The Effects of Wildfires 53-4
Effects on Citizens and Animals 54
Effects on Environment 4
Action Need by Government Agencies 5
Public Awareness 5
Solution to Wildfires 6
Public Awareness 65
Help of the Citizens 75
Wildland Fire Suppression 75
Pros of Wildfires
Significance of the Solution 75
Conclusion 86
References 97

Figures
Figure 1 - Wildfire on Grasslands 1
Figure 2 - The average number of acres burned since 1983 43
Figure 23 - A wildfire destroying the environment 64

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Abstract
It is known that fires have been around forever and can occur anywhere, at any time. All it
takes is fuel, oxygen, and heat to make a fire start. Wildfires have also been around forever
dating back to approximately 419 million years during the Silurian period. The wildland attracts
campers, habitat for many plants and animals, and many people live in various areas. Having a
protected wildland is important for both people and animals. Having a wilderness can be
beautiful, relaxing, and fun for camping or hiking; however, it can fully destroyed by wildfires.
Wildfires are huge fires/blazes that occur on land can be fueled by weather, wind, and a dry
underbrush. The amount of land these wildfires take up are not small. Acres of land are burn by
these uncontrollable fires. Sometimes these wildfires can be so uncontrollable that they
destroy living organisms and mainly the geography. Now today, wildfires burn at a more rapid
rate than back in the 80s. There are government agencies such as National Wildfire Suppression
Association (NWSA) that are voices of Professional private wildland fire services; however, more action
is needed to decrease the amount wildfires occurring. This documentThis document will examine
the causes of wildfires, effect on geography and living organisms, how raising public awareness
contributes, and a solution for slowing down these violent wildfires. The goal is to eventually
stop all uncontrollable wildfires. for humans to follow along with how to slow these devastating
wildfires down.

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Figure 2 The average number of acres burned since 1983

Wildfire Impact
The Good

While wildfires can be very dangerous; however, they have many advantages towards the
environment. Wildfires can stop an overgrowth of trees especially tall trees which helps brings
sunlight onto plants and ground vegetation. It also helps bring new habitat zones whenever a
forest is old and dying. Another advantage is that wildfires are better for a forest since there are
insects that infect the trees. Infestation leads to diseases affecting humans.

The Bad

What causes Wildfires?

So, what causes wildfires? There are many factors that causes wildfires such as human beings
and nature. According to Conserve Energy Future(2020), “90% of the wildfires in the U.S. are
caused by people.”.”(Conserve Energy Future) When humans burn debris, leave campfire unattended,
dropped cigarettes, use of flammable liquids, or a committed act of arson, a wildfire is subject to occur.
It’s crazy how something so small can turn out into an uncontrollable fire. Dry lighting and climate, and
volcanic eruption are natural causes of a wildfire. When there’s no precipitation during lighting strike,

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this increases the chance pf a wildfire due to the dryness. An example would be a tree struck by
lightning which ten produces a spark. Volcanic eruptions are already known as highly destructive natural
disasters; however, the hot lava from the volcano can cause a wildfire if it reaches a forest. Each year
72,400 wildfires clear 7 million acres of U.S land each year since 2000. Wildfires mainly occur in rural
areas with tons of land.

Figure 1: The number of wildfires since 1983.

Wildfires have been steadily increasing since 1983 which bring us to the conclusion that
no one has found a solution to stop these wildfires.

The Effects of Wildfires

Effects on Citizens and Animals
Wildfires can cause devasting effects on citizens and animals. Citizens can lose their homes if
caught by wildfire which also can cause death if not paying close attention to your surrounding
area. A house can cost thousands and sometimes millions of dollars which is a huge loss to
whoever is affected. Also, the people fighting the fire may lose their life if they’re not cautious
fighting against it. Imagine starting all over from ground zero because of a fire. Another effect
of wildfires is that the ashes/smoke poses serious health threats to humans suffering medical
problems. A big fire can cause the air to become heavily polluted over large radius which can
cause future health problems. Workers such as farmer who work in the agricultural fields may
be at risk due to loss of land which can take years to get back. Animals such as birds, squirrels,
and other wildlife animals can lose their lives and families if caught in a wildfire. If animals are
caught in these wildfires, certain animals are subject to extinction.

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Effects on Environment
The main effect that wildfires have on the environment is destroyed soil. Soil is a main nutrient
for Earth. Plants, trees, and famers are main users of soil. Plants and trees produce oxygen for
human to breathe which is a loss for living organisms such as humans. Then if plants can’t grow
then animals can eat. Every organism in the food chain is depending on another source.
Whenever firefighters use water to combat these wildfires, they use water to put out the fires;
however, excessive amounts of water can cause erosion in the ground which effects soil.
Figure 23 A wildfire
destroying the environment

Action Needed by Government

Agencies
Public Awareness
To effectively reduce the amounts of wildfires that are caused, it is important toto raise public
awareness to the communities that are at high risk to wildfires. Citizens will continue to break
the rules and regulations if they’re not already aware of them. Raising public awareness will
help limited the probability of a wildfire starting caused by a citizen.

Solution to Wildfires

Public Awareness
To effectively reduce the amounts of wildfires that are caused, it is important to raise public
awareness to the communities that are at high risk to wildfires. Citizens will continue to break
the rules and regulations if they’re not already aware of them. Raising public awareness on
social media platforms will help limited the probability of a wildfire starting caused by a citizen.
Social media is at its all time highest and such information can be spreaded quickly.

Help of the Citizens

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Citizens are the main causes of wildfires. These are some solutions that us humans should
consider when you’re in high-risk locations of a wildfire. There should be signs distributed over
various entry points of a forest for citizens to read. They should be able to Depending on your
location, following the right local regulations and laws when burning a fires. is crucial. Fires are
more prone to occur depending on the time of the year. Keeping up to date with weather
forecasts is also very important because conditions such as high winds can cause wildfires if
someone decides to burn something. That information provided on social media plus a sign can
help tremendously. Preventing the usage of cigarettes in areas of high risk of wildfires could
help reduce the probability of a wildfire. One small spark can cause a destructive disaster. Also
knowing proper camping rules and safety regulations is important when in it comes to citizens
high-risk areas. Lastly, it’s important for a citizen to understand not to burn materials that are
very combustible in a campfire is important because it can cause an even more rapid spread of
a wildfire.

Wildland Fire Suppression

Firefighters, the community, and the government can also help slow down or put out wildfires.
A lead plane can drop retardant on wildfire and can be used for conducting surveys over the
affected and nearby areas. Then we can organize crews such firefighters try control the
wildfires on ground by spraying water and using hands tool to dig out the fire lines.

Pros of Wildfires
While wildfires can be very dangerous; however, they have many advantages towards the
environment. Two main advantages of wildfires are that they can stop an overgrowth of trees
especially tall trees and clean forests from infestation from diseases.

Significance of the Solution

Once public awareness of proper fire safety reaches campus/hikers then they would be
conscious of how bad one decision can destroy a beautiful forest and its surrounding
environment. Social media will be able help Inform campers and hikers on how to properly hike
and use proper fire safety. Secondly, the citizens being able to know what can cause a
disastrous wildfire is major for stopping this wildfire crisis. Then having the firefighters and
government do their job if a wildfire does breakout is important. Overall, keeping the forest,
animals, and people is crucial on Earth.

Conclusion

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Although wildfires are conveyed as destructive disasters, they can help the environment when
they’re control fully. As a whole, we have to make sure we follow rules and regulations to
prevent wildfires from occurring. The government raising more public awareness will also help
decreased the probability of a wildfire occurring. Natural disasters are something we can’t
control; however, it’s our job to stop them. If wildfire keep occurring then the citizens, animals,
and the environment are subject to death and serious losses. Possibly even extinction. These
regulations and rules must be followed in our high-risk areas to prevent these dangerous
wildfires.

References
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Effects, P. N. (2017, September 21). Positive and negative effects of Wildfires - Essay and speech. Positive

Negative Effects. https://www.positivenegativeeffects.com/wildfires#:%7E:text=Positive%20effects

%20of%20Wildfires%3A%201%20In%20a%20lot,includes%20rebuilding%20and%20rehabilitation%20of

%20that%20area.%20

R. (2020a, May 14). Causes, Effects and Brilliant Solutions to Growing Problem of Wildfires. Conserve Energy

Future. https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-effects-and-solutions-of-wildfires.php

R. (2020b, May 14). Causes, Effects and Brilliant Solutions to Growing Problem of Wildfires. Conserve Energy

Future. https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-effects-and-solutions-of-wildfires.php

Stanford University. (2021, March 25). Wildfire solutions. Stanford News.

https://news.stanford.edu/2021/03/23/wildfire-solutions/

USAFacts. (2021, September 15). How many wildfires occur in the US? https://usafacts.org/articles/how-many-

wildfires-occur-in-the-us/

Wildfire Prevention: How To Prevent & Control Forest Fires. (2021, September 24). EARTH OBSERVING SYSTEM.

https://eos.com/blog/wildfire-prevention/