According to the Florida Forest Service there has been a significant increase in brush fires over the last 3 months.
81 brush fires are responsible for damage to 6,363 acres of land in the Miami-Dade area. At the same point during 2014, 51 fires had been documented.
Lightning from summer storms in addition to abnormally dry weather is responsible for the increase of fires.
On July 13, 2015 two brush fires, both caused by lightning, managed to burn upwards of 500 acres of grass.
In addition to lightning the absence of rainfall, humidity, wind and both Sawgrass and Pine Rockland from the Everglades assist fires in their ability to move quickly.
Wildlife fire agencies use the Keetch-Byram Drought Index to determine the dryness of soil;
Wildfires need three things called a fire triangle they have fuel source,drywood,plants,oxygen, and a heat source. Every year wildfires burn more than 400 acres. Wildfire can damage homes or buildings and could kill people. Firefighters also fight fire by cutting dead grass.
Over the years, many American forests developed high tree densities and huge buildups of dry understory, so that when fires did occur, they became much larger and more
Wildfires started as an annual and seasonal occurrence in the south western region of California since the early 1930’s in part
Any slight little ember can cause a full blown wildfire. Especially when the leaves die and crumble, they become even more vulnerable to fire. In October, when the cool air ripples through trees and grass, an ember can blow away, causing fire in many places. If the meteor broke apart and landed in several areas across the midwest, fires can sprout up very
On July 3rd around noon the fire burned downhill and had only covered about 3 acres, burning mostly cured grass, twigs, and small shrubs. It continued to burn throughout the day and by midnight had reached upwards to burning 11 acres. July 5th the fire had burned 50 acres and on the 6th had reached 127 acres. Officials said the fire was steady until winds of speeds between 30-45 mph picked up mid afternoon on the 6th. Winds were blowing the fire over the ridges, upslope, and in the drainage. The winds gave the fire a blow torch affect and caused it to spread rapidly everywhere. Studies say that with the fire having practically unlimited fuel it was spreading at 3 feet per second in the drainage areas, and moving upslope at 6 to 9 feet per
A lot of fuel, joined with warm, parched and blowy weather, provided hazardous conditions, which powered the fires.
Although most of the fires were created by the horrendous weather conditions, some fires were lit by the sparks coming off faulty power lines and the disposal of cigarette butts. This would have been possible because the grass and plants in the area were very dry. Whilst this was the cause of some fires, most of the fires were spread and lit by the weather conditions at that time.
Brush fires raise particular concerns in the arid desert where they can become large-scale incidents requiring numerous resources and can endanger homes, lives, and personal property. The frequency of brush fire calls when all similar code types are combined total 42 brush fires for the previous 20 months of which 22 were considered working fires. Of the 22 working fires 16 were set intentionally and ruled arson, of which 8 were started by juveniles. There are 3 fires were accidently started by misuse of a heat source (2 campfires and 1 person burning weeds with a propane torch) and
Cigarettes are one of the main cause of wildfires, the other is camp fires not being extinguished properly, that is 90% of wildfires are caused by human mistakes Joyce (2017). The Texas Panhandle is going through a drought, while everyone is praying for rain. Once a wildfire starts it is very hard to control, even with the hard-working fire fighters. There are many other helpful individuals that track the signs of wildfires, such as the National Park Service.
Massive wildfire ravaged Northern California’s wine country since Sunday night. Wildfires whipped by strong winds have swept through the region, killing at least 10 lives and more than 20000 people are forced to evacuate and flee their homes. This is one of the most destructive wildfire events in the state’s history. More than a dozen wildfires continued to burn across eight counties, destroying 1500 homes and commercial structures according to losses reported up to Tuesday. More death and destruction are expected. Authorities have not said what caused the fires but October is typically the busiest month for wildfire in California. Therefore, they believed that the hot, extremely dry condition in October created the critical fire conditions.
Wildfires have always been a part of our lives on this rock we call Earth. Over the years we have developed tried and true ways to battle and extinguish them, but in the recent past it has become more and more of a problem considering their increase in size and weather patterns. These factors have been termed with a phase every American knows all too well, “Global Warming!” The western half of the United States has had to deal with these fires more than any other area of the country. Of the western half, the state of Colorado has seen its share of some of the worst wildfires. Since the 1970 's the normal number of flames in excess of 1,000 sections of land every year has almost quadrupled in Arizona and Idaho, and has multiplied in
“Wildfires Devastate California,” a nonfiction article from Scholastic News by Sean Price, describes the dozens of wildfires in California that are affecting lots of Californians by forcing them to evacuate. The main cause of all this is the four-year drought making a lot of the forests and fields very dry and easier to burn. The current wildfires started when lightning struck the dry fields and forests. There are about 1,200 more fires now in 2015 than in the same period in 2014 -- that is a huge difference for just one year! Currently, California has 23 wildfires with 10,000 firefighters risking their lives to protect us and to put the fires out. The worst of all fires is the Rocky Fire which has destroyed 28 structures and caused 6,000
Unattended wildfires have to be attended at all times because a warm breeze can blow the hot ashes and fire out of the pit. Burning debris in fire weather is very dangerous to a community because people are now burning rash and they aren’t putting them out with water and they are unaware of the weather conditions and their surroundings. Arson fires are caused by people who have had bad “moments” with other people around them. Arsonist are people who use accelerants such as gasoline and kerosene, to ignite and directionalize fires. The amount of time for an arsony is 20 years or life. The reason why arsonists set fires is pyromania. Pyromania is an obsessive desire to burn things. There are two types of pyromania: individual and environmental pyromania. Individual pyromania is when one person with this disorder sets something on fire. Environmental pyromania is when multiple disordered people set a certain amount of items on fire and this can be a high risk to others in the environment. Lightning is also a cause of wildfires because lightning is known for always striking the highest point or anything metal. Lightning rods are being used as the highest point for houses so when lightning strikes, it won’t strike anything in the house. Instead, it goes underground and won’t go electrocute anything in the
On the actual day of the fire, the fire planners will again check such conditions as wind and moisture content in the vegetation. The wind direction will determine where the fire is started. Fire crews start the burn with a device called a drip torch. A drip torch is a can of fuel with a flame-carrying wick at the end. When the crewmember tilts the wick toward the ground, a flame streams out and ignites the vegetation. Most of the effort that goes into a prescribed fire is making sure that it is contained in the boundaries set for the fire. Firefighters and fire suppression equipment are near the site if the fire grows out of control (www.nps.gov/wica/fir-why.html, pgs. 1-3).
Wildfires occur when the climate is moist making trees and shrubs ready to grow and when a dry, hot period occurs a wildfire can occur. Wildfires mostly occur in highly vegetated areas like