Review of Literature
I. Introduction- Forest Fires
According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, Wildfire means “a sweeping and destructive conflagration esp. in a wilderness or a rural area.” Also according to the same dictionary, wilderness means “a tract or region uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings.” Forest Fires happen when there is a drought because branches and twigs die and dry out creating plenty of fuel for a fire. According to the NIFC (National Interagency Fire Center) there are about 105,534 wildfires that occur each year.
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
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Nomex has an outer shell, a moisture barrier, and a thermal barrier. The outer shell is water-proof and does not weigh much. The moisture barrier has strong fire resistants’ for the liquid-impermeable films to perform well. This barrier helps protect against the entrance of water, chemicals, and viral agents. This layer is also very breathable and it keeps you cool during the activity that the firefighter is performing. The thermal barrier is the most mobile layer and keeps the firefighter warm while keeping water out and making water dry very quickly. The shirt is a yellow color which is easily visible to other wildland firefighters. When the shirt is touched with fire this part of the shirt becomes darker like a brownish color and it is not able to be washed out. Over this shirt they also wear a “brush coat” which is also made of Nomex and the coat is also a bright yellow. Firemen wear them at night though because these coats are not fire-proof and will not really keep you safe. They also wear green, high-strength, fire-proof, synthetic pants also made of Nomex like the pants. The firefighters must wear 100% cotton undergarments under their fire shirt and fire pants. According to pbs.org the boots the wildland firemen wear are, “Eight-inch, lug-soled leather boots provide firefighters with
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.
There are also so many animals that go along with the damage from the fires because they are living in the middle of it and do not have any where to go. It makes sense that actions such as controlled burns should be done because so much could be prevented. Then again there are so many people who argue against them because they are a disruption to the environment. “Fire experts argue that prescribed burns are vital for reducing the risk of catastrophic blazes and restoring ecosystems that evolved with fire” (Tobin 2). If a great deal of damage could be prevented, I do not see why there should be any concern. This is especially important when you look at what more damage is done to the environment during a huge forest fire compared to on from a petite controlled burn.
For as long as mankind can conceive, fire has been a remarkable tool to conquer. When controlled, it provides necessary heat, energy, and fuel for a consumer to use; however, when fire goes unattended, it has the potential to become a wholly destructive element. The more western states of America, such as Utah and Colorado, have repeatedly experienced this concept in its most devastating form: wildfires. A wildfire is generally considered to be difficult to control and fast moving, swallowing anything that lay in its path, including forest or human habitat. As human incursion reaches more remote areas in wooded mountains, wildfires pose a serious threat to high-end homes and secluded cabins. The untamed nature of these fires also allows them to creep into subdivisions and endanger more
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.
wildfires can be very dangerous to wildlife plants people and buildings the plants help to fuel the fires and that just makes it worse than it would be in a area with a lot less brush to fuel the fire. Wildfires can be very destructive this wild fire burnt 3,000,000 acres of land that is about the size of the state
On an average they have at least one a year, usually they are fairly small. But the fire of 1988 was everything but small. The fire burned more than 150,000 acres in a single day. The Fire of Yellowstone National Park started in the month of July 1988.
Wildfire in California is a significant environmental problem that is increasing becoming more severe. Recent studies have shown that wildfire frequency, size, and area burned are all increasing in the western United States (Miller et al. 2008). The 2015 fire season set a record for the amount of acres burned in the United States with 68,151 wildfires burning 10,125,149 acres of land (Insurance Information Institute 2015). High severity wildfires have substantial environmental, economic, and human health impacts. Policy changes such as an adaptive management system of fuel reduction, as well as communication and education are essential tools in combating wildfire in California.
A wildfire is any instance of uncontrolled burning in grasslands, brush, or woodlands. Wildfires destroy property and valuable natural resources, and may threaten the lives of people and animals. Wildfires can occur at any time of the year, but usually occur during hot, dry weather. Wildfires are usually signaled by dense smoke which may fill the air for miles around. The National Weather Service, U.S. Forest Service, and State forestry agencies combine to give wildfire probability forecasts. Local radio and television stations broadcast information and warnings on local fire conditions. Wildfires pose an increasing threat to the residential United States. In 1987, 53,000 fires consumed more than two million acres. By October 1988, almost
Many people, due to simple logic, may believe that increasing deforestation will cut down on wildfires in dry conditions. If you consider it for a little while it seems to make sense. Less trees means less fuel for a fire to burn through. As said before, it’s simple logic. Except for the fact it isn’t. In fact according to Chad Hanson, commercial logging doesn’t stop wildfires, it causes them! In his article The Big Lie: Logging and Forest Fires, he wrote “Relentless clearing of forests in the Great Lakes region left huge areas largely devoid of the cooling shade of trees, replacing moist natural forest microclimates with the hotter, drier conditions characterized by stump fields.” (Hanson) He then explained that because of these dry and hot
Wildfires are a very under-acknowledged natural disaster that is often under-estimated. Wildfires can often rage on for day, weeks, months, even years. Every year, nearly 35,000 emergency services risk their lives fighting fires, and of that 35,000 people, 65 of the firefighters died. With all of these deaths, what can cause these wildfires? How
Now a days, modernization is playing a vital role in every one’s life. This technology is not only effecting human being but also Mother Nature and all species on this beautiful planets in positive and negative way. So with the help of this technology we need to reduce or try to limit the losses that happen due to disorder (or change) of Mother Nature. Todays, one of main issue on the southern part of USA is fire destruction. So we need to focus on what cause fire? Why? Where? As per study, research and field survey by many Professor, Different government department, private organizations and Geologist. They found on main grass species that cause this massive destruction in southern part of USA is Buffelgrasses [1212, 12].
Wildfires are common natural disturbances in California. If the wildfires are intense, they can affect the water quality of the impacted and surrounding area. Wildfires may alter surface runoff, promote erosion, affect infiltration, increase sediment loads into bodies of water, increase the temperature of water bodies, and increase nutrient concentrations in water systems. The resulting water quality impacts can then affect aquatic life, the operation of water treatment facilities that treat drinking water, the quality of the drinking water supply, and irrigation systems (Paige and Zygmunt 2012).
Wildfire is a huge uncontrollable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Based on the type of vegetation where it happen, there are some types of wildfires. They are grass fires, brush fires, hill fires and forest fire.
The difference between wildfires and megafires is the amount of destruction. Megafires are usually stronger, quicker and burn up to 100,000 acres of land. Regular wildfires only burn up to 70 acres. Climate change can impact the frequency of wildfires because “In a warmer environment, precipitation levels change. This means that dry conditions occur for longer periods in many locations, weakening trees. Making the problem worse, trees rely upon melting snow for moisture. Warmer conditions mean that this snow tends to melt earlier in the season, forcing trees to endure drier soil for longer periods.” (“Wildfires and Climate Change”). In conclusion, the hotter weather forces snow to melt faster off trees, putting them in a drier state for a longer period of time, making them vulnerable to a wildfire. Lastly; to sum up. If humans don’t do anything to prevent climate change, more wildfires and megafires will
Occasionally, during periods of high rain the brush would grow up and the high winds would spread the fire to the tops of the trees creating canopy fires in tress that were otherwise fire-resistant (like the Ponderosa Pine). These canopy fires, however,were not as destructive as the ones that the West is experiencing today because of how the forest was spaced out. If a canopy fire broke out in one area, it would be contained by the grassland border, and be reduced to a low intensity grass fire which would eventually burn out. This meant that some areas of forests would be severely damaged; some would experience moderate damage, while still others might not even have fire. The effect of this kind of sporadic fire was the key to maintaining the mosaic landscape of the West.