Historical Fire Management Practices On The City Of The State Of Victoria

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

Aboriginal land use practices centred on the sustainable use of the land. Aboriginal Australians practiced a form of agriculture known as ‘fire stick agriculture’. This involved utilizing fire to hunt animals, by setting fire to vegetation to draw prey into the open. Doing this also increased the availability of new grass and vegetation to feed animals. Minerals from the burnt vegetation are absorbed into the soil, increasing its fertility and therefore the abundance of vegetation in the area. Ensuring that there was enough feed for animals in the wild allowed Indigenous Australians to maintain population levels of the species they hunted in a sustainable manner for thousands of years.

The ground cover consisted of graminoids, low shrubs, plant litter and mosses. What is to be expected after a low intensity burn is for the ground cover to act as a fuel and be dramatically reduced, while the canopy mostly survives. Higher intensity burns act to destroy the acacia cover along with the ground cover, and to kill the eucalypts. Both trees have survival mechanisms however. The acacias have tolerant seedlings that are triggered to grow after a fire to replace the short lived adults (Maslin, 2001). Eucalypts instead tolerate the fire, using lignotubers and epicormic buds to recover from within the dead tree. Lignotubers act as a hardy nutrient storage at the base of the trunk that can sprout new stems after a fire, while the epicormic buds on the trunk and branches allow the tree to continue growth from the dead trunk (Drake et al

In the document entitled “Overgrown or Unsightly Premises” by Gladstone Regional Council, the land can become a breeding ground or a place of rest for vermin such as rats, mosquitoes, especially in wet seasons, which would nest in these tall grasses. This, therefore, would result in mosquito borne diseases such as leptospirosis, malaria, dengue among others and also become a problem for surrounding residents as they are now prone to these diseases. In the dry season, these trees and bushes are the perfect fire hazards that can assist in the spreading of the fire even quicker than fire fighters could possible put it out due to them been

The Burnt Area of Mount Pilot contains mixed stands of competing, seedlings with slower growing Callitris seedlings and re-sprouting Eucalyptus trees. There is few Callitris endlicheri, as the species is fire sensitive and often destroyed by fire, particularly when in quick succession. Prior to the 2003 fire the site was dominated by Callitris species of tree. The seedlings that emerged were mostly Eucalyptus, with less dense Callitris seedlings proving that the growth of Callitris is not consistent with long term site suitability. Surprisingly, more Eucalyptus seedlings died in the first six years of regeneration that Callitris seedlings; competition in co-existence does not determine survivability. The major trend is that the growth of Eucalyptus seedlings is faster than that of Callitris seedlings. The density of Eucalyptus seedlings is shown to effect Callitris seedlings growth which thrives where Eucalyptus seedlings are sparser. Callitris may take 7-15 years to produce sufficient seeds (Cohn, Lunt, Ross, & Bradstock, 2011; I. Lunt, Jones, N., & Petrow, M.,, 2003; I. Lunt, Price, J.,, 2016; Ian D Lunt, Zimmer, & Cheal, 2011; Zimmer, 2012).

or such a popular growing city was if fate for a disaster to occur. The great city of Chicago a fast growing city. Chicago's summer and fall in 1871 were unusually dry, with only one-fourth the normal amount of rain falling between July and October. Many of the city's wooden buildings and sidewalks had dried out in the summer's intense heat. Chicago's summer and fall in 1871 were unusually dry, with only one-fourth the normal amount of rain falling between July and October. Many of the city's wooden buildings and sidewalks had dried out in the summer's intense heat. Pollution in the city was a problem leaving the city river oily. In October 1871, dry weather and an abundance of wooden buildings, streets and sidewalks made Chicago vulnerable to fire.

The fire began as the result of an out-of-control campfire, and because of high wind and drought conditions which resulted in low fuel-moisture spread relatively quickly for an upland fire in the southeastern United States, although not to the scale of western wildfires. Even though the 2000 Linville Gorge fire was mainly a surface fire, the fire burned 4,000 hectares of wilderness area, and forced local management agencies to start paying more attention to upland ecosystems that were not previously thought to be fire-dependent. Considering the magnitude of the fire, it was fortunate that no human lives or homes were lost in the inferno. Vegetative studies show that Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia), an evergreen shrub, reproduced much faster than other understory species (Dumas, Neufeld, & Fisk, 2007). This is attributed to its ability to resprout following a fire. The Linville Gorge Fire has been significant in shaping Southeastern fire mitigation in that it gave foresters an opportunity to study oak-pine forests that had not seen fire for over 50

The fire had destroyed the grasslands and trees that grew along the canyons of the

Melbourne is located in the south-eastern part of mainland Australia, within the state of Victoria. Geologically, it is built on the confluence of Quaternary lava flows to the west, Silurian mudstones to the east, and Holocene sand accumulation to the southeast along Port Phillip. The southeastern suburbs are situated on the Selwyn fault which transects Mount Martha and Cranbourne.

At around 0030 11/16/16 I Sr. Officer Chad Stephenson of Siena Heights University (SHU) Department of Public Safety (DPS) was approached by resident student Stanley Saunders to report that his jacket was stolen out of his dorm room 409 on 11/15/16 between 1400-2300. Saunders stated that after he come back from a meeting at around 1230 he took his jacket off and but it on his bed. Then at around 1400 the left his room to go and hung out with some friends, when he came back at around 2300 he noticed his jacket was missing. Saunders searched his room, and talked with his roommates to see if any of them seen it but they all said no. The jacket is described as an Black North Face theremoball full zip up and is a size XL, Saunders states that he only bought it around a month ago.

The rising number of high severity wildfires in California has significant ecological, economic, and health impacts. Many western American forests are adapted to frequent low severity fires. However, the majority of these forests, and particularly the mixed conifer forests of California, are not adapted to high intensity fires and do not possess fire resistance adaptations such as serotinous cones to protect seeds. Consequently, high severity fires have significant negative impacts on California forests, and the absence of low severity fires has considerably altered many fundamental ecosystem processes (Miller et al. 2008). Prior to 1900, low severity fires would burn every 6-15 years. Low severity fires are generally non-lethal, have minimal change to the overstory, and kill mainly small trees. In the past, these fires were started naturally by lightning, or by Native Americans who used low severity fires to manage the forests.

Humans have been changing the Western forests' fire system since the settlement by the Europeans and now we are experiencing the consequences of those changes. During the summer of 2002, 6.9 million acres of forests was burnt up in the West (Wildland Fires, 1). This figure is two times the ten year annual average, and it does not look like next summer will be any better (Wildfire Season, 1).

What is known is that humans used fire for a variety of purposes, such as agriculture and hunting. Humans learned that if a forest was cleared of undergrowth, it was easier to hunt for animals in the forest. In the Australia of 50,000 years ago, there were large animals – termed the megafauna – that the indigenous people hunted for food. Soon after humans arrived on the continent, however, the megafauna disappeared. There are several possible reasons for the extinction. One particularly dramatic one is that humans’ extreme use of fire, perhaps uncontrolled, caused the climate to become more arid, and making it impossible for some megafauna to survive. Possibly, the plants that were their sustenance were destroyed. Some animals – such as a large, emu-like bird – were hunted to extinction. (NPR) The climate of most of Australia is still arid.

The first experience I had was travelling through an area called Baynton about 100kms north east of Melbourne early in 2009. It was about 6 weeks after the Black Saturday bushfires devastated the whole region, driving through was incredibly eerie and unsettling. Everything was black and charred, in the paddocks there was no grass, no fences, all the trees were burnt trunks, no foliage at all was present. There were no animals grazing in the paddocks, no wildlife was visible and no green anywhere. Fire is a natural part of life as my friend told me that day, trees will grow again, fences can be mended, the animals and wildlife will return. People are what matter, thankfully no one lost their lives in the region I travelled that day. Seeing the devastation reminded me the power of nature and how there are still many natural occurrences that mankind cannot control or master. Speaking with residents (personal communication, March, 2009), similar and consistent observations were made that bushfire

Forests have covered the earth for millions of years, providing habitat and food for animals and humans. These forests have stabilized different ecosystems and have continued the natural cycle that keeps plants and animals in check. The discovery of fire changed all of this. It was the beginning of deforestation, a process that has continued and increased over the last 200,000 years. Humans are the responsible party for the deforestation that has occurred. Humans discovered that animals could be driven with fire. This led to accelerated forest loss due to uncontrolled burning for hunting use (Miller & Tangley 1991: 28). Agriculture was the next problem