Wild Land Firefighting Essay

As to actually fighting fire, Wildfires are crazy unpredictable, the factors the drive the fire could change in an instant an kill you and your whole

The National Park Service communicates with surrounding areas to help prevent fires. They also have specialists to investigate when a burn ban needs to be in effect, this is all depending on certain reasons and moisture content in the area Angie (2006). Firefighters fight wildfires by depriving them of one or more of the fire trio basics. Traditional methods include water drenching and spraying fire retardants to

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

The Yellowstone volcano has the potential to destroy all life on Earth. I believe that the volcano will erupt because the Yellowstone volcano is still active. The volcano has not erupted any time recently, and could make it even more dangerous the longer it stays dormant. If it does erupt, how would it wipe out the population on Earth? Will this event be significant to our generation? What are some of the statistics on the Yellowstone volcano? Is there a way to prevent the eruption? If we can’t stop it where would it be safe during the eruption? How will this huge eruption effect plantlife? What would happen after the eruption?

Policies regarding the handling of wildland fires continue to change and evolve as new information is learned each fire season. Attitudes have changed between complete wildland fire suppression to no suppression at all. We now seem to have reached a balance between the two schools of thought and fall somewhere in the middle.

In the summer of 1910 Northern Idaho and Western Montana were hit by what seemed like a never ending series of destructive forest fires. With the spring bringing hardly any rainfall and drying winds from the Columbia plains, creeks began to disappear and the montane forests became dry. Intense heat along with high winds and dry vegetation create the perfect environment for forest fires. In June and July several dry electric storms hit the mountains and fires began to develop in isolated corners of the forest. The U.S. Forest Service which had just been developed in 1905 consisted of forest rangers on horseback climbing the mountains and protecting the forest from fires (Bergoffen, 1976). As the

On August 21, 1910, at four pm, a massive wild fire broke out. This Great Fire of 1910, also known as the Big Blowup, spread from Wallace, Idaho to western Montana and into a small amount of Washington. The Great Fire of 1910 lasted for two days and spread because of hurricane winds that shot trees up like flying torpedos ( Quinn ). The cause of the fire was from leftover timber that was heated up from the sparks of the railroad nearby. The timber was from campers, loggers, and homesteaders. The wild fire destroyed over three million acres of forest. Also, 1910 was the driest year and Idaho didn’t get rain since May ( Jamison ). One of the lead firefighters saved all but six of his men while finding safety in an

"There was no damn horse fast enough in the country to keep ahead of that fire.” (546). In 1910, the US Forestry Service was in its infancy. Teddy Roosevelt had put Gifford Pinchot in charge of the foundling agency. For instance during the Presidency of William Taft, his term in office he denied the service and the manpower and resources needed to actually protect the growing quantity of land held in public trust. Then, without notice a drought-parched lands of eastern Washington, western Montana and northern Idaho, the greatest forest fire in U.S. history sparked a major change in public consciousness. This is the Big Burn of 1910.

The increase in high severity fires is largely due to historical and current fire suppression policies. Federal forest-fire management in the United States began in 1886 following the creation of the national parks, and the passage of the federal Clarke-McNary Act in 1924 began a national fire suppression regime (Stephens and Ruth 2005). Suppression of low severity fires allows surface and ladder fuels to accumulate, contributing to high severity crown fires. Today, 98-99% of all wildland fires are suppressed at less than 0.5 acres in size. Of the 4.5 million acres of land once burned on California, only 6% of this area is burned today. Fire suppression investment is still increasing with 3 billion more dollars invested in fire suppression since 2013. This investment has not prevented increases in the size or frequency of high intensity fires (Stephens 2014). There is currently no comprehensive policy that works to manage fire

The focus of this lesson will be teaching the students to examine the history of wildland fires and their impact on society in America and in their community. Students will explore different approaches to living with fire and will examine various fire management techniques including prescribed fire, fire suppression, and fire prevention. They will take a closer look at the Copper King Fire in Montana, and will conduct a research project of wildfire history in another state. Students will also gain a better understanding of the role of fire in a particular culture and the importance of wildfire in the ecosystem. They will also understand ways to reduce wildfire risk around their home and community. Furthermore, students will increase their knowledge

Wildfires have been increasing in size and severity over the recent decades. These large fires are burning with substantial amounts of high severity, resulting in significant carbon losses over large scales (Ffolliott, 2008). Wildfires have many environmental and social impacts from the fire and will extend for many years into the future. With the loss of infrastructure, damage to ecosystem services, and loss of crucial habitat for the Mexican spotted owl were all recorded during the fire (Center for Biological Diversity, 2003). Yet they don’t count the losses of the endangered animals in the cost of the fires. Not only was the Mexican spotted owls greatly impacted by the fire, but so was the goshawk, and the old-growth ponderosa pine endangered

An understanding of how fires, wildfires in particular, work was a fundamental part in learning how to fight fires properly. This understanding entailed knowing what makes a fire a fire, what could cause a fire, what hinders and aids a fire’s growth, what different types of fire there are, and the characteristics of said types. Without the basic understanding of these things, it would have made the evolution of aerial firefighting next to impossible.

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).

Every year, Canada experiences a hotter and drier summer due to the temperature increases in the world. In fact, this past summer has been one of the hottest summers that British Columbia has ever experienced with temperatures rising as high as 30.9 degrees Celsius. With such high temperatures, rainfall had also fallen dramatically. The summer of 2016 had the lowest rainfall ever for Vancouver, Victoria, and Kelowna combined. A total of 24.2 millimeters of rain fell in these three cities combined, down from the average of 88.5 millimeters. What happens when you get hot temperatures and low rainfall? Forest fires have free reign over our forests. The first example that comes to mind is Fort McMurray fire. This devastating fire destroyed almost 10% of the city, spanning more than 500,000 hectares, and leaving thousands without a place to live. With the temperatures still rising in the foreseeable future, forest fires are without a doubt one of the biggest threats to the forests of British Columbia.

What is the single most environmental issue that is plaguing the eastern half of the world? The raging fires in Indonesia and Asia. These fires are releasing more CO2 and other toxic chemicals in a few months than most countries do all year. The fires are also producing a thick smoky haze that is clouding the entire area. What is the exact cause of this problem? Scientists are quick to point out several causes, but one that is standing out is the defiant act of setting ablaze fields for the use of farmland.