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Cause and effects of forest fires
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Natural causes of forest fire
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The haze began to cover each city as if it were a warning as the wildfires of New South Wales (NSW) raged on and grew. This warning was only the beginning to what would occur. The wildfires of NSW began following the scientific process of wildfires, continuing with effects across the country, and led to responses from the nation with mitigation effects.
Before recalling the events of the NSW, how a wildfire starts needs to be explained. Wildfires are defined as an uncontrolled fire that occurs when the process of pyrolysis begins. When pyrolysis occurs a series of reactions break down compounds of chemicals thus starting a fire from heat, fuel, and oxygen combined. Once these three components combine, an object will heat up, which ignites
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The temperatures had reached the mid-30°C and wind speeds around 90kph, leading to the fire in the area to start spreading. Another fire began from the sparks of a downed power line which then spread across farther distances by engulfing the areas’ vegetation. The third fire came from an explosive training mishap by the Australian Defense Force in the State Mine region: these three sparks, fueled by the dry live fuel and wind gusts, allowed the fires to spread (“NSW Bushfires…” 2013). The area was suffering from a drought causing dry vegetation, which allowed the fire to rage until October 28th before firefighters made headway (Murphy 2013). At its high there were 100 fires that the NSW Rural Fire Service were fighting. To ease the damage, firefighters from the surrounding areas came in to assist the teams in extinguishing the fires (“NSW Bushfires: Live Updates” 2013). Finally, cooler weather allowed authorities to handle the fires and on November 13 they were declared controlled (“Bushfire New South Wales” 2013). In the end, the only thing left were the effects on
Australia is currently the driest continent in the world and has a vast history of fire to prove it. Bushfires in the Adelaide Hills were first described and recorded in 1827, and have occurred at frequent intervals since that time. Fire weather can reach extremes in places such as Rudall River National Park in NW Western Australia. Temperatures are often above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), dew points can drop to —37 degrees Celsius, and the winds, uninhibited by trees, can reach speeds of 50-60 km/h (31-37 mph) at any given time in the year. The fuels there may appear to be completely dead, and gaps between plants may be a meter or more (Gill, 1995). In 1966 a massive fire at Brooyar, Queensland had flame heights of 20-25 meters (65-82 feet). In addition to being devastating, the fires are also very unpredictable. A bushfire in the Baulkham Hills in January of 1975 completely destroyed property and some homes, while leaving others untouched. Serious fires occur in the Dandenog Ranges at frequent intervals, and housing there has always been a difficult problem with fire control [3]. Fire has also been used for centuries as an important tool for land management (O’Neill, 1993).
Several fires spanned the county and created the devastation. The first fire dubbed the Harris Ranch Fire started 9:23 am October 21, 2007 in the South Eastern portion of the county. Was determined to have been started by an illegal campfire, and moved North West fanned by the winds. The fires continued to start in differing areas of the county over a 72 hour period, some sparked by downed power-lines, and suspicious circumst...
The Mann Gulch wildfire was a tragic event that took the lives of 13 firefighters who had jumped into the area to battle the fast-moving fire. The tragedy was a severe hit to the Forest Service, which had not experienced a death during a decade of smoke jumping (Rothermel, 1993). Along with the horrific deaths, Rothermel (1993) states the Mann Gulch fire had serious consequences for the Forest Service and its research branch. The fire disaster changed the landscape of wildfire firefighting. Due to the tragedy, the Forest Service would establish new training techniques and improved safety measures for its firefighters and smokejumpers along with more emphasis on fire research and the science of fire behavior (Lehman, 2009). With the training and research, better firefighting techniques and equipment evolved (Lehman, 2009). The analysis will evaluate how the firefighters
The Tanami Desert is located in the Northern Territory in Australia. It is mostly consisted of sandy plains, but also anthills, termite mounds, rocky outcrops, sand dunes and salt lakes. There are around 350 people who live in the Tanami Desert. Lots of rain ir produced, but being in the northern part of Australia means high temperatures, meaning the rain evaporates more quickly, making it dryer. With there being a lot of dry grasslands, a higher chance of any fires happening. “But it’s not life threatening,” stated Caddie Brain, who is a journalist. Fires are created in many different ways, such as lightning, humans, accidentally or on purpose (Source Not Found). In the Tanami Desert, fire is mostly joined by
To begin with, during the year of 1870 and 1871 Chicago was facing extreme drought. During that time period the city of Chicago was built mostly from wood, making everything extremely flammable. Richard Bales author of “The Great Chicago Fire” states in an online article, “October 8, 1871, just after nine o'clock, a fire broke out in the barn behind the home of Patrick and Catherine O'Leary at 13 DeKoven Street. How the fire started is still unknown today, but an O'Leary cow often gets the credit.” Although we are not certain what and how the fire started, we know that it quickly spread. Legends say that the O’Leary’s cow knocked over one of the fire lamps therefore starting this massive fire. You might be asking yourself, how is it possible for a small fire to spread so quickly? “Hot air rose from the flames and mixed with the cool air above it, creating convection whirls. Witnesses called them "fire devils." A fire devil could pick up a burning piece of wood and send it flying. New fires started where the flaming objects landed. (McHugh)” Firefighters were exhausted from fighting a large fire the night before; and were sent to the wrong neighborhood at first. After finally arrivin...
Why was mrs. O’Leary in the barn at night, how did pegleg Sullivan Run 200 feet, these are just a couple of the flaws that determines how the Chicago fire started. Have you ever considered that maybe something else caused the Chicago fire, in these paragraphs you will learn that natural causes caused the great Chicago fire of 1871. Imagine hot ashes from a previous house, now a pile of debris. But then a strong gust of wind blows the hot ashes up into the air, but falls back down to the hard wooden sidewalks. Infusing with the dust from the drought making making it scratchy, then another gust of wind comes and the hot ashes scrape against a building which sparked the fire.
The difference between a fire that is warm and friendly and one that is ferociously hot and destructive is size. A small fire in a campsite can take the edge off the cool night air, and a raging forest fire can destroy a thousand acres in a few hours. Fire has been one of our most important tools on our journey from the beginning of time to the present day. It also poses a severe threat to mankind if it is not controlled. Children often experiment with fire. Any time a child starts a fire he endangers himself and the people around him. Juvenile arson happens on a routine basis, and has very outreaching consequences. Fires statistics reported by fire departments in 2003, show that children started approximately forty-two thousand fires, causing an estimated one-hundred sixty-five civilian deaths, nineteen hundred civilian injuries and two-hundred seventy-two million dollars in direct property damage (United States Fire Administration, 2004). The price that society pays for juvenile-set fires is extremely high. Tragically, the lives of the very children setting the fires account for most of the lives that are lost.
Prescribed fires are a well debated topic. While many people support them because they "help prevent" more wildfires, and they are "controlled," I see from a different point of view. There's a reason most building don't allow smoking within a certain distance of the building. Many people don't like it and it can damage their health. Same thing with prescribed fires. They add more pollution to the air we breathe. I know a lot of people support these kinds of fires because the help control fuels, but there are other ways.
Historically, firefighters have been are our modern day first responders and are the most courageous and loyal people in today’s society. One issue buzzing around the media, however, is that fire departments are going over budget extinguishing wildfires. The definition of a wildfire is a large destructive fire that spreads quickly over woodland or brush. To put out any sort of fire, you need to take away any of the three components that fuel it, which include heat, oxygen, and fuel. What most civilians do not know is that most wildfires do have the potential to extinguish themselves, which saves money, health risks and resources. So why are firefighters still spending money to put wildfires out? Due to the overspending on limited natural resources and taxpayer’s money, the fire service should alter their approach on extinguishing naturally started fires, or wildfires.
It is so sad to see the horror of forest fires and how they corrupt our beautiful land. So much damage comes out of what started so small. At least 603 square miles of land were burned in the early stages of the Arizona fire only a couple of years ago (BBC 2). In a Colorado fire 2.3 million acres had been burned (BBC 3). That land could have been saved if the use of prescribed burns had been in the area.
Human beings cause most wildfires, directly or indirectly. In the United States lightning, the only truly natural cause is responsible for less than 10% of all such fires. In the West, lightning is the primary cause, with smoking (cigarettes, matches, and such) the second most frequent. Combined they account for 50 to 75% of all wildfires. In the “13 southern states (Virginia to Texas) the primary cause is arson; this combined with smoking and debris burning makes up 75% of all wildfires” (Perry, 1994). The other causes of wildfires are machine use and campfires. Machine use includes railroads, logging, sawmills, and other operations using equip...
Combustion is a rapid, continuous reaction that usually takes place in the gas phase. Wood is an organic compound primarily comprised of cellulose. For wood, the phase change from a solid to gas is almost instantaneous as combustion occurs (Coleman, et al. 95). Ignition occurs when an outside source is no longer needed to sustain combustion (Coleman, et al. 87).
Fire at any level can be devastating, yet the effects that wildfires have on every worldwide country really has left its mark on the land. As written by world renowned wild fire spokesperson Smokey the Bear, “Every year, wildfires sweeps through parts of the United States setting wilderness and homes ablaze. On average these raging infernos destroy about four to five million acres of land a year. But in 2012, wildfire burned more than 9.3 million acres, an area about the size of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined” (U.S. Wildfires). Destroying homes, crops, towns and of course forests. Yet the effects of these fires can be seen from a negative perspective as well as some positive. Plus there are natural causes as well as manmade that makes these destructive fires erupt and become almost unstoppable in seconds.
The Forest fire is occurring very frequently nowadays, reasons for it are a heavy increase in global warming and an increase in temperature.
Wildfires are catastrophic disasters that destroy everything in their path. “A wildfire (also known as forest fire, grass fire, vegetation fire, etc) is an uncontrolled fire often occurring in wild land areas, but which can also consume houses or agricultural resources.” (Wildfire.) The causes of wildfires are mostly intentional, negligence or accidents and natural causes. Wildfires have three distinct phases: Initiation, propagation, and extinction. This phenomenon affects our ecosystem, such as air and earth. In addition, people who witness this kind of catastrophe in the lower cases they lose belongings as houses or cars, but they can also lose their lives. There are many campaigns that help prevent these phenomena, but they need the help of the entire community. It is very important take care of not cause an accident. Wildfire is a phenomenon very common on these days causing a terrible damage to our environment and we have to prevent its expansion through our help, cooperation and prudence...