Only about 10% of wildfires are started by lightning. The other 90% are started by human beings (Source).
Here are some interesting facts about wildfires.
Fire is such an enigmatic thing.
When it is controlled, a fire can be such a useful and comforting thing. It can keep us warm, cook our food and calm our nerves. When out of control, it is more likely to jar our nerves, consume our warming shelters, and destroy our food sources.
A WARM AND COMFORTING FIRE
When I think of a controlled and warming fire, my mind’s eye sees a glowing campfire. Who doesn’t enjoy sitting around a campfire roasting marshmallows and telling stories.
The thought of a comforting fire brings to mind an image of a fireplace with dancing flames and the family circled about it. Mom is knitting. The rest of us are reading or staring at the flames. All are drinking hot chocolate and eating popcorn. That was a while ago. Today, perhaps unfortunately, the family sitting arrangement is no longer around the fireplace but around the television set.
A RAGING AND CONSUMING FIRE
When I think of wildfires, I think of the summer when my wife and I traveled through two National Parks that were on fire. The first was Yosemite and the second was Yellowstone.
Driving through Yosemite from west to east we encountered fires on the south side of the road. We were on a west-to-east cross-country trip.
When we came to Yellowstone after having spent the night in Grand Teton National Park, we were turned back by the Park Rangers because of the fires that were raging there. We spent one more night in Grand Teton and prepared ourselves for the long detour we would have to take by turning south and circumnavigating Yellowstone.
At daybreak we broke camp and drove out of the campground to the highway. As we sat facing the bidirectional traffic, we decided on a whim to turn north toward the Yellowstone gate, instead of south. To our surprise and delight they waved us through and cautioned us about the fires, admonishing us to stay on the main roads and follow all directives given by Park Service personnel.
Unlike the fires in Yosemite, the fires in Yellowstone raged on both sides of the road and only yards from the creeping traffic. The pyrotechnic display here made Yosemite’s fires look like a weenie roast.
As we watched with a mixture of horror and fascination, tree after tree would ignite and light up like a roman candle. Embers swept over our car and over dozens of cars moving slowly in both directions as Park personnel, with observable sweat and anxiety, directed the gawking traffic.
WILDFIRES: NOT ALL BAD
The great majority human-started fires are set by carelessness or deliberate arson. It is difficult to track down an arson, because, if he is careful, he can get away with leaving few clues to his identity. It’s also difficult to find a careless motorist who has flicked a cigarette butt out the window and started a conflagration. Even finding a careless camper who let his campfire get out of control is not an easy thing.
It makes me angry when I see my Southern California skies darken with the smoke of another wild fire, knowing that 90% of all wildfires, at least in the United States, are started by humans.
But, the more I read, the more I realize that a wildfire can produce good as well as bad results.
~Lodgepole pines and their closely related jack pines have cones that release their seeds only when they are opened by fire.
~Naturally occurring fires, as well as controlled burns, clear out underbrush and help prevent even greater wildfires.
~Many animals in the food chain benefit when patches of forest are transformed by wildfires into clearings (Source) .
Scientists have learned a lot from the 1988 Yellowstone fires, the same fires my wife and I fearlessly – correction, fearfully – motored through. Because of that record-breaking fire, and others I suppose, fire management has changed, allowing more naturally-set wildfires to take their natural course (Source).
Even Smokey Bear has changed his motto to better match the more recent official views on wildfire management. His message now is no longer merely, “Only you can prevent wildfires”.
Now, in the year of his 65th birthday, he stares and points at us all, standing tall with his ranger hat, shovel in hand, looking as young as ever, and shouts, “Get your Smokey on”. Whatever that means.
I hope you enjoyed reading these interesting facts about wildfires.
by Richard Davidain, Ph.D.
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