The Impacts of Wildfires

Emmanuel Harley

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Table of Contents
Abstract 3
Wildfire Impact 3
The Good 3
The Bad 3
The Effects of Wildfires 4
Effects on Citizens and Animals 4
Effects on Environment 4

Solution to Wildfires 5
Public Awareness 5
Help of the Citizens 5
Wildland Fire Suppression 6

Significance of the Solution 6

Conclusion 6
References 7

Figures
Figure 1 - The average number of acres burned since 1983 4
Figure 2 - A wildfire destroying the environment 5

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Abstract
It is known that fires have been around forever and can occur anywhere, at any time. All it
takes is fuel, oxygen, and heat to make a fire start. Wildfires have also been around forever
dating back to approximately 419 million years during the Silurian period. The wildland attracts
campers, habitat for many plants and animals, and many people live in various areas. Having a
protected wildland is important for both people and animals. Having a wilderness can be
beautiful, relaxing, and fun for camping or hiking; however, it can fully be destroyed by
wildfires. This document will examine the causes of wildfires, effect on geography and living
organisms, how raising public awareness contributes, and a solution for slowing down these
violent wildfires. The goal is to eventually stop all uncontrollable wildfires.

Wildfire Impact
The Good

While wildfires can be very dangerous; however, they have many advantages towards the
environment. Wildfires can stop an overgrowth of trees especially tall trees which helps brings
sunlight onto plants and ground vegetation. It also helps bring new habitat zones whenever a
forest is old and dying. Another advantage is that wildfires are better for a forest since there are
insects that infect the trees. Infestation leads to diseases affecting humans.

The Bad
There are many factors that causes wildfires such as human beings and nature. According to
Conserve Energy Future(2020), “90% of the wildfires in the U.S. are caused by people. “When
humans burn debris, leave campfire unattended, dropped cigarettes, use of flammable liquids, or a
committed act of arson, a wildfire is subject to occur. It’s crazy how something so small can turn out into
an uncontrollable fire. Dry lighting and climate, and volcanic eruption are natural causes of a wildfire.
When there’s no precipitation during lighting strike, this increases the chance pf a wildfire due to the
dryness. An example would be a tree struck by lightning which ten produces a spark. Volcanic eruptions
are already known as highly destructive natural disasters; however, the hot lava from the volcano can
cause a wildfire if it reaches a forest. Each year 72,400 wildfires clear 7 million acres of U.S land each
year since 2000. Wildfires mainly occur in rural areas with tons of land.

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 Figure 1: The number of wildfires since 1983.

Wildfires have been steadily increasing since 1983 which bring us to the conclusion that
no one has found a solution to stop these wildfires.

The Effects of Wildfires

Effects on Citizens and Animals
Wildfires can cause devasting effects on citizens and animals. Citizens can lose their homes if
caught by wildfire which also can cause death if not paying close attention to your surrounding
area. A house can cost thousands and sometimes millions of dollars which is a huge loss to
whoever is affected. Also, the people fighting the fire may lose their life if they’re not cautious
fighting against it. Imagine starting all over from ground zero because of a fire. Another effect
of wildfires is that the ashes/smoke poses serious health threats to humans suffering medical
problems. A big fire can cause the air to become heavily polluted over large radius which can
cause future health problems. Workers such as farmer who work in the agricultural fields may
be at risk due to loss of land which can take years to get back. Animals such as birds, squirrels,
and other wildlife animals can lose their lives and families if caught in a wildfire. If animals are
caught in these wildfires, certain animals are subject to extinction.

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Effects on Environment
The main effect that wildfires have on the environment is destroyed soil. Soil is a main nutrient
for Earth. Plants, trees, and famers are main users of soil. Plants and trees produce oxygen for
human to breathe which is a loss for living organisms such as humans. Then if plants can’t grow
then animals can eat. Every organism in the food chain is depending on another source.
Whenever firefighters use water to combat these wildfires, they use water to put out the fires;
however, excessive amounts of water can cause erosion in the ground which effects soil.

Figure 2:
A
wildfire destroying the environment

Solution to Wildfires
Public Awareness
To effectively reduce the amounts of wildfires that are caused, it is important to raise public
awareness to the communities that are at high risk to wildfires. Citizens will continue to break
the rules and regulations if they’re not already aware of them. Raising public awareness on
social media platforms will help limited the probability of a wildfire starting caused by a citizen.
Social media is at its all time highest and such information can be spreaded quickly.

Help of the Citizens

Citizens are the main causes of wildfires. These are some solutions that us humans should
consider when you’re in high-risk locations of a wildfire. There should be signs distributed over
various entry points of a forest for citizens to read. They should be able to follow the right local
regulations and laws when burning a fire. Fires are more prone to occur depending on the time
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of the year. Keeping up to date with weather forecasts is also very important because
conditions such as high winds can cause wildfires if someone decides to burn something. That
information provided on social media plus a sign can help tremendously. Preventing the usage
of cigarettes in areas of high risk of wildfires could help reduce the probability of a wildfire. One
small spark can cause a destructive disaster. Lastly, it’s important for a citizen to understand
not to burn materials that are very combustible in a campfire is important because it can cause
an even more rapid spread of a wildfire.

Wildland Fire Suppression

Firefighters, the community, and the government can also help slow down or put out wildfires.
A lead plane can drop retardant on wildfire and can be used for conducting surveys over the
affected and nearby areas. Then we can organize crews such firefighters try control the
wildfires on ground by spraying water and using hands tool to dig out the fire lines.

Significance of the Solution

Once public awareness of proper fire safety reaches campus/hikers then they would be
conscious of how bad one decision can destroy a beautiful forest and its surrounding
environment. Social media will be able help Inform campers and hikers on how to properly hike
and use proper fire safety. Secondly, the citizens being able to know what can cause a
disastrous wildfire is major for stopping this wildfire crisis. Then having the firefighters and
government do their job if a wildfire does breakout is important. Overall, keeping the forest,
animals, and people is crucial on Earth.

Conclusion
Although wildfires are conveyed as destructive disasters, they can help the environment when
they’re control fully. We have to make sure we follow rules and regulations to prevent wildfires
from occurring. The government raising more public awareness will also help decreased the
probability of a wildfire occurring. Natural disasters are something we can’t control; however,
it’s our job to stop them. If wildfire keep occurring then the citizens, animals, and the
environment are subject to death and serious losses. Possibly even extinction. These
regulations and rules must be followed in our high-risk areas to prevent these dangerous
wildfires.

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References

Effects, P. N. (2017, September 21). Positive and negative effects of Wildfires - Essay and speech. Positive Negative

Effects. https://www.positivenegativeeffects.com/wildfires#:%7E:text=Positive%20effects%20of

%20Wildfires%3A%201%20In%20a%20lot,includes%20rebuilding%20and%20rehabilitation%20of%20that

%20area.%20

R. (2020a, May 14). Causes, Effects and Brilliant Solutions to Growing Problem of Wildfires. Conserve Energy

Future. https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-effects-and-solutions-of-wildfires.php

R. (2020b, May 14). Causes, Effects and Brilliant Solutions to Growing Problem of Wildfires. Conserve Energy

Future. https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-effects-and-solutions-of-wildfires.php

Stanford University. (2021, March 25). Wildfire solutions. Stanford News.

https://news.stanford.edu/2021/03/23/wildfire-solutions/

USAFacts. (2021, September 15). How many wildfires occur in the US? https://usafacts.org/articles/how-many-

wildfires-occur-in-the-us/

Wildfire Prevention: How To Prevent & Control Forest Fires. (2021, September 24). EARTH OBSERVING SYSTEM.

https://eos.com/blog/wildfire-prevention/