Forest Fires – An Overview

Murali Mohan
Contents

• What are forest fires?

• How are they caused ?
• How do they affect us?
• Case Studies
• How do we fight them today?
Understanding Forest Fires:
Basics

• Definition: An uncontrolled fire in a region wholly

or in part by timber, bush, grass, grain, or
other flammable vegetation
• Also termed as peat fires, bush fires and grass
fires depending on type of vegetation being
burnt.
• Unique traits: Enormous size, high speed,
ability to change direction and jump obstacles
 The Fire Triangle

• All 3 must be present for ignition

• Fuel: Any flammable material in the
general vicinity
• Oxygen: Air supplies the oxygen Fuel
necessary for flames
• Heat Source: Helps perpetuate the fire Fire
and heats fuel to the necessary Triangle
temperature for ignition
Heat
Oxygen
Source
 Fire Behaviour

• Topography - As heat rises in front of the fire, it more

effectively preheats and dries upslope fuels
• Weather - Extended periods of low relative humidity and
high winds can quickly dry fuels.
• Extended drought periods leave fuels with very low
moisture content
Forest Fires – Different Types
Causes

• >80% are manmade on average

• Natural • Manmade (5.4 million acres -
• Lightning 2011)
• Volcanoes • Arson
• Rockslide Sparks • Agricultural burns
• Campfires
• Power generation
Case Studies : 1997
Indonesian Forest Fires

• Duration – June 1997 – March 1998

• Land Area Affected – 11 million
Hectares
• Cause – Slash and burn, peatlands
conversion to oil palm/ fast-
growing tree plantations
• Drought Year
• Released 0.81-2.57 gigatons of
Carbon into the atmosphere
Case Studies : 2019
Amazon Fires

• Lungs of the world, >10% of all oxygen

produced here
• Duration – Jan 2019 – Oct 2019
• Land Area Affected – 5.7 million sqkm
• Cause – Land Clearing for crops or cattle
 Case Studies : Black
Saturday Bush fires 2009

• Dates: 7 Feb 2009 to 14 March 2009

• Land Affected : 450,000 hectare
• Cause : Lightning, Powerlines, Arson,
Heat wave
• 200+ Casualities
 How they affect us
Adverse Effects
 Loss of valuable timber resources
 Adverse impact on health
 Impact of forest fire on eco-system
 Loss off wildlife habitat and depletion of wildlife
 Global Warming
 Soil Erosion

Fires aren't all bad

 Serotiny: seed germination from fire exposure aka pyriscence
 Clears out underbrush
 Reduces competition
 Kills disease within forests
 Brings in new generations
How to Fight them

Fire Suppression
 overfilling the edge of the creeping fire;
 With solutions of fire suppression chemicals;
 laying of mineralized strips and ditches;
 clean burn
Prevention
 Agreement on Land use policies
 Support for research into understanding causes, fire detection systems
 Education programs and spreading awareness
Sources

• http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/141729/francis-fukuyama/america-in-decay
• http://www.smokeybear.com/wildfires.asp
• http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r1/learning/history-culture/?cid=stelprdb5350165
• http://www.arborday.org/replanting/firecauses.cfm
• http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/wildfires/
• http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=36220
• http://wildfiretoday.com/tag/statistics/
• http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/wildlandfire.htm
• http://www.fire.ca.gov/communications/downloads/fact_sheets/TheBenefitsofFire.pdf
• http://headwaterseconomics.org/wildfire/fire-cost-background
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildfire
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Forest_Service