Wildfire Prevention
INTRODUCTION Wildfire is one of the most devastating natural forces on earth. ... alone (Wildfire Facts). ... Wildfire is an erratic force which affects all living organisms. Ironically, the only way to lessen the destruction of wildfire is by fire itself, in the form of prescribed burning. ... Wildfire burns at such a high temperature and on such a large scale that the positive post-burn effects are no longer present. METHODS OF FIGHTING WILDFIRE Fire requires three ingredients (also known as the fire triangle): heat, oxygen, and fuel. ... There are two basic methods of fighting wildfire: suppression and prescribed burning. Suppression is simply the practice of extinguishing a wildfire when it occurs (though it is seldom a simple task). ... Prescribed fire is the controlled and planned ignition of a set area of forest that could potentially fuel a wildfire. ... By planning all these elements before the fire is ignited, the blaze will rarely turn into a wildfire. ... The purpose of a prescribed burn is to remove fuel build-up that could fund a larger wildfire, and to reap the positive ecological effects that fire brings. ... Prescribed burning is the only way to prevent wildfire. ... Dealing with problems as they come up is hardly an effective strategy; prevention is the key. ... DRAWBACKS OF FIRE SUPPRESSION The cost of extinguishing a large wildfire is tremendous. ... Clearly, suppression alone is not the solution to the problem of wildfire. ... Some fear that a prescribed burn may escape and become wildfire. ... However, even if a fire were to escape its bounds, it would be less damaging than a subsequent wildfire would be. ... If fire teams spot a problem area and decide to do a controlled burn, which then escapes, the following wildfire will be much easier to extinguish than an even larger wildfire that would have eventually happened some time later when fuels had built up even further. ... Wildfire smoke pollution is not a major problem; exposure to smoke in the air can cause minor respiratory irritation. The amount of smoke created from a prescribed burn is much less than what would be emitted from an enormous wildfire. ... As populations increase in and around forested areas, dealing with wildfire becomes even more problematic.