Wildfires Josh Tanner Camille Evans Victoria Taufer

Surface – Most common type and burns along the floor of the forest, moving slowly and killing or damaging trees.

Ground – Usually started by lighting and burns on or below the forest floor in the human layer down to the mineral

soil

Crown – Spread rapidly by wind and move quickly by jumping along the tops of trees.

What a Fire Needs:

Fire Triangle

How a Fire Starts:Carelessness by humans

CigarettesCampfires

ArsonLightingNatural Combustion

Inside the Fire:

Speed of flamesIntensityTemperatureFIRE!!

California Fires: Since 2007 over

271,000 acres destroyed by wildfires.

Billions of dollars spent on recovery so far.

Less expensive to fight fires than to prepare for them.

Why California’s a Hotspot?

Unnatural buildup of vegetationNative plants depend on fire for reproductionFire season begins in October because of

Santa Ana winds coming in.Little rain = dry conditions in summerVery hot climate

Up Close to the Fire:

California fire in progress

South Africa Fires: Greatest threat is to

grazing land. Extreme dry conditions

little rainfall make ideal conditions for fires.

Greatest affect on rural areas.

2008 – Most recent fire with 45 dead.

How This Affects Utah: We fit in most extreme

danger zone in the U.S. Population is greater

here than on the plains of Africa.

Need to realize the danger is REAL here!

We Can Prevent Fires:

Bad Camper 75% of fires caused by

people. Be careful and cautious

when we are outdoors. Put out ALL embers of

fires we make outdoors.

Be Prepared:

Follow local codes in order to avoid restrictions on materials and plants.

Mark driveway, house number, and make sure firefighters can get to your home.

Make a family evacuation planMake sure family knows about wildfire danger.

Not All Bad: Fires do good too:

Clear away debrisSpeeds up nutrient

recycling of soilsClears away grass &

shrubs to make way for new seedlings to grow.

Why Make a Difference: Smokey says so:

Video Keep people safe Common sense will

increase if used Keep smoke from

getting up in atmosphere.

Protect wildlife

Questions?

References:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/5-ways-wildfires-start.html http://www.disastercenter.com/guide/wildfire.html http://web.nmsu.edu/~canarago/ http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/iffn/country/za/za_8.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-13/south-african-fires-destroy-free-state-grazing-

land-sapa-says.html

http://www.grida.no/graphicslib/detail/wildfires-in-south-africa_105f# http://www.ktvb.com/news/BLM-on-average-75-of-fires-are-human-caused-127973873.html http://www.smokeybear.com/