Introduction of a Fire

Changing Fire Seasons

• fire seasons are getting worse (more acreage burned per season)
• fires are getting larger (average fire size is increasing)

How To Make A Fire

• C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O + heat
• basically the opposite of photosynthesis
• need 3 things:

  
  1. oxygen
  2. heat
  3. fuel

• when one of those things are removed, the fire can’t burn
• need 3 things:

  
  1. oxygen → very common (21% of atmosphere)

     
     1. hard to stop fire by removing oxygen because oxygen is everywhere
  2. heat → fires often occur during the summer, especially during droughts
  3. fuel → the limiting factor

     
     1. usually this will be the stopping factor of a fire because it runs out eventually

How To Fight A Fire

• remove of these three things:

  
  1. oxygen → red-orange viscous fluid dropped from air tankers coats the vegetation
  2. heat → spray with water
  3. fuel → bulldoze or remove the vegetation

     
     1. removing vegetation in the path of the fire can fight a fire because no more vegetation can burn if it is removed

Causes

• natural causes: lightning
• human causes: debris-burning, electrical power, vehicle, equipment use, arson, campfire, playing with fire, smoking, miscellaneous (fireworks, glass refraction)
    * debris-burning is the most common cause and electrical power is second most common
• many occur die to natural causes, but most are caused by human activities