A wildfire commonly occurs in wildland regions and is often uncontrolled. The other terms for this are wildland fire, forest fire, brush fire, vegetation fire and peat fire. In Australia this is known as a bush fire.

Wildfires can be so devastating especially to crops and farmlands. One example of how deadly they can be is that of the summer wildfires that occurred in California this year where 15 fatalities have been reported.

And only recently, this November, California experienced another wildfire. Luckily, it only resulted in a few injuries and no deaths. However, about 35,000 acres of land were burned and about 1,000 homes damaged as well as a vast number of people evacuated.

How do wildfires occur?

There are several ways on how wildfires occur. Some are man-made while some are of natural causes. The following are the reasons of how they occur.

• arson
• volcanic eruption (mainly due to pyroclastic clouds)
• human carelessness
• slash-and-burn farming
• underground coal fire

Risks that can bring about wildfires

• droughts
• El Nino
• heat waves

What characterizes wildfires?

When a combustible material gets burned, as long as it gets an ample supply of oxygen, it produces a chain reaction. Experts call this fire tetrahedron.

Such combustion happens because of the term called flash point. This is the temperature in which a particular material decomposes, releases gases that are flammable then ignites.

Moisture is the only factor that prevents wildfires from happening. However, with the gradual buildup of heat, plants and other materials lose the water in them. This makes them flammable.

Types of fire propagation

• Crawling fire is the one that spreads from bushes and the likes.
• Crowning fire is the one spotted on the treetops.
• Jumping or spotting fire is the type that burns on leaves and branches and is spread by strong winds.
• Smoldering fire is the gradual burning of combustible surface materials.

Because of the danger that wildfires bring to people and valuable properties, governments have created ways on how to detect and combat them. The United States alone spends billions of dollars on fire suppression as well as methods like fire lookouts.