Forest Fires In America

Forest Fires America has a fire problem. The northwest United States is burning to the ground. Forest fires are running rampant all across the states of Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, Colorado, and California (Service). There are currently 1,738,243 acres burning at the time of this writing (National Interagency Fire Center). These fires are doing irreversible damage to wildlife, the environment, and even humans.

By definition, a wildfire is a highly flammable composition that is difficult to extinguish (Dictionary.com). They are started in many different ways by humans and nature (Forest Fires - An Overview). Many of the fires could be easily avoided, but are not because people are careless when they handle fire. For example, a camper can become preoccupied with the hike the next day, or the camper sees wildlife and wanders away from their campfire. A breeze comes through the area and breathes life into the seemingly harmless fire. Your “controlled fire” of leaves or sticks can easily be taken over by Mother Nature if just one tree catches on fire. Smokers also dispose their cigarette butts on the ground thinking the flame is out when in reality it is not. Your campfire, debris fire, or cigarette butt just caught California on fire.

When do forest fires start? In the northwest

One group that made national news was the Granite Mountain Hotshots. They were a team that was widely regarded as elite. They took on any challenge. On June 30th, 2013 they finally met their match. The group was in Arizona fighting a fire when it turned without warning, trapping the firefighters. With no hope left they deployed their fire blankets in a last ditch effort and the fire engulfed them. The team lost nineteen of its twenty members that day. Referencing my previous scenario, the cigarette that you dropped just killed nineteen people who were fighting for others. Now, how important is it to monitor that