Obliterating everything in its path, a bushfire is a natural hazard, which can be defined as wild fires in scrublands and or bushlands, especially one that spreads rapidly and is hard to contain. They can be catastrophic, causing severe damage to properties, the environment and even deaths. And as a result there is an ever-increasing need to prepare for the potential impacts of bushfires.
Due its size, different parts of Australia are prone to bushfires at certain times as a result of widely varied fire seasons. This is due to the different weather patterns.
Each part of Australia has its own unique combination of weather systems that produces severe bushfire conditions, but in all cases these conditions result from hot, dry winds blowing from Australia's central arid region.
The image below clearly shows the fire prone areas during the different fire seasons. As seen the image, the fire season for most southern parts of Australia are during the spring and summer seasons. The north in
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contrast, experiences its fire seasons throughout the winter and spring seasons. Precautions and safety measures must be taken prior to the arrival of the of the fire seasons to minimise fatalities, loss of habitats, loss of resources, destruction of built environment. Natural ignition sources of bushfires are predominantly lightning.
Other factors that contribute to natural bushfires are dry, hot climates with minimal rainfall, the availability of fuel and the presence of oxygen. Disposal of excess fuels in the forms of dried and or dead leaves or vegetation must be encouraged to reduce the chances of ignition by diminishing the medium for fires.
Prior to the occurrence of bushfires, the conditions has to be just right to nurture the flames, unfortunately for Australia most times, is the right time. The humidity has to be relatively low, lower than around 20%, which consequently dries out the fuel and making it extremely flammable. There also has to be a gradient of different air-pressures causing winds and therefore increasing oxygen and as a result intense flames can be cultivated. If a dry spell follows a period of good rain that has encouraged lush vegetation, there is a greater fire risk as a consequence on the excess fuel
available. The Black Saturday bushfires, which occurred on The 7th of February 2009, has been labelled as Australia’s worst natural disaster in 110 years. Approximately 400 bushfires started hence the hot dry conditions and the extremely low rainfall for 2 months. As a result of ill- preparation 173 lives were lost, 414 people were injured, 2, 100 homes were destroyed and 7,562 people were displace. Before history repeats itself, we must strive to reduce such impacts of natural calamities by formulated methods to ensure the survival of civilians. This synoptic chart from the 7th of February 2009 shows a slow-moving high-pressure system in the Tasman Sea, which then combined with a monsoon trough also seen as a dotted line, also provided for dry hot air from tropical regions to be directed over the southern parts of Australia. The combination of strong and gusty winds, low humidity and record high temperatures led to extreme fire conditions, while the change in wind direction intensified the dangers in fire behaviour. Prepare. Act. Survive is the Australian firefighters slogan for the fire seasons. It encourages and prompts civilians to prepare mentally and physically. The social, economical and environmental impacts are severe . Bushfires can threaten lives and the environment. Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth, with most of the population living on the coast. It is also a continent frequently ravaged by fierce bushfires. But by preparing in advance fatalities, injuries and damage to properties can be averted. As Benjamin Franklin once said ‘By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail’. You will fail to walk away unscathed from the fire.
Fire plays a huge role in natural forests. The let it burn policy allows natural fires to burn unless, they threaten people, property, or endangered species. This policy allows the years and years of kindling that has fallen and piled up on the forest floor to burn up in smaller fires, instead of having huge devastating fire like the ones that burning for months in 1910 and 1988. When the west was first settled, forests were thinned by lumber companies that logged the trees and burned the logging debris, and by ranchers looking to increase pasture land. The last herder coming out of the mountains would set a fire to ensure good forage for the next year.
Fires kill plants and trees leaving wildlife without homes and food. Large fires cause lots of smoke and air pollution.
Plants that grow in the vast arid and semi-arid regions of Australia are prone to fires simply because of the desert climate they grow in. High temperatures, low fuel moisture contents, little humidity and drying winds that sweep across the landscape encourage small patches of plants to burst into flames.
Wildfires started as an annual and seasonal occurrence in the south western region of California since the early 1930’s in part because of the hot dry summers and the hot dry turbulent Santa Ana winds that blow in from the desert during the fall months. Now it has become a yearlong event (Mckay, 2010). These conditions greatly contribute to the “fire season” throughout this area. This set of circumstances in conjunction with downed power lines and humans that ignited fires took place in October of 2007. This led to a series of fires that burned more than 500,000 acres, destroyed 1,500 homes, killed 9, injured 85, and forced the successful evacuation of around 500,000 people out of harm’s way.
Prescribed fire is a controlled burn of an area done by a team of experienced or educated people in a grassland or forested area. This type of burn is intended to help the health of plant and animal species and restore them to their native state. When certain areas that need to be burned so often do not get burned, they can be a hazard to the ecosystem in which it presides. A forest can get over grown and thick which will create more fuel for a wildfire that can destroy a forest community. In grassland a controlled burn, or prescribed burn, can help eliminate invasive species that can take over grasslands that are harmful to the more desirable plants. This type of fire can be seen as harmful and a disaster by many people, but it has great benefits on the areas in which it is done.
It is so sad to see the horror of forest fires and how they corrupt our beautiful land. So much damage comes out of what started so small. At least 603 square miles of land were burned in the early stages of the Arizona fire only a couple of years ago (BBC 2). In a Colorado fire 2.3 million acres had been burned (BBC 3). That land could have been saved if the use of prescribed burns had been in the area.
The word fire is closely associated with Malibu. Davis believes that, “Malibu, meanwhile, is the wildfire capital of North America and, possibly, the world” (Davis 97). Throughout the recorded history, Malibu has been burning over and over again. This might be the sole reason for Malibu’s reputation as the wildfire capital of the world. There is very little human- induced reason for this fire in Malibu; virtually all the fire reported is caused by natural reasons. As David said in his book, “The rugged 22-mile-long coastline is scourged, on average, by a large fire (1000 acres plus) every two-and-one-half years, and the entire surface area of the western Santa Monica Mountains has been burnt three-times-over this century” (Davis 98). So it is relatively safe to say that Fire is a very common naturally occurring disaster in Malibu. Apparently fire was not strong enough reason to stop the human settlement in Malibu, which has...
Prescribed fires are used to clean up the dead plants that will produce harmful fuels after a wildfire. The problem with these fires are even though these fires are supposed to be controlled, they can get out of hand. May 20, 2016, a prescribed fire in Minnesota escaped and burned more than what was planned and continued unstopped for a few days. Firefighters finally were able to put a stop to it. This has increased in the United States quite a bit this year. The acres burned by escaped fires are forty-six percent above normal. Unlike what many think, prescribed fires are not always watched. Sometimes, they will be left for a couple days with no one checking on them. How do they expect to keep them controlled when no one wants to control them?
Human beings cause most wildfires, directly or indirectly. In the United States lightning, the only truly natural cause is responsible for less than 10% of all such fires. In the West, lightning is the primary cause, with smoking (cigarettes, matches, and such) the second most frequent. Combined they account for 50 to 75% of all wildfires. In the “13 southern states (Virginia to Texas) the primary cause is arson; this combined with smoking and debris burning makes up 75% of all wildfires” (Perry, 1994). The other causes of wildfires are machine use and campfires. Machine use includes railroads, logging, sawmills, and other operations using equip...
Fire at any level can be devastating, yet the effects that wildfires have on every worldwide country really has left its mark on the land. As written by world renowned wild fire spokesperson Smokey the Bear, “Every year, wildfires sweeps through parts of the United States setting wilderness and homes ablaze. On average these raging infernos destroy about four to five million acres of land a year. But in 2012, wildfire burned more than 9.3 million acres, an area about the size of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined” (U.S. Wildfires). Destroying homes, crops, towns and of course forests. Yet the effects of these fires can be seen from a negative perspective as well as some positive. Plus there are natural causes as well as manmade that makes these destructive fires erupt and become almost unstoppable in seconds.
In fact, usually the emergence of the hill fire are in the moderate slope and steep slope side, there are rugged terrain, partial exposed rock. Due to the long-term exposure to the sunlight, there are less moisture, also, affected by dry northwest monsoons in each year, therefore, the soil surface is weak and has low amount of nutrient accumulations (Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department).As restricted by the geographical environmental factor, the tree growth speed of slow than other planting forest.
...ons have the ability to hurt the economy fatally. Victorian bushfires take a total of $4,369,000,000 out of the government’s money.3 With the expenses of property damage, loss of livestock, death of citizens, forest destruction, recovery, carbon release and infrastructure damage.
It is the right time when the temperature drops down. For campfire night is the right time to celebrate with your friends and your loved ones. There are many newly developed adventurers are offer a forest camping and beach camping ideas. Without campfire the adventure camps will not be completed rightly. Popular destinations for camping by the river and the destination surrounded by the hills are the perfect location for campfire night with your friends. For an adventurer campfire night, you want to drive up to nearest hills and tag your friend’s then stay overnight around the fire. Apart from that, the weekend gateway also offers a chance to plunge in many outdoor activities and campfire night by the lake. You can also enjoy the campfire adventurers with best pals and folk dances. High hills and its scenic views define a perfect adventurer for a campfire night with your loved ones. A pleasing sea side location is also one of the best destinations for making campfire nights. For all the heritage lovers a campfire night in a peaceful destination would be a fascinating experience. Some kind of special destinations offers an extensive view of the valley and also a great location for campfire.
Arson is one of the oldest crimes recognized throughout the world. It is defined as the intentional and malicious burning of a structure or building (Montaldo). Arson can cost the lives of individuals and the damages can be costly. In 2010, there were about 260,600 fires (“Arson and Intentional Fires,” n.d.). Many of these fires were intentionally set. These fires have resulted in an estimated 390 deaths, 1,340 injuries, and $1.2 billion in damages (“Arson and Intentional Fires,” n.d.). Most of the fires have occurred outside, but most of the deaths, injuries, and losses occurred in structures, particularly in homes (“Arson and Intentional Fires,” n.d.). Arson is considered to be a property crime to law enforcement agencies, despite that the fires created by the arsonist can injure and kill many people. This paper will discuss the history of arson as well as explaining why arson is difficult to prove, why people commit it, and also provides specific case examples and suggestions on what people can do to reduce the risk of arson.
The Forest fire is occurring very frequently nowadays, reasons for it are a heavy increase in global warming and an increase in temperature.