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

United States the fire season is between the months of June and October (Forest Fires - An Overview). What fuels a raging fire that can tear through a state? A fire’s fuel is determined by a couple of different factors. Moisture is a main component. Trees that are alive retain more moisture than ones that are dead, making a dead tree easier to burn. This is also why the fire season is during the summer. The area is usually in a drought and the trees are needing saturation. Vegetation also contains oils that fuel the fire. Weather also plays a large role in forest fires. When it precipitates, the rain or snow that comes likely will extinguish the flame but not always. Wind can also change the direction of the fire. This can be vital when dispatching fire fighters to battle the blaze. Wind patterns must be monitored at all times.
Every year when the fires spread, people lose their homes and sometimes their lives. Some people have time to prepare or gather things before evacuating, but others are not so lucky. Some fires come rapidly and without warning, destroying all things in its way. So far in 2015, 8.8 million acres have been burnt, while 1 million acres continue to burn. This is the largest amount of woodland burned in the United States since 2005 (National Interagency Fire Center). This alerting statistic has called for the U.S. to be in fire alert level 5, which is the highest level that can be reached.
So, what is this costing us? We spend one hundred million dollars per week that it is at level 5 alert. Two out of every three dollars the Forest Service receives from Congress goes toward fire programs. (Mooney)
The cost of these fires are sky-rocketing with no halting in sight. Something needs to change before we run out of money to fight these fires, and they burn unopposed. If this were to happen California, Alaska, Oregon, and Idaho would all be wastelands of scorched earth and beneath all of the ash would be a mass grave of all the people that lived there.
This subject is very important to me. My dad was a National Park Ranger at Fort Donelson National Battlefield for many years. Through that job he got the opportunity to become a dispatcher, whom is the person who coordinates the fire fighters. He is currently in Oregon where he has been helping fight the fire for a month. Because of him, I have experienced what really happens during a fire. Men and women work night and day tirelessly to stop the unstoppable. Big walls of flame mock them as they are incapable of taming it. This is a very dangerous job because one slip up and suddenly those fire fighters are dead.
Many fire fighters have lost their lives battling forest fires.

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

campfire?
The easiest way to stop a forest fire is to prevent one. The National Park Service created a mascot for their fire prevention program. (The Ad Council) His name is Smokey Bear. His famous slogan, “Only you can prevent forest fires”, has been seen and heard all over the United States. It could not be any more accurate.
We as humans need to take responsibility for what we do in this world. Forests are a blessing on this earth and we need to preserve them. Fires are a natural occurrence, but that does not mean it needs to happen. In my opinion, we look stupid for allowing for such an easily preventable event to happen every year. Congress needs to realize that this is a real issue that could jeopardize future life on this earth and give the NPS more funding. With this funding they could start more prevention programs in areas that spark up every year, like the northwest. In the end the government would save money because they would not have to spend as much on fighting the fire if there wasn’t one.
Without a fire, the United States would be billions of dollars richer, thousands of people would have their homes still, and the hundreds of firefighters would have their lives back. My dad, on the other hand, would not have a job. I think I speak for the both of us when I say we would gladly give up that one thing so those so many others could have everything back.