07
Nov

Wildfires are deadly and devastating forces of nature. But, they are part of the ecosystem of a forest and its surroundings whether you like it or not. But what is a wildfire made from? And how does it turn from a spark into a raging fire, laying waste to all it encompasses? These are the question we want to answer below.

How Is The Fire Created?

In order for a fire to be created, it needs 3 things; fuel, oxygen, and heat. Fuel can be made up of many flammable materials on their own or in combination. In a household, fuel could be oils, coal or gas. In a forest, there can be a multitude of different fuels lying around, ground fuel, surface fuel, and aerial/crown fuel.

Ground fuel can be plants, tree roots and buried wood. These end up burning the ground layer beneath which does not produce flames, but smoke can come out from the ground.

Surface fuel can be fallen leaves, dried grass, branches, small brushes, twigs, and the list goes on. This will create the environment for the fire to ignite and grow.

Aerial and crown fuel are the actual leaves and branches still attached to the tree. It burns the crowns of the trees; it happens when there are ‘Fuel-ladders’ that allow the flames to rise up and reach the tops of the trees.

So How Does A Wildfire Travel?

So, we know that wildfires can spread extremely quickly, but how do they do it? The simple answer is convection currents! The rising hot air heats up the falling cold air which produces a cycle that repeats itself over and over again. This process means that it is continuous and keeps going along at an alarming rate.

Wildfires happen mainly in the summer months when there is extreme hot weather coupled with lack of rainwater and creates dried out vegetation which is easy to ignite and helps the fire spread.

Because of the environment, with its never-ending source of fuel, the fires can spread quickly and become so intense that fire whirls and firestorms can be produced. Fire whirls are tornado-like swirls of fire destroying everything in their path. Firestorms are just huge fires with unimaginably hot temperatures.
Jumping is another way a wildfire spreads so quickly. The fire jumps over to areas where there is no fire and over obstacles such as rivers and roads which would normally provide some sort of barrier to the fire spreading. Of course, if the fire jumps, then there is no holding it back!

Now you know how a fire starts and how it grows and becomes a devastating force for anything that gets in its way!