What is a fire?
Fire is a chemical reaction between three elements: oxygen, heat and fuel. If any one of these three elements disappears, the fire extinguishes. If conditions are optimal, a fire can begin virtually anywhere, at any time. Most fire risks occur when the climate is dry and hot.
Natural heat sources, such as lightening, can initiate fires in wild areas, or they can be from human sources, such as neglected camping fires or even cigarettes. Fuels can be many things, from grass and dry leaves to branches, wood or even houses! Diverse types of fuel burn at different temperatures, as each substance has a distinct “combustion temperature”. That is the point that the substance is sufficiently hot to explode into flames. For example, due to its low combustion temperature, oil from the leaves of eucalyptus trees is one of the most explosive fuels that exist in the nature.
What are wild fires?
Wild fires are fires that are out of control and pass very easily over extensive areas. For example, a small neglected bonfire can become out of control easily and cause an extensive and uncontrolled fire. Frequently, these fires are referred to as “wild fires”. Depending on the type of vegetation or material that is burning, wild fires can be referred to as “forest fires”, “shrub fires”, “pasture fires” or “peat fires”.
What causes wild fires?
The most common natural cause of wild fires is lightening rays. Nevertheless, most wild fires are caused directly or indirectly by humans. For example, fire can escape when farmers burn the ground in order to make it more fertile (these are referred to as uncontrolled or accidental fires for soil use), or when children play with matches. Fires can also begin when people are negligent with cigarettes, or when people cook in the forest, or when they have a bonfire. At times, people even start fires intentionally (arsons).
Are wild fires good or harmful?
Fire can be a useful tool for human beings while it is under control, but when it gets out of control it can be as dangerous for people as it is for nature. Some examples of the positive and negative effects of fire for people and nature follow:
For people:
- Positive effects: useful tool for agriculture, and forestry
- Negative effects: harmful to human health and security, destructive properties (houses, stores, public buildings, schools, important equipment, etc.)
For nature:
- Positive Effects: fire can be useful for the maintenance of ecosystems. It can stimulate the growth of the pastures. It can help some plants reproduce as some seeds only germinate after a fire.
- Negative Effects: extensive and destructive fires can destroy and reduce the amount of different types of plants and animals within a certain area and, therefore, they can permanently harm the richness of the landscape.
What can you do to help prevent wild fires?
Because people cause most wild fires, many of them can be prevented. Some ideas for preventing fires in your district follow:
-
Never play with matches. One single match stick can start the entire forest on fire!
-
If you see somebody playing with fire or someone who throws a cigarette butt into the forest, inform an adult immediately.
-
Never have a bonfire without the aid of your parents or another adult.
-
If the weather is dry and windy, do not have a bonfire.
-
If the conditions are appropriate and you decide to have a bonfire, choose an open area, far from any trees, dry leaves and branches. Clean the earth of leaves and waste 3 meters around the area of the bonfire.
-
Never leave a fire unattended!
-
Before leaving the area, carefully extinguish the fires with water and earth.
-
Maintain the forest area clean. Do not leave or throw bottles or glass in the forest. The glass could refract with the suns rays and start a fire.
What can you do to protect yourself and your friends from fires?
If a fire approaches:
If the smoke is dense and makes breathing difficult:
If your clothes catch on fire:
If a friend or family member is burning:
What can you do to protect your house from wild fires?
-
Make a fire barrier around your house. A fire barrier is a barrier of earth that has been cleared for the purpose of stopping and controlling the spread of forest, pasture, and shrub fires. A river or highway can also serve as a fire-barrier.
-
Remove waste and other flammable material from around your house, such as grass, dry leaves, and branches.
-
Keep flammable substances away from your house.
-
Use irrigation in order to maintain the soil and vegetation around your house humid.
-
Keep fire equipment, such as hoses, extinguishers on hand.
Information taken from :
Dolan, Chris, Hazard-wise,
Classroom Resources for Teachers on Natural Hazards
and Disasters, An Australian Disaster Awareness Project
for the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction,
EMA, 1995.
Gout, Jean-Paul, Prevention et Gestion des Risques Majeurs,
Les risques d'origine naturelle, París, 1993
Hazards Happen, Elements of Australian Natural Hazards,
(CD-Rom), Commonwealth of Australia and Queensland University
of Technology, 1999.
¿Qué hacer en caso de incendio? CENAPRED,
México, D.F.,1992
What every primary school child in the British Virgin
Island should know about disasters, The Children's Handbook.,
British Virgin Islands, 1995.
|
|
Back
Top