julietanyasam

By: Sam Goldstein, Anya Cybulski, and Juliet DePalma

Welcome to our Wikispaces page! Here you will find an abundance of information about forest fires. You will learn what they are, where they are common, how to prevent them, how they are caused, and lastly, the effects of forest fires. Forest fires are a major issue for nature and learning more about them will be able to help with this problem. Hope you like our page!

Forest fires are a growing issue for nature. Most people know about forest fires, but they don't know exactly what to do and how to help with this issue. This is one of the main reasons we chose this topic.We also chose this topic because we want to better the environment and we knew that we could successfully educate people about forest fires. Our main goal was to help everyone learn about forest fires, so we hope you like our page!





First of all, fires are made up of the 3 elements heat, oxygen, and fuel. This is otherwise known as the "fire triangle". A forest fire is the same thing as a fire, just continuously burning a forest of trees and plants. There are 3 different types of fires;Smolding fire, flaming combustion, and glowing combustion. The Smoldering fire emits smoke, but there isn't a flame. A flaming combustion is when the flames of the fire are present. Lastly, the glowing combustion is the later stage of a fire, it burns at a slower rate and has blue flames. Forest fires destroy animal's habitats and sometime's people's homes and communities. It is a destructive disaster that everyone should know how to prevent.

Forest fires are most common in hot and humid places that consist of a forest. Forest fires are most commonly found around Africa and North America. They can basically happen anywhere with an open forest, so you must always be very cautious and prepared. The moving chart below describes Canada. It demonstrates the fact that over time, forest fires are becoming more severe and spreading all over the country. This will not only happen in Canada but all over the world. Forest fires are spreading! This chart exhibits how forest fires are becoming an increasing issue and how they are spreading to many more places. In the future, forest fires will not only affect places that are known for them, but all over the world.

media type="custom" key="12152078"



Forest fires are catastrophic and can bring about huge disasters if not contained and extinguished. While some forest fires are caused by natural factors, the biggest cause of such fires are man related actions; People from all over can help contribute to the prevention of forest fires. One way that you can help prevent forest fires is making sure that in any populated area, that all leaves and any plant growth on the soil bed of the forests are cleaned; this helps to prevent dry brush that can easily catch fire. When smoking cigarettes in the forest, extinguish them completely, do not throw butts near trees or dry leaves. Always park your car away from trees and dry areas of the forests because fluid or fuel leakage from the cars can help start a fire. When camping, not only must you put out your fire, pour water inthe burning twigs for added safety. Also, avoid using candles and matches inside your tent. Refrain from using fireworks in or near any forest. Be aware when grilling on an open flame in your backyard becuase if it is unattended, it may possibly contribute to nearby forest fires. Lastly, avoid spilling any industrial waste near forests, as the waste are proven to be one of the major contributers to spreading forest fires. These are just some of the many ways to avoid the spreading of a forest fire, which can cause much damage to nature. There are basically 2 different ways that forest fires are usually caused by, naturally and human-related. Some factors of a "natural" forest fire can be lighting. Also, since there are many trees and bushes in a forest they provide oxygen which is fuel for the fire. Sometimes houses and buildings are victims of thses fires since they are made out of mostly wood. This causes danger towards humans as well. Human-related forest fires are mostly caused from smoking or recreation equipment. The only good thing about human-caused fires is that they usually are detected early on so then become contained easily and fastly. The weather has a impact in these destructive fires as well. A fire is more likely to flame if the temperature is hot and humid. If the weather is windy and rainy than there is a less of a chance for a fire to erupt. Also, the landscape can affect the fire's effectiveness of burning. Steep slopes increase the fire's intensity and creates obstacles for fighting the fire.



Forest Fires affect all aspects of society; they effect habitats, animals, people, and the community in general. Some fires can be extremely hot and make it extremely hard for new vegatation to grow. Severly burned soil becomes water repellent. No vegetation remains to hold the soil in place and the ground can no longer absorb water. Downstream resources are also threatened, this includes public water supplies.Harsh rain and snow can cause topsoil to erode and when a forest fire starts, ash and sediment pollute rivers and streams. Polluting rivers and streams can be intensely harmful to animals and their habitat. lastly, forest fires can destroy many things such as homes, which would cost many families a huge chunk of cash. Forest fires a very devastating disaster and we need to take actions to prevent them.

media type="custom" key="12152156" [] [] [] [] [] [] Databases: Title: Forest Fires database: Funk and Wangalls New World Encyclopedia [|http://web.ebscohost.com/sas/detail?vid=9&hid=25&sid=64662d7c-d801-4695-b516-1b93a2ec34c5%40sessionmgr11&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPSZzaXRlPXNhcy1saXZl#db=funk&AN=FO058500]

As you can see, forest fires destroy animal's habitats, human's homes, and our natural wood and forest areas! Forest fires are destructive and terrifying. You may not realize it, but you can start a forest fire by leaving cigarettes on the ground or not having your ashes from your fire place in a metal container! To prevent these fires you have to be aware of you surrondings! We thank you for reading our wikispace and we hope you learned a lot about forest fires! Be safe!

media type="youtube" key="wA1X25yhpzI" height="240" width="334"media type="youtube" key="hdUQrGht7NE" height="243" width="327"media type="youtube" key="ytockMp7QrU" height="242" width="339"media type="youtube" key="r6dfh95QcIY" height="243" width="283"