SURELY all forest fires should be doused? Perhaps not. Eleven new large fires raced across the western US last week, adding to devastation that has left more than 30,000 people homeless and scorched nearly 400,000 hectares of forest. But previous success at fighting smaller fires has contributed to the disaster.
"This hot, dry, windy weather is killing us," says Jeff Jahnke of the Colorado State Forest Service in Fort Collins. "The wind spreads fire like you wouldn't imagine. And our equipment and crews don't work as well as they could when you have three-digit temperature and single-digit relative humidity."
An unusually hot June has led to fires across the US, although the worst hit areas are Colorado and other states in the south-west.
However, Wally Covington of the Ecological Restoration Institute at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff says that warmer weather is only part of the problem. "Since the beginning of the 20th century, we have had this propensity to fight small natural forest fires that [otherwise] kill off dense, young growth," he says.
Historically, small ground fires would burn through old growth forests every 20 to 30 years, torching the forest floor but leaving big trees mostly unaffected. Without these small, natural fires, the build-up of undergrowth on the forest floor acts as fuel for more massive fires like the ones that are causing such devastation this year.
- New Scientist
- Not just a website!
- Subscribe to New Scientist and get:
- New Scientist magazine delivered every week
- Unlimited online access to articles from over 500 back issues
- Subscribe Now and Save
If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.