Essay on forest fire
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Answer:
The most common hazard in forests is forests fire. Forests fires are as old as the forests themselves. They pose a threat not only to the forest wealth but also to the entire regime to fauna and flora seriously disturbing the bio-diversity and the ecology and environment of a region. During summer, when there is no rain for months, the forests become littered with dry senescent leaves and twinges, which could burst into flames ignited by the slightest spark. The Himalayan forests, particularly, Garhwal Himalayas have been burning regularly during the last few summers, with colossal loss of vegetation cover of that region.
Causes of Forest Fire
Forest fires are caused by Natural causes as well as Man made causes
Natural causes - Many forest fires start from natural causes such as lightning which set trees on fire. However, rain extinguishes such fires without causing much damage. High atmospheric temperatures and dryness (low humidity) offer favorable circumstance for a fire to start.
Man made causes - Fire is caused when a source of fire like naked flame, cigarette or bidi, electric spark or any source of ignition comes into contact with inflammable material.
Classification of Forest Fire
Forest fire can broadly be classified into three categories;
Natural or controlled forest fire.
Forest fires caused by heat generated in the litter and other biomes in summer through carelessness of people (human neglect) and
Forest fires purposely caused by local inhabitants.
Types of Forest Fire
The types of forest fire are as follows
Surface Fire - A forest fire may burn primarily as a surface fire, spreading along the ground as the surface litter (senescent leaves and twigs and dry grasses etc) on the forest floor and is engulfed by the spreading flames.
Underground Fire - The fires of low intensity, consuming the organic matter beneath and the surface litter of forest floor are sub-grouped as underground fire. In most of the dense forests a thick mantle of organic matter is find on top of the mineral soil. This fire spreads in by consuming such materials. These fires usually spread entirely underground and burn for some meters below the surface. This fire spreads very slowly and in most of the cases it becomes very hard to detect and control such type of fires. They may continue to burn for months and destroy vegetative cover of the soil. The other terminology for this type of fire is Muck fires.
Ground Fire - These fires are fires in the sub surface organic fuels, such as duff layers under forest stands, Arctic tundra or taiga, and organic soils of swamps or bogs. There is no clear distinction between underground and ground fires. The smoldering under ground fires sometime changes into Ground fire. This fire burns root and other material on or beneath the surface i.e. burns the herbaceous growth on forest floor together with the layer of organic matter in various stages of decay. They are more damaging than surface fires, as they can destroy vegetation completely. Ground fires burn underneath the surface by smoldering combustion and are more often ignited by surface fires.
Crown Fire - A crown fire is one in which the crown of trees and shrubs burn, often sustained by a surface fire. A crown fire is particularly very dangerous in a coniferous forest because resinous material given off burning logs burn furiously. On hill slopes, if the fire starts downhill, it spreads up fast as heated air adjacent to a slope tends to flow up the slope spreading flames along with it. If the fire starts uphill, there is less likelihood of it spreading downwards.
Firestorms - Among the forest fires, the fire spreading most rapidly is the firestorm, which is an intense fire over a large area. As the fire burns, heat rises and air rushes in, causing the fire to grow. More air makes the fire spin violently like a storm. Flames fly out from the base and burning ember spew out the top of the fiery twister, starting smaller fires around it. Temperatures inside these storms can reach around 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
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