September 2001
While summer may be drawing to a close, wildfire season is still going strong in the western part of the United States. Thousands of fire-control personnel are working to contain the blazes, which can reach temperatures in excess of 1000°F (~538°C), engulf hundreds of thousands of acres of forest, and threaten towns. Atmospheric conditions - both seasonal and shorter-term - play a major role in determining how wildfires spread and how difficult they are to contain. Consider the following reports, taken from the NIFC's National Fire News (see "Related Web Sites"):
- "10,000 acres [burning] at 0 percent contained. Due to the dry cold frontal passage and associated extreme fire behavior, no suppression resources were on the fire line for safety concerns. Resources were assigned to structure protection."
- "43,000 acres at 65 percent contained. Firefighters made good progress on line construction. Fire behavior increased due to high temperatures and low relative humidity."
- "Star (Eldorado National Forest): 3,000 acres at 0 percent contained. This fire is near Georgetown. The fire breached the middle fork of the American River. Roads and campgrounds were closed and structures and power lines are threatened."
This month's featured article comes from CNN, and can be used as a lead-in to an exploration of weather (especially drought, humidity, temperature, pressure fronts, lightning, and forecasting) and wildfires, as well as the interrelationship of scientific monitoring and hazard analysis.
In putting together this month's Earth Science in the News, we found a topic that is rich in resources (some truly amazing photographs!), but rather thin in classroom activities at the middle and high school level. Please let us know if we missed something good!
Related Web Sites
National Interagency Fire Center: This agency is in charge of forecasting and managing wildfires throughout the United States. They maintain several useful resources:
- National Fire News - a report with daily wildfire updates and current statistics on fires burning and acreage affected, organized by state.
- Glossary of Wildland Fire Terms - from "aerial fuels" to "wind vectors".
- The Science of Wildland Fires
Howstuffworks: How Wildfires Work: An overview of wildfires - how they start, how they spread, how they are brought under control.
Wildland Fire Assessment System: A listing of indices (with maps) the USDA Forest Service uses to assess fire danger.
Fire Weather: The Sacramento office of the National Weather Service has maps and "fire weather" forecasts for northern and central California.
Air Masses and Fronts - background on how air masses influence weather, from the Weather World 2010 project at the University of Illinois.
The Power of Lightning: Dry Lightning - explains one of the commonly-cited causes for wildfires. Includes Quicktime video.
Wildland Firefighter Magazine: Articles written from the firefighters' perspective, including:
- "So, You Want to Be a Firefighter?": the education, skill, and personal attributes it takes to land a job as a wildland firefighter.
- Fire Weather Controversy - describes friction between the National Weather Service and those who put themselves, literally, in the "line of fire", highlights the importance of interaction between experienced meteorologists and fire-control personnel, and raises the issue of resource allocation.
Related Classroom Activities and Discussion Topics
Fire in My Backyard: background for a discussion of fire hazard and the wildland-urban interface, from the NIFC. Other fire-related activities, as well as a teacher evaluation and links to background information, are available from the NIFC's Fire Ecology Table of Contents.
Fire Alarm: An interactive unit from the Why Files that addresses ecological effects of fire, the debate over "controlled burns", computer modeling of forest fires, and case examples from Yellowstone and Costa Rica.
USFA's Kids Page: The US Fire Administration and FEMA have designed this site, geared towards younger kids (12 and under), which includes safety tips, escape planning for homes, and games.
Wildland Fire: Activties: A variety of fire-related resources and activities, including an experiment on fuel types, an investigation of how fires grow, and infromation about ecological consequences of fires.
Science News Write-Up: Write a report on this article for your class! Here is a suggested outline to help you organize the report.
News Archive
Earth Science News Archive: We are building an archive of these news features. Feel free to browse earlier articles and resources!