RECIPE FOR AN UNCONTROLLED INFERNO

Wildfire may be a naturally-occurring phenomenon, benefitting certain ecosystems, but as humans interfere with nature, identify when we become the reason for this sudden blaze of devastation, and how we can prevent it

- HRITHIK KIRAN BAGADE

T is one of the five fundamental elements in nature. The earliest evidence of fire in fossil records is from the late Silurian Period (~420 million years ago), and humans began using fire ~400,000 years ago. Early humans used fire to hunt, and later to cook. Fire became a source of warmth and social gathering. In later years, during the Iron and Bronze Ages, fire was a key ingredient when man fashioned metallic tools and weapons. Fire also helped clear wild vegetation, so as to prepare land for agriculture. And yet, fire, like its peer elements, can never be tamed, and if left unextinguished in time, leaves behind a trail of devastation.

The recent California wildfires, predominantly in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, depict the raw nature of fire, and its ability to rapidly consume and destroy everything in its wake, and ultimately harm life. And it doesn't take much time for fire to intensify into wildfire!

Wildfires are uncontrolled blazes that spread rapidly across landscapes, often in forests, across grasslands, and rural areas. Though a natural phenomenon that has occurred for millions of years, it has become increasingly destructive in recent decades, fuelled by human activities and climate change.

Apart from the above listed consequences, wildfires result in serious environmental degradation, and further detrimental economic impact. Depending on the type of green growth, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a bushfire (in Australia), forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, peat fire, Prairie fire, vegetation fire, or veld fire. Accordingly, wildfires constitute a common type of disaster in some regions, including Siberia (Russia), California (USA), British Columbia (Canada), and across Australia, predominantly the arid Outback. Areas with Mediterranean climates or in the taiga biome are particularly susceptible.

Causes of wildfires