WildLand Fires
A wildfire, also known as a wildland fire, forest fire, vegetation fire, grass fire, peat fire ("gambut"
in Indonesia), bushfire (in Australasia), or hill fire, is an uncontrolled fire that pops up fire often
occurring in wildland areas, but which can also consume houses or agricultural resources.
Common causes include lightning, human carelessness, arson, and pyroclastic cloud from
active volcano. Heat waves, droughts, and cyclical climate changes such as El Niño can also
have a dramatic effect on the risk of wildfires. In medieval times, the word "wildfire" was a synonym for Greek fire as well as a word for any
furious or destructive conflagration. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest
known usages are specifically for lightning-caused conflagrations. The modern usage may have
arisen in part from people misunderstanding the expression "spread like wildfire".
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WildLand Fires
The propagation of the fire has three mechanisms:
"crawling" fire: the fire spreads via low level vegetation (e.g., bushes)
"crown" fire: a fire that "crowns" (spreads to the top branches of trees) can spread at an
incredible pace through the top of a forest. Crown fires can be extremely dangerous to all
inhabitants underneath, as they may spread faster than they can be outrun, particularly on
windy days. (see Firestorm)
"jumping" or "spotting" fire: burning branches and leaves are carried by the wind and start
distant fires; the fire can thus "jump" over a road, river, or even a firebreak.
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