GOPH 375 Lecture Notes - Lightning, Berkeley Hills, 2003 Okanagan Mountain Park Fire
Document Summary
Canada mostly tree fires caused by people, but lightening caused fires burn more trees. Figure 14. 1/14. 3 number of fires / area burned across period of time: not necessarily correlated, one big fire can cause more damage than a bunch of little ones. Fire needs (triangle): fuel, oxygen, and heat. Fuel is the limiting variable because oxygen (air) and heat (sun) are usually readily available. Any combustible material is fuel (trees, houses, slash. To fight a fire, remove any one of these 3. Backfires a fire lit by firefighters in front of an approaching wildfire, killing fuel for the wildfire. Ladder fuels allow small ground fires to be carried to the tops of trees, creating large wildfires, by the varying heights of vegetation. Fire is oxygen + hydrogen + carbon, photosynthesis in reverse plant material is heated beyond its ignition point, and reaction gives off heat in a fire.