Raging Rinds of Fire
Each year, millions of acres in the United States and Canada are scorched by wildfires. In recent years, the wildfire problem has gotten significantly worse as the fires have become larger, more intense, and more destructive. Fires have occurred in places previously believed safe. Lives have been lost, and the costs in damage and in fighting the fires have skyrocketed.
By definition, a wildfire or wildland fire is an uncontrolled blaze that starts in vegetation and, at least initially, doesn’t involve structures. Wildfires become a great threat when they cross the so-called “wildland-urban interface,” thus endangering inhabited areas. In the summer of 2018, the Carr Fire in Northern California roared into parts of Redding, killing eight people and destroying more than 1,000 homes. In 2016, Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada, was devastated by a wildfire — the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history. In November 2016, a wildfire roared through Gatlinburg, Tennessee, killing 14 people and damaging or destroying some 2,400 buildings.
There’s no longer a predictable “fire season,” as wildfires can occur somewhere at any time. Major fires have occurred in the Great Plainsstrong winds have accompanied warm and dry conditions. In March 2017, one fire burned more than 800,000 acres in Oklahoma. For southern Florida, the greatest fire danger is in early spring, and 2017 went down as one of the worst fire seasons ever. In summer, the risk moves westward and northward. Historic fires have occurred recently in the Rockies from Montana to Arizona. California has also seen its worst fires during the past two years. The Mendocino Complex Fire in 2018 was the largest ever in the state’s history, with more than 400,000 acres burned. Wildfires are also common in Canada during the summer, typically burning millions of acres. In 2017, British Columbia saw its worst fire season ever, with nearly 3 million acres lost, and the summer of 2018 again brought devastating wildfires. Alaska has a similar summer fire season, and a record 5 million acres were burned in 2015.
