| Forest Fires |
| Forest and bush fires are frequent occurrences in temperate zones, usually triggered by lightning strikes during the dry summer months. Fires are part of the natural cycle of regrowth which maintains forest and grassland ecosystems. They become a problem when settlements are threatened, or when artificially-set fires get out of control.
Smoke fills several valleys in Idaho after extensive forest fires during the dry summer of 2000.
A dark burn-scarred area shows the extent of bush fires on the Columbia Plateau. (right image 15th May, 2000; left image 3rd August 2000). A particularly dry summer led to extensive forest fires in central-northern USA and around the Mediterranean. While many fires in the wilderness areas of the USA were left to burn, the situation in more-densely populated Europe was worse as local fire brigades battled to keep the flames from threatening towns and villages.
A forest fire advances across a hillside in northern Spain in September 2000.
Wind-driven flames can quickly outflank firefighters and leap across firebreaks. |
