Background and History

Fire is a natural event in most forest ecosystems. Some forests depend on fire to recycle nutrients back into the soil. From an ecological standpoint, fire is neither "good" nor "bad." Fire occurs naturally through lightning strikes in the presence of dry fuel. Fires also occur when humans start them intentionally or accidentally.

Fires need heat, fuel, and oxygen to burn-these three elements are known as the "fire triangle." Remove any one of these three elements and the fire will not burn. Initially the heat is provided by the source of ignition. Fuels include dry trees, dead trees and limbs, leaf litter, and dry grass.

Oxygen is available in the air. Weather conditions have great influence on when fires occur and how they spread. Hot temperatures, dry temperatures, and dry winds can dry out trees and grasses in a forest, making them available as fuel for a fire to consume. The stronger the winds, the more quickly moisture evaporate from the vegetation, and the faster the fire can spread.

Even in the largest fires, such as the Thedford, Nebraska fire in 1999, not everything burns. Patterns of burned areas across the landscape can help keep ecosystems healthy. Areas that have recently burned do not have much fuel or dry dead litter, and they are less likely to burn again soon. Having trees of mixed ages is healthy for the forest ecosystem in many ways, one of which is preventing the entire forest from burning down.

In the southeastern United States, the months of March, April, and May are called "fire season", and are when 75 percent of forest fires occur. Fire season in the West usually runs from June through October, during the very dry months of the year. In the Northeast, it is March through May, and then again in the fall, corresponding to the leaf drop. Wildfires do not generally occur when the fuels are wet and cold.

Fire was an important tool in Native American culture and is in other cultures around the world. Some Native American peoples set fires to prairies knowing that new growth would attract game. Fire has traditionally been used to drive game, reduce population of unwanted animals, enhance crop growth, and clear forests.

Fire can be an effective management tool for state and federal agencies to manage their wildlands, which include forests, grasslands, and other ecosystems. Over the years, fire management policies and techniques have changed. A prescribed burn can prepare a wooded area for reforestation, enhance wildlife habitat, protect a native tree species, control insect populations or disease, or reduce future fire hazard by reducing burnable fuels.

Fire is an essential component in the life cycle of several tree species. Some depend on the heat of fire to open their cones and release the seeds, while other simply need fire to open the forest to provide light. In general, fires return nutrients to there soil in the form of ash.

Preventing, controlling, and suppressing wildfires is becoming more vital as more urban people seek woodland settings for their homes. More and more homes, property, and lives are endangered by fire along the wildland urban interface. Once again, balancing the needs of humans against the needs of the forest system has no easy answers.