Wildfire notes

Question 1

what is a wildfire?

Answer 1

It is an uncontrolled fire that destroys forests and other vegetation and usually occur in rural areas but can reach villages

Question 2

What are the three types of wildfire?

Answer 2

ground fire
surface fire
crown fire

Question 3

What is a ground fire?

Answer 3

where the ground itself - peat and root trees- are burning
it is a slow smouldering fire with no flame and little smoke

Question 4

What is a surface fire?

Answer 4

where leaf litter and low lying vegetation burns these types of fire can be high or low intensity

Question 5

What is a crown fire?

Answer 5

A fire that moves rapidly through the canopy - top layer of vegetation - fires are likely to be fast moving and intense

Question 6

What are the 4 conditions for an intense wildfire?

Answer 6

vegetation types
flue characteristics
climate and recent weather
fire behaviour

Question 7

How does vegetation type cause an intense fire?

Answer 7

thick underground trees or closely spaced trees allow for a fire to spread quickly and easily as it is being suppled with more fuel
eucalyptus and pine trees contain a lot of oil so do burn easily
eucalyptus trees shed strips of their bark which helps the fire spread quickly

Question 8

How does fuel characteristics cause an intense fire?

Answer 8

fine dry material (e.g. long grass, thin twigs) catch fire and burn more easily
large amounts of fuel that form continuous cover will help the fire burn for longer and spread

Question 9

How does climate and recent weather cause intense wildfires?

Answer 9

Rainfall must be sufficient enough for vegetation to grow so there is plenty of fuel
The area usually has a distinct dry season where rainfall is low for a sufficient time
warm dry weather causes water in the vegetation to dry up so it becomes more flammable
strong winds provide more oxygen to burn and spread burning embers

Question 10

How does fire behaviour cause intense fires?

Answer 10

Fire burns in different ways e.g a creeping fire moves across the ground surface fairly slowly whereas running fires spreads quickly and more intense
Fires can also throw out burning debris (firebands) taht help the fire spread and become more intense

Question 11

What are the three things fires need?

Answer 11

oxgyen fuel and heat source to ignite a fire

Question 12

What are the natural causes of wildfires?

Answer 12

lightning - particularly likely to start a fire if it occurs without no rain
volcanic eruptions - can produce hot lava ash and gas that can start fires

Question 13

What are the human causes of a wildfires?

Answer 13

accidentally- by dropping cigarette buds or allowing campfires and BBQs to get out of hand, or fireworks or sparks form machinery land in vulnerable areas

on purpose - arson when someone has the intent to start a fire

Question 14

What overall is the main cause of wildfires?

Answer 14

Humans causes - most are started by humans

Question 15

What are the social impacts of wildfires?

Answer 15

People are killed or injured if they are not evacuated in time

Homes are destroyed so people may be left homeless

Wildfires can destroy power lines and damage reservoirs leaving people without electricity and water

They can cause health problems e.g inhaling smoke can cause long term breathing difficulties

Question 16

What are the economic issues of wildfires?

Answer 16

They destroy infrastructure and businesses leading to a joss of jobs and income

Insurance premium increase dramatically after a wildfire

The cost of fighting wildfires is a lot

They might discourage tourists from visiting the area ultimately reducing income

Question 17

What are the political impacts of a wildfire?

Answer 17

Governments can face criticisms can fae criticism when wildfires have severe impacts

Governments may have to change their forest management practices to reduce the risk of a wildfire

e.g by clearing vegetation to limited the amount of fuel available

Question 18

What re the environmental impacts of wildfires?

Answer 18

Habitats are destroyed
Some species might not return to an area changing it’s ecosystem

soils are damaged as wildfires removes organic matter

smoke causes air pollution and water sources can be contaminated with ash

some ecosystem’s rely on wildfires to clear dead vegetation and some plant seeds needs fire to germinate

Question 19

What are the short term responses to aim to reduce the impact of wildfires?

Answer 19

Trying to put the fire out - diverting it away from settlements
evacuating people form high risk areas
spraying water on roots of houses to prevent embers from setting them a light

Question 20

What are the long term responses to reducing impact of wildfires?

Answer 20

Prevention - preventing fires form starting requires education about the risks of campfires and BBQs in vulnerable areas
authorities may also provide fire beaters to put out small fires before they are spread

Preparedness - being prepared for a wildfire may involve households having an emergency plan and emergency supplies of food, water and medicine or authorise making emergency shelters available

Adaption - individuals and authorities can change the way they live to help them cope with wildfires e.g. not using non - flammable building materials and creating fire breaks (gaps in trees) around settlements to stop fire spreading

Question 21

When did wildfires hit south east austriala?

Answer 21

February 2009

Question 22

How long did they burn for?

Answer 22

a month

Question 23

Where did they burn?

Answer 23

State of Victoria in south -east Australia

Question 24

Where did the worst fires occur in?

Answer 24

In forests areas

Question 25

What added to the intensity of the fires?

Answer 25

The environmental conditions as they followed 10 years of of drought and recent temperatures had been above 40 degrees so there were strong winds

Question 26

Besides environmental what was another issue?

Answer 26

There was lack of management there was controlled burning of forest litter such as branches and leaves means there is a large amount of very dry oil rich material to fuel the fire also several of the fires were caused by faulty power lines

Question 27

How many people were killed?

Answer 27

173

Question 28

How many people were injured?

Answer 28

400

Question 29

What was a not a visible injury?

Answer 29

lots of people suffered from stress and depression

Question 30

How many houses were destroyed?

Answer 30

2000

Question 31

How many communities were destroyed?

Answer 31

78

Question 32

How many businesses were destroyed?

Answer 32

more than 60 - causing job loss and a lack of the flow of capital in the country

Question 33

What was the estimated cost of the fires?

Answer 33

$4 billion AUS

Question 34

How much land was burned?

Answer 34

4300km squared was burned includimg forests and antional parks

Question 35

What type of species were killed?

Answer 35

millions of animals like birds and reptiles

Question 36

What were the rare animals that were killed?

Answer 36

sooty owl spotted tree frog

Question 37

What were the responces to the hazards?

Answer 37

They Austrailan bureau of meterology predicted how fires would spread and told reisents that they could either evactue or stay to protect there homes evacuation reduced the number of deaths caused but many peopl were put at risk trying to defend their houses

Question 38

How many firefighters and volunteers helped out to put out fires and support victims?

Answer 38

20,000

Question 39

How much money was donated to rebuild houses and communities facilities?

Answer 39

$400 million AUS

Question 40

what was an issue with creating fire resistant houses?

Answer 40

it is expensive so not everyone could afford it

Question 41

What were the recommendation for long term responses?

Answer 41

building fire shelters in vulnerable areas improving warning warning systems improve evacuation strategy