Forest Fires

Forest fires pose the greatest threat to forests. They have existed as long as forests themselves. Moreover, forest fires threaten the forest’s wealth as well as the fauna and flora

as a whole. They can greatly affect biodiversity and the ecology of a forest. Without rain in

the summer, the trees become covered with senescent leaves and twinges that could catch

fire with the smallest spark, resulting in dry senescent fires. There has been a colossal

loss of vegetation in the Himalayan forests, particularly the Garhwal Himalayas, during the

past few summers due to this.

Forest fires are caused by natural causes as well as Man-made causes:

• Natural causes: Forest fires are frequently triggered by lightning, which ignites flames by setting trees ablaze, which is swiftly put out by rain. Fire incidence is aided by high air temperatures and low humidity (low humidity).
• Man-made causes: Inflammable materials are ignited by sources of ignition such as naked flame, cigarettes, bidis, electric sparks or other sources of ignition.

Classification of Forest Fires:

There are three major categories of forest fires:

• Forest fires can be natural or man-made.
• In the summer, forest fires are triggered by heat generated in the litter and other biomes as a result of people’s negligence (human neglect). 
• Local residents intentionally start forest fires.

Precious forest resources including carbon locked in the biomass is lost due to forest fires every year, which adversely impact the flow of goods and services from forests.