The Causes of Forest Fires
The Major Culprit in Causing Many Fires May Come as a Surprise
Sep 18, 2009
Every year millions of hectares of land across the planet are ravaged by fierce forest fires which rage out of control, destroying the environment, crops, homes and, in the worst case scenarios, lives.
With monotonous regularity during hot, dry summer months, TV news reports broadcast terrifying images of hell on earth as smoke blackened skies act as menacing backdrops to virtually unstoppable fire monsters devouring all in their path.
Each year it tends to be the same areas which bear the brunt of the devastation; California in the USA, bush fires in Australia and in Southern Europe, Greece, Spain, Italy, France and Portugal.
For all these locations it appears as though summer comes with an unwanted inevitability – the risk of fires. It's a seemingly unavoidable part of the seasonal package… except that it doesn’t have to be this way as most forest fires are avoidable.
How Do Forest Fires Start?
Environmental groups acknowledge that forest fires play an essential role in the life of a forest and that when they occur naturally they are an integral aspect of any forest’s ecosystem; acting as a catalyst for ongoing regeneration. They are part of the circle of life.
The problem occurs when an unnatural factor interferes with nature’s delicately balanced ecosystem. And unfortunately the ‘unnatural factor’ in the case of most forest fires is man.
In an analysis of forest fires throughout Europe during 2008, the Institute for Environment and Sustainability made some sobering discoveries.
In many countries the amount of fires which started as a result of natural causes (usually lightning) amounted to less than 1%. A staggering 99% of the fires which caused so much damage and heartbreak were caused by humans themselves, either directly or otherwise.
The Deliberate Human Causes of Forest Fires
A significant percentage of human fires, approximately 40%, were deliberate; arson in other words.
The reasons why people start forest fires range from mental health issues such as pyromania to the plain incredible and downright stupid. Such was the case with two French fire fighters who admitted starting a fire on the Island of Corsica in order to bump up their wage packet with a bit of overtime. Unfortunately, this example of people who have responsibility for protecting the forest being the cause of destroying it isn’t isolated. A forestry worker was responsible for fires which devastated the Canary Island of Gran Canaria in 2007 because his temporary contract was coming to an end and he thought that starting a fire would create more work and he’d keep his job.
Forest Fires Started as a Result of Accidents or Negligence
However, the most common cause of forest fires can be plain and simple negligence or, to be more blunt about it, stupidity.
The IES discovered that accidents and negligence accounted for up to 58% of fires in Europe during 2008.
What constitutes an accident, or negligence, covers a wide gamut of situations which includes casually discarded cigarettes; hikers and picnickers not properly extinguishing their fires and wayward fireworks. In one case a blaze was started by French soldiers firing tracer bullets.
The most enlightening and shocking statistic of all is the one which points to the main perpetrator when it comes to accidental forest fires. Ironically, the culprits are the people who on many occasions suffer the most loss at the hands of forest fires; farmers.
In Portugal alone, 83% of accidental fires were caused as a direct result of agricultural burnings, pasture renewal and slash burning.
It seems incredible to believe that if farmers applied more care and common sense over the maintenance of their land that up to 50% of forest fires would immediately be eradicated.
It really could be seen as a case of ‘Physician, heal thyself’.
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