2000-2001 Fires in the Western United States
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2000-2001 Fires in the Western United States
[edit] Overview
The fire season of 2000 and 2001 was undoubtedly one of the most destructive and costly fire seasons[citation needed] that this nation had ever seen. Over two Billion dollars of dollars in damage were caused and countless more billions were spent on the firefighting. By the time the last flame had been snuffed out, the fire had claimed the lives of four brave firefighters.
[edit] Causes
There were three main reasons for the sheer magnitude of the fires of 2000 and 2001.
El Niño was most likely the main cause of the ferocity of the fires those years. The El Niño is a weather system which forms a pool of cold water in the Pacific Ocean. This stops warm air from creating wind and rain and affects weather patterns on a global scale. The absence of rain on the west coast creates drought-like conditions and leaves dry combustible material, or fuel, on the forest floor. Dry fuel ignites and burns much easier and quicker when it is dry, thus creating a perfect place for forest fires to start.
- Excess Fuel
The second reason for these fires is the excess fuel that was in the forests in 2000 and 2001. When forest fires start naturally, they are usually relatively small occurrences which do little but burn up small amounts of combustible debris and small amounts of brush on the forest floor. They rarely catch on to trees and usually burn themselves out quickly. People have been putting out these fires for many years because they are small, easy to extinguish and often threaten property. However, when the accumulated fuel does ignite, it starts huge monstrosity wildfires, which are much more damaging and hard to put out. In recent years, fire experts have seen this disturbing trend and countered it with prescribed burning (also known as controlled burns). This is a tactic in which people purposely set fires to burn the combustible debris. This really is fighting fire with fire. Prescribed burns had greatly diminished at the time due to cuts in federal funding. These fires are carefully monitored with a fully equipped staff of firefighters onsite and fire lines, or bare strips of soil, already built. Despite these preventive measures, accidents do happen.
- High Human Population
The last, but not least important, reason for the wildfires of 2000 and 2001 was the sheer concentration of people living and camping in the western forests at the time. Only a small percentage of wildfires are started naturally by causes such as lightning. The vast majority is caused by human carelessness. The most common cause is unattended, or foolishly constructed, campfires.
[edit] References
- White, Katherine. -The 2000-2002 Forest Fires in the Western United States.- New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2004.
- Engelbett, Phillis. "Wildfire." -Dangerous Planet The Science of Natural Disasters.- Vol.3. Ed. Phillis Engelbert. Detroit: The Gale Group, 2001
Categories: Cleanup from November 2006 | All pages needing cleanup | Articles which may contain original research | Articles lacking sources from December 2006 | All articles lacking sources | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Wildfires in the United States
