Destructive forest fires are due to—WHAT?

Canada Free Press ^ | 07/31/16 | Paul Driessen

[stormer]

It depends on the nature and physical scope of the event, but since the population is continuously growing, regardless of the event, there will always be more people in harms way. Comparing flash floods is one thing, but widespread drought or winter storms that paralyze a quarter of the nation are quite another.

[B4Ranch]

Thunderstorms/lightning start more fires than people, thankfully most of them burn themselves out or are squelched by the rain. It’s not uncommon for one storm to start 50 to 100 fires depending on the number of lightning strikes.

[volunbeer]

Lightning does start more, but from memory and newspaper articles three out of the last four big ones around here were man made. The biggest - Carlton Complex Fire was caused by four lightning strike fires that joined into one and it was huge.

The fire around the town of Wenatchee in Central Washington was believed to have been caused by a cigarette (it started right next to the road). The big fire in the National Forest in Nez Perce started from kids using tannerite target shooting (I think they charged them and are going after restitution in court). The Cape Horn Fire on Lake Pend O’Reille in North Idaho was believed to have been started by the discharge of a flare gun, but they could not prove that.

People just need to be cautious. We have been pretty lucky so far this season even though we have new some brush fires going in non-wooded areas in the center of the state. My house smelled like smoke last night and we could see smoke on the mountains. One of my neighbors maintains several of the fire fighting aircraft so I kind of stay updated on where they are working.

[metmom]

But widespread drought and blizzards have happened before and will happen again.

The only reason they paralyze a quarter of the nation is because people have moved into areas where stuff like that happens.

The population density is why so many people are affected.

[B4Ranch]

I used to work for the Oregon Dept. of Forestry (Medford) back in the summer of ‘72 and I have watched one thunderstorm set over 200 fires with lightning strikes. We only had to send crews out to three of the strikes.

These days it seems to be marijuana growers and teenagers setting most of the ones that turn into a monstrous blazes. Probably because there no rain associated with the initial burn.

[volunbeer]

We have several friends who were (or their kids are) smokejumpers and wildland firefighters. Our best friends son is now on one of the DNR crews and he is deployed right now on a fire.

I know you are right about the lightning, we had three around my house (I helped several neighbors save a barn about a half mile up the road) last year and those were all lightning or wind knocking down a power pole, but we have also had some bad ones recently with no lightning at all.

I try to be very careful on my land because I don’t want to burn up the neighborhood!