Hot summer days increase the risk that wildfires will ignite or spread. Over the last few years, there’s been a global increase in the frequency and severity of such fires.
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Wildfire is an uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness.
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Wildfires require three things to ignite and eventually spread: fuel, heat and oxygen (commonly referred to as the fire triangle).
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The composition of fuel (trees or vegetation in an area) influences how quickly a fire will spread.
How fast and far wildfires spread depends on three factors: fuel, weather and topography (collectively known as the fire behavior triangle).
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Heat always rises. This makes steep slopes a risky area for wildfires. If a fire ignites at the bottom of a slope, the hot air rises and begins to preheat the trees above making them ready to ignite once the fire reaches them.
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Elevation and direction of the slope also affect how fast wildfire spreads.
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Wind supplies fire with additional oxygen. It also causes embers to move across a landscape at a faster rate.
