ELi5: What causes wildfires and why are they so difficult to put out?

Question

Is there a way we can prevent them from occurring in the first place, or is it inevitable during the summer months?

In: 29

Answer 1

Wildfires are caused by lightning (most) and by humans (unfortunately more and more these days)

The main problem is that the forest is dry, dryer than normal, so the woods burn more easily.

There’s no efficient way to prevent wildfires.

You can help prevent the fires to grow by doing controlled fires and by digging trenches and bulldozing corridors to help stop the spread; but that takes a lot of man power and a crap load of equipment.