How can accidental forest fires occur so frequently when lighting a small fire of dead, dried wood can be so difficult?
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It depends on your climate and environment.
I’ve lived and camped all around the US. I would say in the Midwest, even at the height of summer, in the driest months, it can still be difficult to take flame to a pile of dried forest refuse, and get it to catch. Also, the wood supply (if you have to buy) typically isn’t dry enough for a good sustained fire. I keep firewood for a couple years in the Chicago area just to make sure it dries well.
When I was living in Oregon… Oh, I got it. You might think, oh, the Pacific Northwest, doesn’t it rain there all the time? Yeah, in the rainy season. But the dry season is DRY. And here’s a thought, a place that rains that much has got to have some damn good drainage, doesn’t it? So the whole place dries out real fast.
You go out into the forest in Washington, Oregon, and Northern California, and you can SMELL how dangerously dry it is. All those pine and fir trees, their sap and resin makes the trees like rags soaked in kerosene. I wouldn’t rub two sticks together out there if I were you.
So if you haven’t experienced it out there, or in other areas that get seasonal forest fires, then go visit. See for yourself. I suggest you go visit the redwood forests in early August.
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