How can accidental forest fires occur so frequently when lighting a small fire of dead, dried wood can be so difficult?
In: Other
I own some land in Northern California that was burned during the fires last year.
This was a house on the adjacent parcel, the oven is on the left, and the fireplace is on the right:
[https://photos.app.goo.gl/fwCVES7PSzaJ9MiV6](https://photos.app.goo.gl/fwCVES7PSzaJ9MiV6)
This was their fire pit, their firewood was spared:
[https://photos.app.goo.gl/J3DQby4UpzBVkZdB8](https://photos.app.goo.gl/J3DQby4UpzBVkZdB8)
Houses in the US are made from softwood like pine, fir, and hemlock. Many trees in these forests are softwood trees like redwoods, pines, and cedars.
Softwood trees naturally contain a lot of oil. Pine oil was traditionally used as a cleaning agent (pine sol), and they’re also very fragrant. Woods with a higher oil content like redwood can also be more rot resistant. These trees are fast growing so they have a softer wood as well. When the wood burns, it’s oil content means it releases a thick black smoke so you can’t burn it indoors or use it to cook food. The oil also makes it easy to burn.
Hardwood trees have a much denser wood that typically is harder. Because the wood is denser/heavier, it burns much longer, but also burns hotter. In order to light hardwood, it takes a higher temperature than to light softwood.
I’ve actually used fresh redwood as a fire starter because the oil content makes it light super fast. It produces black smoke, but by the time it’s done burning the hardwood is just getting started.
Matches are possibly also softwood, so they could light more easily, but also don’t burn hot enough to easily spread a fire to hardwood.
I happen to live very close to the SCU Lightning Complex Fire, one of the biggest fires in California history. Over here, people like to cover it as if it’s a forest fire, and there was a lot of fake news criticizing California over it’s Forest management. The reality is there’s almost no trees:
[https://photos.app.goo.gl/8UqjDD97nPuz8iRk6](https://photos.app.goo.gl/8UqjDD97nPuz8iRk6)
This was an unrelated fire that was contained. The only trees are some pink peppercorn trees by that gas station. The green bushes are tumbleweeds which are water intolerant – the rain kills them and then they go tumbling.
In the winter time, it’s lush and green from the rain, but there’s still no trees – the black spots near the middle of the photo horizontally are American Black Angus cows:
[https://photos.app.goo.gl/77WZiRK4WMz3AvXR8](https://photos.app.goo.gl/77WZiRK4WMz3AvXR8)
Latest Answers