Fire safety and forest fire prevention

 

The fire triangle

 

Three things are needed to start a fire: heat, fuel and oxygen. This is also called the ‘fire triangle’. Fire is the result of a chemical reaction known as combustion, which happens between oxygen in the air and fuel (e.g. trees, grasses, shrubs) that has been heated to the temperature at which it will ignite (the ‘flash point’). Once a fire starts, it will keep burning as long as it has heat, oxygen and more fuel.

 

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                                                        The fire triangle (image source: Ontario.ca)

 

How do forest fires start and spread?

 

In Canada, nearly half of forest fires are caused by lightning strikes. While wildfires do occur naturally, and are an important part of the fire cycle, most are caused by human activities (e.g. unattended campfires, discarded cigarettes, arson).

 

Research shows that human-induced climate change creates warmer, drier conditions, leading to longer and more active fire seasons. Climate change has led to increased global temperatures, which dries out fuel and makes fires more likely to start and spread.

 

Did you know?

 

             The average temperature during the summer of 2023 was the hottest ever on record in Canada.

                               

   In fact, 2023 is very likely to be the warmest year – so far – for the past 125,000 years.

         As the climate continues to warm, we can expect increasing wildfires, more intense droughts

and hurricanes, and more intense heat waves.

 

Weather conditions and landscape features can impact how fast and far fires spread. Wind can supply fire with additional oxygen, helping it to burn and spread, and can also spread embers that start fires in locations far from the fire. Fire can spread quickly in the right conditions – heat rises, so a fire that starts at the bottom of a slope can move quickly up it. Fires can even move underground, burning dead and dried out vegetation and/or peat. Sometimes ground fires can smoulder all winter underground and then emerge at the surface again in spring.

 

Campfire etiquette

 

Select a site with easy access to water, sheltered from prevailing winds. Look for a patch of sand or gravel (mineral soil). An area of bedrock is even better. Ensure your fire is at least three metres away from any logs, stumps or overhanging trees, and 15 metres away from any building or forest debris that may catch fire.

 

Never leave your fire unattended. Per the Tay Valley Township, every person who starts a fire must:

• Take all reasonable steps to keep the fire under control;

• Ensure that a responsible person is tending the fire at all times;

• Drown the fire before leaving the site of the fire for any period of time whatsoever.

 

How to properly douse a fire (from the Tay Valley Township):

• Begin by thoroughly drowning your fire with water as soon as possible after use. The ground will cool faster and the hazard to surrounding trees or shrubs will be greatly reduced.

• Stir the ashes with a stick to uncover hot coals. This will cool the fire faster and allow water to soak in better. Move the rocks to uncover embers.

• Drown it again! Make doubly sure the fire is dead out before you leave the site or retire for the evening.

 

Sources (not for inclusion in Pike Lake Post)

Natural Resources Canada – Forest Fires

Environment Canada – Canada’s top 10 weather stories of 2023

Ontario – Wildland fire behaviour

Tay Valley Township - Campfires

Watersheds Canada – Wildfire cycles and ecosystem regeneration in Canada

NC State College of Natural Resources - Explainer: How wildfires start and spread

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – Wildfire climate connection