A wildfire is an uncontrolled fire that burns in wildland vegetation such as forests, grasslands and savannas. Wildfires can be triggered by natural events like lightning strikes and volcanic eruptions or by human activities such as power line failures, vehicles or campfires.
Wildfires are a worldwide phenomenon that can cause serious impacts on humans and their environment. Whether they are small and manageable, or large and devastating, wildfires can affect communities by contaminating water and soil and causing economic losses. They can also pose a threat to public safety and disrupt transportation and utilities. The severity of a wildfire depends on a variety of factors, including the availability of fuels, physical setting and weather conditions.
In addition to causing direct human impacts, such as smoke and carbon emissions, wildfires can cause damage to property in the wildland-urban interface, where developments meet wildland habitat. Globally, wildfires are becoming more frequent and damaging. In the United States, fire activity has more than doubled in the last three decades and the number of acres burned each year has increased by a factor of six.
The most common causes of wildfires are lightning and human activities, such as power line failures and campfires. Human activities can significantly increase the risk of wildfires in the wildland-urban interface by increasing the number of ignition sources. For example, when a forest becomes overgrown with brush and grass, there is an increased chance that a spark will ignite it and start a wildfire.
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