Since 1992
Print and digital marketing
PHOTO: Giant Sequoias are one type of tree that benefits from low intensity wildfires (National Park Service photo)
By Vicki Schmidt
Fire can be very terrifying. But there is a good side to fire and fire has many amazing characteristics.
Fire is one of the four elements of nature – earth, water, air and fire make up all of nature and the forces of energy in our world. And our planet, Earth, is the only known planet where fire can burn. How cool is that?
Did you know fighting fire was an Olympic sport? In the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris, competitions were held for both volunteer and full-time firefighters. The teams were required to extinguish a fire that started on the third floor of a six-story house and also rescue people from the fifth and sixth floors. Gold medals were not awarded in the 1900 Olympics, but first place and a silver medal went to Kansas City, and its Engine and Hook and Ladder Co. 1.
Low intensity wildfires are good for forest health. As long as a wildfire does not burn too hot and too deeply into the soil, a gentle fire on the top of the land, often called a “duff fire,” will add nutrients to the soil and rejuvenate plant life.
Pyrophile plants are plants that have adapted to tolerate fire and many need fire as part of their reproduction cycle. Longleaf pines depend on fire to clear the ground for seed germination, and others need the heat of ground fires to aid in opening their cones in order to release their seeds.
A fire needs the right mixture of fuel, heat, and oxygen combined with a self-sustaining chemical reaction in order to keep burning. Take away any one item and the fire goes out.
Earth’s atmosphere is 21% oxygen. Fire burns between 16% and 21% oxygen. Below 16% the fire goes out, above 21% the fire goes out. Sufficient oxygen promotes better combustion and bluer flames; lower oxygen levels give insufficient oxygen and allow incomplete combustion (smoke and soot) resulting in yellower flames.
Another major reason for the different colors of fire is temperature. Red flames are fires up to 1,800 degrees. Fires closer to 2,200 burn orange, and closer to 2,700 degrees the flames are nearly white. The hottest flames, those close to 3,000 degrees, burn blue. Chemical content can also add colors to fire. Firework companies add the chemicals of barium chloride for green, strontium for red, and copper for blue and purple.
There is an old saying that only fire and bears run uphill better than downhill, and this is true. Fire creates heat and heat rises, which dries out the upslope side, allowing the fire to travel more efficiently in that direction. Bears have longer front legs than hind legs so can run better uphill than downhill. But just remember, bears can still travel at 35 miles an hour downhill, so don’t think you can outrun them.
The world’s known longest-burning fire is a burning coal seam in New South Wales, Australia. It started nearly 5,000 years ago when lightning struck the coal seam as it reached the Earth’s surface. The longest burning fire in the United States is also a coal-seam fire, in Centralia, Pennsylvania. It has known to have been burning since May 1962, but its cause and actual start date are still a mystery.
Fires of all types; from candles to wildland to home fires, command respect. But fire does play an important role for life here on Earth. There is good fire and there is bad fire. The more citizens can learn about fire and its characteristics the better our local fire emergencies can be managed.
— Vicki Schmidt is a Maine state fire instructor and volunteers with the Buckfield Fire Department, as well as several regional and state fire training organizations.
