Here is an essay on ‘Forest Fires’ for class 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Forest Fires’ especially written for school and college students.
Essay on Forest Fires
Essay # 1. Introduction to Forest Fire:
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In India, about 55 per cent of the forest area, which is predominantly covered by deciduous forests, is prone to fires every year causing loss of about Rs. 440 crores (approximately 104 million dollars). It is estimated that proportion of forest areas, prone to forest fires annually ranges from 33 per cent in some of the states to over 90 per cent in other (FSI 1987). Despite the natural fires, the major sources of forest fires in India are anthropogenic, which include shifting cultivation practices, controlled burning, deforestation, fire wood burning and others.
Besides conventional methods of fire control systems like fire line, fire watch tower, block lines and other manual fire control systems, application of remote sensing with GIS is also used to address the problem with good scientific and technical strength in a time effective and cost effective way.
Forest fires in the country area mostly experienced during summer months from April to June. The extent and type of fire varies from state to state based on type of forest as well as climatic conditions like prolonged spell of dry conditions or delay in arrival of monsoon, etc. Forest fires not only causes loss of biodiversity, loss of valuable timber, degradation of natural forests and water catchment areas but also result in depletion of carbon sinks, reduction in water table level, global warming, ozone layer depletion and also loss of agricultural production.
Essay # 2. Classification of Forest Fires:
Forest fires can be classified into two categories viz.:
A. On the basis of causative factors.
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B. On the basis of the place of their action.
A. On the Basis of Causative Factors:
I. Natural Causes:
The natural causes may be lightning, rolling stones or rubbing of dry bamboos with each other. It comprises about 5 per cent of total occurrence of all fires.
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II. Anthropogenic (Man-Made) Causes:
About 95% of the fires in the country are caused by man. Man may cause these fires either unintentionally i.e., by his carelessness or deliberately and intentionally.
III. Accidental Fires:
The fires that are caused unintentionally by man are called “accidental fires” as they are caused accidentally by his carelessness.
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The accidental fires may be due to the following causes:
i. Leaving fires burning by cart men or travelers, lighted by them for cooking their mid-day meal or spreading of fire from labour camps
ii. Throwing of burning match stick, or bidi or cigarette stumps in the forest by grazers or other travelers
iii. Throwing of glowing coal pieces by trains speeding through the forests
iv. Throwing of torch wood by villagers while passing through the forest in the night
v. Falling of dry needles or leaves on electric poles giving out sparks
vi. Burning of fields or grass lands in the villages adjacent to the forest and leave such fires to spread in the forest area and
vii. Accidental spread of fires in the forest while burning fire lines departmentally.
IV. Deliberate or Intentional Fires:
Often forest fires are caused by man deliberately and intentionally. These fires are therefore called deliberate or intentional fires.
The main causes of such fires may be any of the following:
i. Burning the undergrowth and grass to collect Non-Timber Forest Produce (NTFP) such as horns, which otherwise is not easily visible
ii. Inducing new shoots of grass in summer by burning the dry grass
iii. Burning undergrowth and grass in the forest to search for injured wild animals or even to trap wild animals
iv. Scaring away wild animals from nearby villages
v. To drive bees/wasps from trees
vi. Burning forest in the charge of a particular official out of enmity with him and
vii. Destroying or at least charring the stumps of illicitly felled trees in a forest
B. On the Basis of the Place of their Action:
On the basis of the place of their action forest fires are classified into four categories:
i. Creeping fire.
ii. Ground fire.
iii. Surface fire.
iv. Crown fire.
i. Creeping Fire:
It’s defined as a forest fire spreading slowly over the ground with low flame. It usually occurs in forest floor covered with a layer of dry leaves which burns slowly in absence of strong wind.
ii. Ground Fire:
It’s defined as a forest fire that burns the ground cover only, i.e., the carpet of herbaceous plants and low shrubs, which covers the soil.
iii. Surface Fire:
It’s defined as a forest fire which burns not merely the ground cover but also undergrowth.
iv. Crown Fire or Top Fire:
It’s defined as a forest fire which spreads through the crowns of trees and consumes all or part of the upper branches and foliage. This usually occurs in coniferous forests.
The above classes of forest fires are not exclusive and independent of each other. Usually one kind of fire may start and may develop into some other class depending upon the circumstances such as conditions of wind, presence of under growth, lichens and dry climbers and other factors forming fire environment.
Essay # 3. Fire Environment:
Fire occurs as a result of certain circumstances which constitute its environment. The following factors make up fire environment.
i. Weather:
High temperature, low humidity and hot strong wind together prepare an environment in which the fire risk is maximum.
ii. Inflammable Material:
Even in a favourable fire environment, fire occurs only when there is inflammable material/fire hazard on the forest floor. Grass, dry leaves and dry fallen wood constitute inflammable material in any forest. In chir forests when resin tapping is in progress, it adds to the inflammable material. If the grass and shrubs, fallen leaves, fallen wood, etc., have all been control burnt in the forest floor before onset of summer by early burning, even high temperature and dry hot winds, cannot produce fire in the area.
iii. Topography:
Topographic features of hilly terrain vary from place to place and affect not only the fire environment but also the behaviour of fire when it occurs. Altitude and aspect both have a great effect on temperature, rainfall, etc. and thus affect the formation of fire environment. As the southern or south western aspects are hotter and drier, there is greater fire risk on these aspects when compared to northern or north eastern aspects.
As temperature falls with increasing altitude, lower altitudes have a greater risk of fire. Also, fire spreads very fast while travelling up a hill slope, but its speed slows down considerably when it travels downhill. Similarly aspect and elevation influence fire behaviour through their combined effects on fuel moisture and on ambient weather conditions.
Essay # 4. Occurrence of Forest Fire, Its Behaviour and Dynamics:
From the place of ignition, the direction of spread, speed, extent and shape of fire depend upon wind, inflammable material and topography.
i. Direction of Spread:
Fire spreads fast in the direction of wind and in the direction where more inflammable material is present. Fire also spreads fast uphill and slowly downhill. Normally fire spreads along the ground in horizontal plane but presence of dry climbers on trees, resin channels in chir forests or lichens in deodar forest, induce it to spread at planes at right angles to the normal plane i.e. along the crowns of trees.
ii. Spread of Fire:
Spread of fire is proportionately influenced by speed of wind and also the quantum of dry inflammable material present. The spread of fire is greater during the day when temperature is high and strong winds blow and is comparatively lesser during night when the temperature falls and the wind slows down.
iii. Extent:
The extent of fire depends not only on wind, inflammable material and topography but also on the promptness with which the fires is extinguished. The greater the delay in detecting the start of a forest fire and to control it, the greater will be the area affected by it.
iv. Shape of Burnt Area:
The shape of burnt area is generally irregular. However, at least some of the sides of burnt area can be straight lines because counter-firing is done from artificially cut and cleared fire traces in the form of straight lines.
Essay # 5. Forest Fire Monitoring in India:
Forest Survey of India has started the monitoring of forest fires across the country since the year 2005 using data from web fires mapper (using inputs received from MODIS satellite system, a joint collaboration of NASA and Geographic Department of University of Maryland).
The coordinates of active fire location from this site are projected on the forest cover map of India to select active forest fire locations lying within the forest cover. The information is then disseminated to the State Forest Departments. From March 2010 onwards the information is being sent through e-mail/ SMS to the registered users through its website www(dot)fsi(dot)nic(dot)in.
Any user can register for the next system by providing his/ her mobile number and e- mail address and the names of district/ state/UT for which the information is sought. Every day, between 11:00-12:00 hours e-mails/SMS alerts reach the registered users giving a summary of total number of forest fires detected in their chosen areas.
Presently, there is a time lag of 12 to 24 hours in the reporting of these fires owing to late availability of this data. Efforts are on to reduce this time lag so as to provide information on near real-time basis. A total of 13,898 fire incidences have been reported by FSI to different states in the year 2010- 11 (FSI 2011).
The on-going exercise has helped in identifying the forest fire prone areas in the country and also the critical time period of fires occurrence for each state and UT. The identification of fire sensitive zones as well as the fire seasons is likely to help in formulation of effective forest fire control strategy in term of prevention, alertness, mitigation, fund allocation and deployment of personnel and equipment. The work has generated basic data on the pattern of forest fire in the country which can be used for preparing national level strategy for early warning and burnt area assessment (FSI 2011).
The detailed geo-coordinates of the forest fire point locations are also made available on the FSI website. All the archival forest fire data is also available on the website. The service was widely publicized amongst the SFDs and the feedback received from them indicated that the forest fires detection has accuracy over 95 per cent.
Essay # 6. Damages Caused by Forest Fires:
1. Damage to the Trees:
Damage to trees varies with species, age of trees, their condition and the season. The species with thick bark when compared to the species with thin bark; the broad leaved species when compared to conifers are generally more fire resistant. Younger trees when compared to the older trees of the same species are more fire sensitive due to their relatively smaller poles, thinner bark, lower height and lesser diameter.
The green trees are usually less damaged. However, burning of the bark and cambium layer causes serious injury to the tree stem and reduces their growth and vitality. Consequently, the chances of their getting attacked by insects and fungi are increased. Deciduous forests particularly during summer season are more vulnerable to fire.
The condition of the grass i.e., whether it is dry or green, also affects the damage caused by fire. Fires in summer season are not only common but also destructive because of high temperature, strong wind, dry undergrowth and ground cover and thick layer of dry fallen leaves.
2. Damage to Regeneration:
Even a surface/ground fire is sufficient to wipe out the young regeneration completely. Repeated fires in natural regeneration areas make it difficult to satisfactorily complete the regeneration within the regeneration period. If the species possesses coppicing power and in case the roots of seedlings have not got damaged due to fire, regeneration in the form of seedling coppice appears. If, however, the species does not possess coppicing power, the regeneration is completely destroyed.
3. Damage to Soil:
Destruction of organic matter affects the structure of the soil adversely and soil is laid bare to the action of elements viz., sand, wind and rain. Fire also makes soil compact and impervious. Consequently, soil erosion starts resulting in loss of top fertile soil.
4. Damage to Productive Power of the Forest:
Repeated fires degenerate an evergreen forest into inferior deciduous forest or even grass lands in extreme cases. Valuable species disappear and are replaced by inferior fire hardy species. Density and increment of forest is reduced and it affects the yield. As timber becomes defective, it fetches lesser price in the market.
5. Damage to Protective Power of the Forest:
Forest can discharge its protective functions when it is a forest in the real sense, i.e., it has not only trees but also grasses, shrubs, small trees, etc. As already stated, even an ordinary fire burns down the ground cover and undergrowth completely and therefore, it affects the protective power of forest. When protective power of forest is reduced, the result is increase in soil erosion and run-off. Fire increases flood havoc as it destroys the protective cover of the watershed. Heavy rains on newly denuded slopes result in devastating floods.
6. Damage to Wild Animals:
Forest fires result in enormous loss to wild animals, birds, insects and other fauna. It burns not only the eggs or young ones but sometimes even the bigger animals also. As the destruction of fauna destroys a valuable part of the eco-system, natural equilibrium is seriously affected with consequent adverse effect on vegetation itself.
7. Damage to the Recreational and Scenic Value:
As fire destroys the greenery of the forest, it destroys its recreational and scenic value. The forest, no longer remains a fit place for recreation as the ground is littered with ash and the blackened stem of the shrubs and lower portions of the boles of bigger trees make the entire place desolate.
Essay # 7. Methods of Extinguishing Forest Fire:
In India, fire is usually extinguished by one of the following methods:
i. By water.
ii. By earth.
iii. By beating.
iv. By counter firing.
i. By Water:
This method cannot be applied on a large scale in our forests because of dearth of water. Water is, however, used, after the fire has been controlled, in extinguishing burning stumps near the line of control as sparks from such stumps, which may keep smoldering for weeks, can start fresh fires.
ii. By Earth:
Though earth can be dug out at site, it is a time-consuming operation. Therefore earth is also not used to extinguish fires. Like water, it is only used to extinguish smouldering stumps near the line of control after the fire has been extinguished.
iii. By Beating:
The best way to extinguish all mild surface fires is to beat them out. For beating out fires, brooms are made by cutting branches of shrubs and then men standing near the fire beat it back with the brooms. Brooms should not be struck vertically as this often results in spreading sparks in unburnt area. They should be struck in a slanting manner so that the fire is pushed inside the burnt area. As already stated this method can be used in case of fire which is mild and therefore fire extinguishing men can stand close to it.
iv. By Counter-Firing:
When the fire is so fierce that men cannot stand close to the burning front to beat it out, it is extinguished by counter-firing which is defined as an attempt to extinguish an advancing fire by deliberately burning the forest from the opposite direction. When a fire is started some distance away from an advancing fire and is made to proceed towards it, the two fires meet and get extinguished.
This happens because the advancing fire finds before it a burnt strip and therefore gets extinguished. In order to counter-fire, a fire trace is made. A fire trace is defined as a cleared (often burnt) line used as a base from which to counter-fire.