Wildfires

Wildfires — page 1 — DISASTER WATCH Natural disasters can destroy whole areas and kill thousands of people The only protection from them is to go on disaster watch This means knowing the warning signs that a disaster might be about to happen and having a plan for what to do if one strikes We cannot stop natural disasters from happening but being prepared can help minimize the harm caused by a disaster That Are Natural Disasters Natural disasters are nature's most damaging events They include wildfires earthquakes extreme storms floods tsunamis say soon ah mee and volcanic eruptions 6 Preparing for Natural oisasters Preparing for natural disasters helps us to reduce their effects in three key ways by increasing our chances of survival making our homes as disaster proof as possible reducing the long term effects of the

Wildfires — page 2 — WN WILDFIRES Wildfires are one of the fastest moving deadliest natural disasters They start as small fires but can very quickly grow into large dangerous wildfires These fires can move fast so people who have prepared in advance and know how to react have a far better chance of surviving them than those who have not What Are wildfires EYEWITNESS WORDS CO Wildfires are fires that happen In June 2010 wildfires in Quebec Canada in scrub and forest lands They were so intense that Montreal resident can reach temperatures of more Paul Napoli could smell the smoke from than 1 470 °F 800 °C and more than 200 kilometres away may travel faster than people We were sure something was going up can escape them Most wildfires in lames I'd never smelled anything occur naturally but some are so intense even from a fire much closer deliberately lit by people who want to cause damage Preparing for wildfires wildfires and Bushfires In some countries such as Australia wildfires are called bushfires There are three key ways to prepare for a wildfire You must know the conditions in which wildfires start and how to act in response the safest places to be if a wildfire threatens the challenges facing those who survive li 1 In February 2009 the Black Saturday wildfires raged through Victoria Australia claiming the lives of nearly 200 people and injuring more than

Wildfires — page 3 — WHERE DO WILDFIRES HAPPEN Wildfires are most common in areas of the world called wildfire zones These are places where the vegetation and climate create the ideal conditions for a wildfire to start and rapidly spread Increasing numbers of people are choosing to live in wildfire zones because they are often areas of great natural beauty Lwildfire zones DISASTER WORDS climate typical weather over a long period of time Tropics band of hot weather and high rainfal stretching around the middle of Earth Wildfire zones occur mainly in two bands that stretch around Earth north and south of the Tropics Here plants are dried out by warm winters and hot dry summers The hot windy weather in which wildfires happen is common in these areas However wildfires can happen outside these areas if the weather and plant life are suited to wildfire conditions Matheson Fire Canada 1916 A 273 deaths Kursha 2 Fire Russia 1936 Estimated 1 200 deaths rica Europe Asia Landes Mountain Fire France 1949 230 deaths Greater Hinggan Forest Fire China 1987 213 deaths Africa Cloquet Fire United States 1918 Rowers 453 deaths South America Key Sumatra and Kalimantan Fires Indonesia 1997 240 deaths Tople of Capricorn Australia Fire detections 2 000 miles Black Saturday Australia 2009 173 deaths Antarctica This map shows the areas of the world where wildfires are most common and the locations of the seven deadliest fires between 1910 and 2010

Wildfires — page 4 — DISASTER WORDS peat tightly packed soil that burns well when dried out More and more people are living in areas where wildfires can happen meaning their homes may be at risk of being destroyed by a wildfire Vegetation in Wildfire Zones Wildfires most often spread through vegetation that is a combination of trees and smaller plants This combination is most commonly found in the wildfire zones north and south of the Tropics but can occur elsewhere Wildfires can also start on soil that contains lots of The Oakland peat where dry conditions can cause Firestorm plants to catch alight setting the peat Date October 20 23 1991 ablaze too Location California United States People in Wildfire Zones The 1991 Oakland Firestorm was started Increasing numbers of people live in by a fire that had already been spotted wildfire zones There are two key reasons earlier and put out but not completely for this put out The fire sprang back into life 1 As the world's population increases people are without warning and rapidly spread being forced to build homes in wildfire zones through the hills of Oakland and Berkeley in California United States It killed at 2 Many people enjoy living in a wild natural setting least 24 people and destroyed As more people live in wildfire zones ncreasing more than 3 500 homes numbers of people need to be aware of and plan for the dangers of wildfires

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