A wildfire and a wild-land fire or rural fire is an uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation occurring in rural areas. Currently across California there are more than two dozen wild fires burning.

Forest fires or peat fires are an uncontrolled fires. The wildfires often occur in the forest or grasslands of California. These are often unpopulated areas, but they can occur anywhere and harm homes, agriculture, humans, and the animals that are in their paths. Some firefighters will also refer to these awful disasters as surface fires, spot fires, or ground fires.

One of the sad facts about wild fires is that 90% of all wildfires are started by humans. The remaining fires are started by lightning strikes.

These wildfires spread so rapidly due to the dry vegetation and high winds of the areas. Sometimes a wild fire called a Crown Fire occurs as the wind helps the fire sweep across the tree tops. These wildfires are not safe for humans either because of how rapid they can spread through an area, but more so because they are unpredictable and can change direction in an instant.   

A lot of wildfires can ruin homes and cause injuries or death to people and animals. Weather conditions can directly contribute to the occurrence of wildfires through lightning strikes or indirectly by  an extended dry spell or drought.

Lightning is the main natural cause of forest fires with the vast majority of all forest fires started by humans mixed with California’s dry vegetation. Many of the ways humans contribute to forest fires are as follows:

Campfires left unattended, Burning of debris, Equipment use and malfunctions, Negligently discarded cigarettes, and Intentional acts of arson to name a few.

There are currently 560 wildfires that are burning right now in California. Of the 560 fires burning throughout the state, dozens of fires have collected into major complex fires.resulting in 3.6 million acres being burnt to date.