How forest management helps lay the conditions for wildfires

By dousing small, regular fires, forest managers are creating the conditions for cataclysmic events, scientists have said.

Fires in temperate forests are generally increasing in size and area. This is partly because of climate change. Fire seasons in many parts of the world are getting longer and drier.

But equally important in the temperate forests of Australia, North America and the Mediterranean is the way in which we manage fire and forests, said the University of Michigan’s Paige Fischer.

In temperate forests where fire has been quashed, the understory grows thick and tall. Flames that are usually restricted to the ground, use that vegetation as a bridge to jump into the flammable treetops. When this occurs, the amount of available fuel increases exponentially. Add in a climate with greater extremes of heat and drought and you have the recipe for a firestorm.