I saw that there are several large forest fires in Colorado at the moment. Even though they are completely incapable of getting them under control, they already know what the causes are! (One of them is supposedly an illegal campfire.)
How do they figure this out so quickly? It seems like the area around the root cause would logically be rather burned up. And by the time anyone notices the fire, it would probably cover several acres. So how do they track it down at all?
I gather you’ve been camping in Colorado recently, SmackFu? I wonder how long until they figure out whose campfire it was …
I’m really just bumping this thread, 'cause I’m kinda curious too.
Well, I can’t speak for the Colorado ones but there are/were some in Northern Alberta that were started by Arson. They actually caught the guy in the act (a resident of the native reserve that was actually getting evacuated because of the fire) starting more.
The last I heard (last week) the fire was about twice the size of NYC and still out of control. I’ll see if I can find a link somewhere.
It’s really not that different from identifying the source and cause of a house fire.
Forest fires can be pinpointed fairly early by fire wardens or routine air patrolswith thermal imaging cameras. Even if a fire is not detected early, investigators and consultants can study wind and burn patterns. Fires usually burn outward as combustible materials are consumed at the source or along lines with the wind. So, it’s fairly easy to find the general area in which it started without relying on triangulation.
Once the initial burn site is found, invesitgators scour the area looking for possible causes including 1) an out of control campfire 2) a careless smoker 3) lightning 4) arson. Nothing is entirely consumed in a low-temperature fire. Standard forensic techniques will identify the cause. If it’s arson, dogs will detect the scent of accelerants. If it’s lightning, trees will appear to have exploded fom within. If a campfire, they might find a stone fire ring, a pile of wood, or abandoned hiking gear. A fire next to a road with no other evidence might point to a cigarette.
There are lots of books on fire forensics, including forest fires. It might be worthwhile to spend some time searching Amazon for sources.
Coming from AZ I have seen LOTS of forest and high desert fires. Think of the source as the small end of a pie piece. The fire fans out from that source using the winds to direct its motion towards the next fuel source. Its actually not that difficult to find the sources of the wild fires.
tid bit In AZ they have fire danger signs ranging from low all the way to very high. Cigs can start a fire quite quickly obviously, but one that most people don’t think of is a tossed out glass bottle breaking and the glass acting like a magnifying device igniting whatever fuel below it!!
Well, the source of the Colorado fire has been found. I saw a publicity shot of firefighters standing next to the fire ring on the national news last night. But, the ironic thing is this - The fire wasn’t started by careless campers, but by a Forest Service employee out on a fire ban enforcement patrol. She stopped to burn a letter from her estranged husband and the fire got out of control. Details are in this AP report.
I’m under the impression that every lightning strike in the U.S. is detected and recorded, so it’s even easier than looking for trees that look exploded.
If spontaneous human combustion was for real, you’d think there’d be spontaneous deer combustion, and that flaming deer would start forest fires more often.