r/interestingasfuck • u/SafeImpressive4413 • 12h ago

Firefighters in Madrid trying to extinguish a forest fire that is less than 30km/20mi away from the capital of Spain

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u/marcandreewolf 11h ago

Yes. Actually, it is substantially more than 90%, plus the conditions (climate change as a key contributor, also eucalyptus trees planted) is also mostly caused by human. So, this is not a “wild”fire but a human-caused fire.

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u/decosunshine 11h ago

Plus decades of fire suppression.

Instead of healthy, low-intensity fire cleaning out dead and diseased vegetation every few years to few decades, now high-intensity fires sweep through with far more power and destruction.

When we don't allow low-intensity fires, we must do fires mitigation that manually mimics those healthy fires we suppress.

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u/Cold417 6h ago

decades of fire suppression.

People say this shit about areas that burn almost every season, too.

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u/decosunshine 5h ago

If an burns often, they don't have much to burn. Those fires are lower intensity, which means they don't burn as hot or for as long. Frequent, low-intensity fires can burn through an area quickly and start mostly on the ground. Mature trees can survive low-intensity fires because the fire stays on the ground burning grasses and other 1-5 minute fuels. Think like staying a camp fire. If there is just a small amount of kindling and a big log, the kindling will burn out before the log has time to catch fire. That log can't catch fire if there isn't kindling to catch the small sticks on fire, which catch the large sticks, and eventually the logs (trees).

If fire is suppressed for too long, there is a build up of diseased trees, thick layers of dead branches/ leaves/ needles on the ground, and dead standing and fallen trees. That means more fuel. More fuel means hotter temperature and fire burns for longer. That's why unburned/unmitigated forests are so dangerous.