A wildfire is an uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, peat fire, vegetation fire, and veldfire may be used to describe the same phenomenon depending on the type of vegetation being burned, and the regional variant of English being used. A wildfire differs from other fires by its extensive size, the speed at which it can spread out from its original source, its potential to change direction unexpectedly, and its ability to jump gaps such as roads, rivers and fire breaks.

Wildfires are 'quasi-natural' hazards, meaning that they are not entirely natural features (like volcanoes, earthquakes and tropical storms). This is because they are caused by human activity as well. The four major natural causes of wildfire ignitions are lightning, volcanic eruption, sparks from rockfalls, and spontaneous combustion. The thousands of coal seam fires that are burning around the world, such as those in Centralia, Burning Mountain, and several coal-sustained fires in China, can also flare up and ignite nearby flammable material. The most common human sources of wildfires are arson, discarded cigarettes, sparks from equipment, and power line arcs (as detected by arc mapping).

There are mainly 4 types of forest fires. They are:-

Ground fires are fed by subterranean roots, duff and other buried organic matter. This fuel type is especially susceptible to ignition due to spotting. Ground fires typically burn by smoldering, and can burn slowly for days to months, such as peat fires in Kalimantan and Eastern Sumatra, Indonesia, which resulted from a riceland creation project that unintentionally drained and dried the peat.

Crawling or surface fires are fueled by low-lying vegetation such as leaf and timber litter, debris, grass, and low-lying shrubbery.

Ladder fires consume material between low-level vegetation and tree canopies, such as small trees, downed logs, and vines. Kudzu, Old World climbing fern, and other invasive plants that scale trees may also encourage ladder fires.

Crown, canopy, or aerial fires burn suspended material at the canopy level, such as tall trees, vines, and mosses. The ignition of a crown fire, termed crowning, is dependent on the density of the suspended material, canopy height, canopy continuity, and sufficient surface and ladder fires in order to reach the tree crowns.

Effects of forest fires.

* Deaths of countless native animals. * Contamination of lakes. * Fire suppression has resulted in a short-term reduction of greenhouse gases. * Deaths of people and firefighters trapped.

Prevention methods.

* Research. Take a visit to the library or the internet for wildfire information. * When you go camping, always make sure there is a fire extinguisher in your trailer at all times. If you don't have one, have a bucket and find a water source, like a lake or river. * If you go motorcycle riding, keep gas away from the campfire. Check if the gasoline tanks are leaking before you start the campfire, same goes with oil. * Use lighter fluid for proper use only. Don't be playing with it. * If you smoke, crush the cigarette properly and throw it away in a trashcan. If you throw it on the ground with ember on it, it is a wildfire hazard. * It's also important to remember that a fire can easily start even from a simple tin box, so when you see trash don't leave it there.