subject: Burning Things With Flames [print this page] There are several natural disasters that happen every year all over the world. There are things like hurricanes, tornados, flooding, blizzards, cyclones, earthquakes, landslides, storms, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, famines and wildfires.
Typically, some of these disasters happen more in some geographical areas than in other places. For example, the United States has a lot of hurricanes that take place on the Gulf of Mexico because the conditions in that area are more "ripe" for hurricanes. Obviously you will find volcano eruptions taking place wherever there are volcanoes.
There tend to be a lot of earthquakes on the west coast like in California. Actually, the places that you find fault lines are the places where earthquakes are more likely to happen.
You will only find blizzards in areas where it is cold enough to snow and you will usually find tornados in the Midwest called tornado alley. Even though some natural disasters are more common in certain areas, they can happen almost anywhere provided the weather conditions are right.
You do not usually think of fires as being a natural disaster, but they can be. Fires are started by people or factories all the time.
These kinds of fires can be very dangerous and usually cause more damage than naturally started fires. Wildfires can be started by lightning, volcanic eruption, sparks from rock falls, and spontaneous combustion.
They are also common in coal mines since the material found in them is highly flammable and it does not take much to start one accidentally. Most of them started by humans are a result of arson, discarded cigarettes, sparks from equipment, power lines, fireworks, and younger people playing with matches.
The biggest cause of wildfires in the United States is by lightning as well as in Canada and northwest China. Obviously people need to realize that they can cause some serious damage and must take every precaution that they can to be safe.
If there is an area that is really dry and has a good chance of getting caught on fire during the season (which is usually August through October), then firemen will start a controlled burn.
A controlled burn is done so that if a wildfire were to start in that area, it would not have any fuel left to feed on. They divide the area into small sections and burn one section at a time and then put it out so that it does not spread and turn into an unmanageable mess.
The only continent where a wildfire has not occurred has been in Antarctica. Every other continent has experienced them and the damage that they can cause not only to property, but also to human life.
Wildfires can spread very quickly especially if the wind speed picks up. They can get out of control and are very hard to contain the bigger they get.
They can have a positive effect in some areas that have certain plant species that rely on being burned every once in a while but usually the large ones cause many more negative effects on the local ecology than positive effects.
How can you be prepared for this kind of a thing to happen? What can you and your family do to protect your property and all of your belongings?
You can get an emergency kit together for each member of your family that has enough food in it for at least two weeks. You can store these in a backpack for each member of your family or put them in suitcases.
You need to keep them in something that you are able to grab fast and something that is not too heavy so that you either carry it or roll it on the ground. Find smaller packs to keep your children's emergency kits in so that they are able to carry their own.
Plan out an emergency route that you would take if something happened unexpectedly and talk it over with your family so that you are all on the same page and know what to do. It is important for you to be prepared in case any of these kinds of things happen.
