The instructors at this station give insight into both the good and bad results of forest fire. They show the role of fire in nature and have the students look for signs of an old fire around the Expo site. The instructors show students some of the tools of a fire fighter and demonstrate how fire is important to reseeding certain kinds of trees.
Participants will learn about the triangle of fire – fuel, heat, and oxygen. When you need to put a fire out, you remove one of these three. Lightning usually starts Forest fires, although fires are started by careless campers and cigarettes as well.
Three different kinds of fires impact our forests. A ground fire burns underneath the ground. A crown fire starts on the tops of trees, often an impact of lightning. A surface fire starts on the ground.
Fires are a part of nature in the forest. They help regenerate forest growth by clearing an area and opening it up for new plant growth. They help reseed an area by opening pine cones. A fire becomes a “bad fire” when it threatens people or property.