Forest fires have threatened mankind for as long as man can remember. In the distant past, wild fires were free to demolish billions of acres of lush forest, and entire ecosystems have grown dependent on natural forest fires sweeping through and clearing out room for younger generations of plants to take over. This process was all very normal until humans, who inherently try to protect their lifestyles, began to intervene on the process. Today people do as much as possible to prevent the spread of fire into their settlements. Many of the most recent fires have reeked havoc on the near by populations. Some of these most recent fires include the Cerro Grande fire in 2000 which burned 47,650 acres and cost $10 million dollars to contain (Masse, 2003), the Yellowstone fire in 1983 which burned 793,000 acres (36% of the park) and cost $120 million dollars to contain (www.nps.gov); and even the Great Michigan fires of 1871 which burned 2.5 million acres, caused more than $200 million dollars in damage, and took the lives of more than 1,300 people (Heidorn, 2000). Even though these recent fires were relatively small they destroyed hundreds of homes and caused millions of dollars in damage. Ancient fires were much more massive by proportion, but they did not affect as many people as more recent fires.
Fire is a devastating force. Every year around six-and-a-half million acres of woodland forest are burned (O’Driscoll, 2005). By learning how fire flows and how the heat it generates allows it to spread, the team will be more able to predict where it will go and how much damage it can cause.