The images on the television screen are haunting: acres upon acres of smoke and flames moving across the forest in the background, while nearby homeowners scramble to grab family photos and other sentimental belongings as they evacuate their homes. Thirty years ago, those images were sporadic.

One of our greatest strengths in wildfire management is that Federal, Tribal, State, and local government agencies recognize that the challenge is too great for any one organization to tackle on its own.

But today, wildfires seem to appear almost daily in news images during the dry summer months. Wildfires are growing in number and severity. According to the U.S. Forest Service, there were 67,774 wildfires across the country that burned 9,326,238 acres in 2012. The wildfires claimed two lives and destroyed 368 homes.

Wildfires pose a dangerous issue when they are caused unintentionally by natural or human-made occurrences. There are three main causes of wildfires:

  1. Drought
  2. Lightning Strikes
  3. Human error

Read the source article at Center for Disaster Philanthropy