Hello my name is Milo and I'm a senior at Animas High School. You will have to forgive my average writing skills because I am no five star student; I'm just your normal 18-year-old with the desire to talk about something that has been on our minds recently. I want to put my voice out about the tens of thousands of little red dots that are popping up all across the map. We see them appear out of nowhere, engulf our precious greenery and then fade away. That’s right, I'm talking about forest fires. I got you there for a sec., huh? I know it's important, but I'm tired of talking about Coronavirus. I'm sure most of you are aware but the three largest fires in Colorado have happened in 2020 with nearly 550,000 acres burned between the three of them and only one of them has been completely contained.
Luckily most of us are somewhat informed on this matter thanks to how much Colorado loves their firefighters but hopefully you'll finish this article with at least a couple new ways of keeping our forests safe. I’ll start off by addressing the most oveis problems: First, disposing of any items that could cause a spark on flammable materials, such as cigarette butts, matches or anything that can retain heat. Furthermore, avoid throwing trash into campfires. Some materials can react violently and make the fire unsafe. When putting out a campfire first douce the fire with water then mix the ashes with dirt. Make sure there are no hot embers. Yes, that means feeling the ashes with your hands. When finishing up make sure no part of the pit or around it is hot. However, don't just listen to me ,read your local campfire regulations as well. Come to think of it, you really should be reading an article from a professional-- this article will in no way tell you everything you need to know, but it might help.
Now let's move on to the less known firestarters and fire safety tips. Hears something worth knowing:Did you know that 9 volt batteries can start fires? If both the positive and negative are connected by something it can heat up. This is why you shouldn't keep 9 volts in junk drawers. The exhaust from your car can catch dry grass on fire and I shouldn't even have to Mention fireworks. Keep all flammable liquids in sealed containers and if spilt that should be cleaned up thoroughly. My last fun safety tip would be to keep your yard, roof, gutters, and general land around your house free of dead plant material. You also shouldn't stack flammable things like firewood against the walls of structures.
There are more tips I want to tell you but it's time to move onto the anatomy of a forest fire. For background information I'm going to explain that a flash point and an auto-ignition point are. A flash point is the temperature at which materials have to be set aflame and an auto-ignition point is the temperature at which materials combust on their own. To extend on that wood itself isn't flammable, istead when it reaches its flash point it begins to decompose. This is a process called pyrolysis. The wood releases gasses that are flammable and the hotter the wood is the more gasses it releases decomposing the wood faster. I'm off track but it was worth knowing, right?
Either way what I just said is incredibly important to fire scientists and it helps us predict wildfire behavior. You see dry grass has a lower flash point than wood so it lights easier and spreads much faster. Because of this fire moves faster when on an upward slope, since the smoke is heating up the material farther up the slope speeding up the race to the flash point. However before any material can combust all of the moisture must be evaporated up into the smoke. With large fires that moisture can rise up into the colder air and form apyrocumulus cloud. That cloud can bring wind, rain, hail, etc.,, so in a way fires can create wind patterns which, in turn,, will push the fire across the landscape. An incredibly effective natural disaster.
Nine out of ten wildfires are human caused and I'm sure that at this point I'm preaching to quire. But still I kind of want to raise my kids here so let's not mess it up.
reasherch and sorces
reflection
Recently as I have been starting to mature I have started to come up with my ideas and for me, that's what the justice project was for me. Discovering your values and beliefs and forming your justice. So I picked a topic that I value greatly and would be willing to devote my life to. All the research and readings that we did over the past month or so have been examples of other people's justices each one aimed towards inspiring us to seek out our own path. I know it took me a while to even get the tiniest of a glimpse at my own beliefs and this work is the result of that.