Forest fires can happen naturally, but the truth is that people cause them, too, often to terrible consequences. Readers learn how they start in both cases as well as how these fires spread, the damage they cause the environment, and how firefighters fight them on the ground and in the air. Case studies of recent forest fires, including the 2016 fires in California, provide readers with real-life examples to encourage connections between the book's STEM content and social studies concepts of conservation, community engagement, and the huge project of cleaning up a natural disaster like a forest fire.

Forest fires can happen naturally, but the truth is that people cause them, too, often to terrible consequences. Readers learn how they start in both cases as well as how these fires spread, the damage they cause the environment, and how firefighters fight them on the ground and in the air. Case studies of recent forest fires, including the 2016 fires in California, provide readers with real-life examples to encourage connections between the book's STEM content and social studies concepts of conservation, community engagement, and the huge project of cleaning up a natural disaster like a forest fire.

Ignited by a single match on April 30, 1977, the Five Mile Tower Fire raged out of control for 17 hours. It would be one of the largest wildland fires in Wisconsin history, ultimately destroying more than 13,000 acres of land and 63 buildings. As a column of black pine smoke reached high in the sky, citizens from Minong, Chicog, Webster, Gordon, Wascott, Hayward, Spooner, Solon Springs, and other communities began showing up to help. The grassy field designated as fire headquarters quickly became a hub of activity, jammed with trucks, school buses, dozers on trailers, dump trucks, tanker trucks, fuel trucks, and hundreds of people waiting to sign in. More than 900 came in the first four hours, clogging the road with traffic in both directions. Headquarters personnel worked valiantly to coordinate citizens and DNR workers in a buildup of people and equipment unprecedented in the history of Wisconsin firefighting. Based on his own experiences during the long battle, plus dozens of interviews and other eyewitness accounts, Bill Matthias presents an in-depth look at the Five Mile Tower Fire, the brave citizens who helped fight it, and the important changes made to firefighting laws and procedures in its aftermath.

"On May 1, one of the worst natural disasters in Canada's history struck Fort McMurray. What began as a small, remote forest quickly became a nightmare for the 90,000 residents of the city. A perfect combination of weather, geography, and circumstance had created a wildfire that was more dangerous than anyone could have imagined. As winds drove the flames towards Fort McMurray, the entire city population was ordered to evacuate. When the fire leapt across the river and started to devour everything in its path, the only people left to face it were the firefighters and support crew tasked with protecting the city. Born and raised in Fort McMurray, Damian Asher was a fifteen year veteran of the city's fire department. When the order went out for all firefighters to report for duty, Damian stopped work on his family's house-which he was building by hand-sent his wife and children out of town, and answered the call. For thirteen straight days, Damian and his crew were on the frontlines of the fire, battling the blaze wherever it encroached upon the city. As homes burned and embers rained down around them, Damian and the rest of the Brotherhood barely slept, rushing from hotspot to hotspot as they struggled to contain the fire. Aid poured in from around the world and the country watched in hope and fear, wondering what was happening on the streets of Fort McMurray. Finally, after weeks of fighting a wildfire that appeared insatiable, the Brotherhood managed to regain control of the city. But the fire had more than left its mark - billions of dollars of damage, exhausted emergency workers, and a scattered citizenry were left in its wake. When Damian's family returned to their home, they found that it and all of their possessions had been burned to the ground. It seemed as though things would never be the same. And yet, as the smoke dissipated and the city reunited, there was hope that life would resume in Fort McMurray."--

Wildland fires have an irreplaceable role in sustaining many of our forests, shrublands and grasslands. They can be used as controlled burns or occur as free-burning wildfires, and can sometimes be dangerous and destructive to fauna, human communities and natural resources. Through scientific understanding of their behaviour, we can develop the tools to reliably use and manage fires across landscapes in ways that are compatible with the constraints of modern society while benefiting the ecosystems. The science of wildland fire is incomplete, however. Even the simplest fire behaviours – how fast they spread, how long they burn and how large they get – arise from a dynamical system of physical processes interacting in unexplored ways with heterogeneous biological, ecological and meteorological factors across many scales of time and space. The physics of heat transfer, combustion and ignition, for example, operate in all fires at millimetre and millisecond scales but wildfires can become conflagrations that burn for months and exceed millions of hectares. Wildland Fire Behaviour: Dynamics, Principles and Processes examines what is known and unknown about wildfire behaviours. The authors introduce fire as a dynamical system along with traditional steady-state concepts. They then break down the system into its primary physical components, describe how they depend upon environmental factors, and explore system dynamics by constructing and exercising a nonlinear model. The limits of modelling and knowledge are discussed throughout but emphasised by review of large fire behaviours. Advancing knowledge of fire behaviours will require a multidisciplinary approach and rely on quality measurements from experimental research, as covered in the final chapters.

On September 1, 1894 two forest fires converged on the town of Hinckley, Minnesota, trapping over 2,000 people. Daniel J. Brown recounts the events surrounding the fire in the first and only book on to chronicle the dramatic story that unfolded. Whereas Oregon's famous "Biscuit" fire in 2002 burned 350,000 acres in one week, the Hinckley fire did the same damage in five hours. The fire created its own weather, including hurricane-strength winds, bubbles of plasma-like glowing gas, and 200-foot-tall flames. In some instances, "fire whirls," or tornadoes of fire, danced out from the main body of the fire to knock down buildings and carry flaming debris into the sky. Temperatures reached 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit--the melting point of steel. As the fire surrounded the town, two railroads became the only means of escape. Two trains ran the gauntlet of fire. One train caught on fire from one end to the other. The heroic young African-American porter ran up and down the length of the train, reassuring the passengers even as the flames tore at their clothes. On the other train, the engineer refused to back his locomotive out of town until the last possible minute of escape. In all, more than 400 people died, leading to a revolution in forestry management practices and federal agencies that monitor and fight wildfires today. Author Daniel Brown has woven together numerous survivors' stories, historical sources, and interviews with forest fire experts in a gripping narrative that tells the fascinating story of one of North America's most devastating fires and how it changed the nation.

National Book Critics Circle Award Winner: “The terrifying story of the worst disaster in the history of the US Forest Service’s elite Smokejumpers.” —Kirkus Reviews A devastating and lyrical work of nonfiction, Young Men and Fire describes the events of August 5, 1949, when a crew of fifteen of the US Forest Service’s elite airborne firefighters, the Smokejumpers, stepped into the sky above a remote forest fire in the Montana wilderness. Two hours after their jump, all but three of the men were dead or mortally burned. Haunted by these deaths for forty years, Norman Maclean puts together the scattered pieces of the Mann Gulch tragedy in this extraordinary book. Alongside Maclean’s now-canonical A River Runs Through It and Other Stories, Young Men and Fire is recognized today as a classic of the American West. This edition of Maclean’s later triumph—the last book he would write—includes a powerful new foreword by Timothy Egan, author of The Big Burn and The Worst Hard Time. As moving and profound as when it was first published, Young Men and Fire honors the literary legacy of a man who gave voice to an essential corner of the American soul. “A moving account of humanity, nature, and the perseverance of the human spirit.” —Library Journal “Haunting.” —The Wall Street Journal “Engrossing.” —Publishers Weekly

In many parts of the world, earthquakes are a fact of life. From slight tremors to destructive quakes measuring above 5.5 on the Richter scale, earthquakes all start the same way. Readers explore the causes and effects of earthquakes throughout this book, studying recent major earthquakes that have happened around the world along the way. Presented in an exciting news magazine style complete with splashy headlines and eyewitness accounts of devastating quakes, the main content and statistics boxes complement STEM curriculums through detailed earth science information and discussion of the technology used before, during, and after earthquakes.

"The Fukushima nuclear power plant was seriously damaged by a tsunami in 2011. Today, environmental problems continue, showing just how far-reaching damage from the massive waves of a tsunami can be. Other headline-grabbing tsunamis are profiled in this volume, providing readers with true-life examples as they learn about what causes tsunamis, where they are likely to hit, and how areas prepare for them throughout the main content. Full-color photographs of tsunami-caused devastation accompany the STEM content, boxes of real disaster statistics, and quotes from those who lived through a tsunami."

It's important for students to understand how tornadoes form, their structure, and when and where they're likely to strike. Perhaps even more important is learning the damage they cause and how they affect communities around the world. This book offers readers both important STEM content they'll need for science class as well as real stories of recent tornadoes, including eye-opening photographs of the devastation they may cause and statistics boxes quantifying the damage. A news magazine style layout makes each section seem fresh and exciting, while also allowing for the inclusion of witness quotes and headlines.