American Wildfires

Today there are 48 uncontrolled wildfires and 10 totally contained large wildfires burning in the United States.  An up-dated map of all the large wildfires may be viewed at:  http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/lg_fire2.php#   The one large wildfire in Florida, in Volusia County, is totally contained; proceeding west, the next wildfire is in Arkansas; and almost 90 new small fires have been reported in the past 24 hours. That's frightening.  And, last night, while lying in bed, I thought of the roly-poly 5-inch long earthworm that I had moved from a concrete brick and back into a grassy area.  Then I wondered how deep in the dirt a worm would need to be to escape being cooked by a wildfire on the surface?  I mean, think about it: during one of our recent wildfires, the flames were spreading (with the help of the wind) at a speed of 40 feet per second; if you can actually see the flame, just visible red flame burns at 980 degrees Farenheit, or 525 degrees Celsius - a visible deep orange flame burns at 2,000 degrees Farenheit, or 1,100 degrees Celsius. 
  The damage to flora and fauna from a wildfire is immense.  Unless the creature is buried deep in the earth, or lives underwater, it is going to succumb to a fast-moving wildfire.  Worms, grubs, insects, flies, dragonflies, butterflies, reptiles, amphibians, and slower moving mammals cannot escape a wildfire.  Birds that are nesting loose their eggs, either in trees, or on the ground.  Rabbits and prairie dogs are roasted.  Older, or injured, animals cannot outrun a fire - heck, if it's moving at 40 feet per second, I can't escape it.
   I realize that fire from lightning strikes is inevitable - but fires caused by humans are not.  Fire caused by lightning has a purpose of renewal; the Forestry Service's planned burns, to clear out brush and help older trees, are a good thing.  But arsonists are extremely dangerous to our livelyhoods, our economics, our health and our happiness.  I am, generally, pretty much a pacifist, but when I look at the destruction an arsonist has caused, I want to burn that arsonist to death (with an accelerant, of course, so they wouldn't suffer too long).....