A
fire in a
forest, unsurprisingly. A forest fire tends to be more
environmentally damaging than most other fires (barring stuff like
chemical fires, etc.) because they can
destroy a whole hell of a lot of
trees,
plants,
animals,
structures, and
people very quickly. Of course, forest fires can serve a
beneficial purpose -- small forest fires are sometimes
nature's way of cleaning up all the dead leaves and fallen trees that
litter the ground. Without a few small forest fires to get rid of the dry
kindling on the ground, a single fire could
burn out of control as it eats up all the
fuel on the forest floor.
Many forest fires have
natural causes, such as
lightning strikes or
badgers playing with matches, but many are also caused by
people -- some
campers don't make sure their
campfires are properly
extinguished, some people drop their
cigarettes in the wrong places, and some folks are just mean-ass
arsonists.
Nowadays, it seems like there's a major
drought every year, so the forests are really, really
dry. Massive forest fires are getting to be a regular occurrence, so watch yourself when you go
camping, 'kay? Like
Smokey says:
Only you can prevent forest fires.