During a fire there's poor air quality, loss of life and loss of property, while after a fire the burned areas are more prone to floods, debris flows, landslides and poor water quality. Climate change has led to longer fire seasons, as vegetation dries out earlier and persistent high temperatures allow fires to burn longer.

A natural disaster is defined as a sudden and terrible event in nature that usually results in serious damage and many deaths. 1 Although not all wildfires are natural occurrences, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies wildfires as natural disasters.

They are caused by a range of natural causes (such as lightning) or by human carelessness (such as a discarded cigarette). The spread of a wildfire depends on the arrangement of land, available fuel (vegetation or dead wood) and weather conditions (wind and heat). They can start in just seconds and turn into infernos in a matter of minutes.

Firefighters refer to it as the fire triangle: fuel, oxygen, and a heat source. Four out of five wildfires are started by people, but dry weather, drought, and strong winds can create a recipe for the perfect disaster—which can transform a spark into a weeks- or months-long blaze that consumes tens of thousands of acres.