43,597 acres burn overnight since one day

[nmbluesky]

I saw a huge fire smoke around Santa Fe yesterday. Overnight. it's 43,500 area already burn forest. it's bad!! very sad to see..
http://www.koat.com/news/28362925/detail.html

http://nmfireinfo.wordpress.com/2011/06/26/las-conchas-wildfire-june-26-3-p-m/

[MineralMan]

1. The Southwest is on fire! This is not good.

Very alarming.

[snooper2]

2. Forest fires have positive aspects as well...

Surface fires can prevent larger, more serious "crown fires" from occurring.

By burning forest litter, these fires release nutrients present in forest litter that would otherwise decompose very slowly.

Surface fires can also spur the germination of plants, especially conifers such as the giant sequoia, the lodgepole pine, and the jack pine. These trees' pinecones need to be exposed to extreme heat before they can be released from the cone itself and germinate.

Such fires help reduce the number of pathogens and insects.

Surface fires create or help to maintain habitat for animals such as deer, moose, elk, muskrat, woodcock, and quail by burning back or thinning sections of the forest.

Ecosystems such as prairies, savannas, chaparral, and jack pine forests are dependent on periodic fire to maintain themselves. Otherwise, these ecosystems would be taken over by trees.

Periodic fires can open up sections of the forest canopy, creating an opening for smaller plants that need lots of sunlight to grow; this stimulates diversity in the forest ecosystem.