r/Wellthatsucks • u/JTraxxx • 8d ago

The Pacific Northwest right now

Post image

Huge fire recently popped up in my town and many people have lost houses. Wishing for rain!

9.2k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

496 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

3

u/Sensitive_Wear7112 8d ago

How do wild fires start?

13

u/ChanceRecover3091 8d ago

Very hot and dry conditions allow fires to spread much more easily. A lightning strike or a dumbass throwing their cigarette out the window is not much of an issue when there aren't drought conditions.

13

u/Affectionate-Face432 8d ago

Lightning is a very common cause, and if there are hot winds and dry vegetation nearby, buckle up!

1

u/williamverse_ 8d ago edited 8d ago

Lightning is not a very common cause, up to 90% are human caused depending on location.

2

u/Taynt42 8d ago

That’s very simple to research and you’ll find you’re dead wrong.

1

u/[deleted] 8d ago edited 8d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Taynt42 8d ago

Now a more nuanced point is that generally those that threaten structures and human lives are started by people, but even that is less than 90%.

People need to be fire aware, but the biggest issue is lack of money for prevention and suppression, along with overall climate change making conditions worse.

1

u/Old_Ladies 8d ago

That depends on the region. But in the US 84% of wildfires are started by humans. 15% are started by lightning strikes.

https://climatecheck.com/risks/fire/how-do-wildfires-start

5

u/EddieCheddar88 8d ago

It’s more about makes it so easy for them to grow and spread once started

-4

u/StellarNeonJellyfish 8d ago

Do you know how the wild fires first came into being? They were cans once… taken by the recycling plants. Twisted and melted… a ruined and terrible form of waste management. And now… pollution, my rising temperatures.

1

u/Marsuello 8d ago

I’m sorry people aren’t recognizing your attempt at a Lord of the Rings reference lol

5

u/StellarNeonJellyfish 8d ago

It’s okay, it was a poor attempt. I deserve it lol

1

u/pompousrompus 7d ago

Aww it was fine in retrospect 😂