The Black Dragon, Dixie, Yellowstone, Greece, Riotinto… The worst “superfires” in history, a growing threat to Spain

The definition of a great fire is becoming small. In forestry terms, a great fire (Great Forest Fire, GIF) was considered one that exceeded 500 hectares burned. But that is already the order of the day every summer and not only in Spain. In Spain there are decades of abandonment and lack of investment in rural areas “We are now talking about the” superfires “, those that devastate more than 15,000 hectares. Of those, of that destructive power, there are more and more, due to the incendiary mixture made up of climate change and the most uninhabited and abandoned forests (less human population and less animal herd, the one that cleans the land of grasses and bushes). says WWF, in our country there are “decades of abandonment and lack of investment in rural areas”. And thus, “climate change and rural abandonment make Spain one of the most vulnerable countries in the face of the threat of these superfires”, says that conservationist organization.The number of fires in the country decreases, however, these are “more serious and difficult to control,” they say.Climate change and rural abandonment make Spain one of the most vulnerable countries in the face of superin fires”We are a territory of large fires, but the largest, the super fires in history have occurred in larger countries, such as the United States, Russia, China, Australia or Brazil (this country is not included in the lists because its records are not entirely accurate). Black Dragon Fire (China and USSR, 1987) Also known as the Daxing’anling fire, it is the deadliest forest fire in the People’s Republic of China. It broke out on May 6, 1987 and lasted almost a month. It also spread to the Soviet Union, so that the fire covered about 10,000 km2, of which 6,500 were forest. Together they burned 7.3 million hectares of forest, including a sixth of all China’s timber reserves. 211 people died and 50,000 were left homeless. August Complex Fire (USA, 2020) Burned the Northern California Coast Range, in Glenn, Lake, Mendocino, Tehama, Trinity and Shasta counties. It started with 38 different fires on August 16 and 17, 2020. The Doe Fire, the main fire, merged with the Elkhorn Fire (an independent fire) and the Hopkins Fire. When it was considered extinguished on November 12, the August Complex fire had destroyed 417,898 hectares. Fire in the Sierra National Forest, in California. ETIENNE LAURENT / EFE Dixie Fire (USA, 2021) The fire began in the Feather River Canyon, in California, on July 13, 2021. It spread to the counties of Butte, Plumas, Lassen, Shasta and Tehama and it was not completely extinguished until October 25, 2021. In those three and a half months it burned 389,837 hectares. .FILE Yellowstone Fire (USA, 1988)Although it started as small individual fires, the flames quickly spread out of control due to increasing winds and drought that year. On September 8, for the first time in its history, the entire park was closed. Only the arrival of cool, wet late-autumn weather put out the fires. The fire burned 321,000 hectares, 36% of the park. Fire in Arizona (USA, 2011) In the Wallow desert, the area burned was close to 150,000 hectares. Fires in Greece (2007) That summer was especially hard. The Greeks saw more than 3,000 fires break out. The fire destroyed a total of 100,000 hectares. Fires in the Siberian taiga (Russia, 2003) In the forests of Siberia, fires are almost always difficult to control. The summer of 2003 was especially difficult. The satellites recorded up to 157 simultaneous outbreaks and the smoke reached the city of Osaka (Japan). It is estimated that 68,349 hectares were burned. Fire in the Rio Tinto Mines (Huelva, 2004) The 2004 fires mainly affected the province of Huelva. The most devastating was the Riotinto mines, in which 29,867 hectares of forest area burned for nine days. It was an intentional fire.Fire of Cortes de Pallás (Valencia, 2012)This forest fire destroyed 28,879 hectares in June 2012 in twelve different municipalities. It was caused by two solar panel installers with some welding work carried out in the middle of a heat wave and with a west wind. The Military Emergency Unit (UME), in the fire of Cortes de Pallás. EFE Fire of Ayora, Enguera, Teresa de Cofrentes, Jarafuel, Bicorp, Quesa and Mogente (Valencia, 1979) That fire began on July 18, 1979 in the Sierra de Ayora. The cause was a dry storm that discharged large amounts of lightning. The fire burned 28,310 hectares.