Since 1997, more than 1.6 million wildfires have occurred in the United States. A single wildfire can burn thousands of acres of land. On average, wildfires burn more than four million acres of land in the United States every year. That amount is larger than the state of Connecticut.
Firefighters often use water hoses to put out fires. But wildfires can be hard to stop. As a result, firefighters have other ways to control a wildfire. For example, firefighters often try to create a control line around the fire. A control line has no fuel for the fire to burn. To make a control line, firefighters may dig up a long stretch of dried plants. When the fire reaches this stretch, it won’t have any fuel to burn.
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Making Connections
Text-to-Self
Are wildfires common where you live? Why or why not?
Text-to-Text
Wildfires are more common during droughts. What information about droughts have you read in other books?
Text-to-World
When fire danger ratings are high, people must be extra careful. What are some actions people could take to help keep fires from spreading?
Teacher Resources
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