Figure 7.20
Fire intensity. (A) When fires are frequent, fuel loads remain low, and fires burn as gentle surface fires, such as this one in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks in California. (B) The Waldo Canyon fire near Colorado Springs, Colorado, became an intense canopy fire that burned 74 km2 (29 mi2) in Pike National Forest in June 2012. As a result of a century of fire suppression in the area, it was the most destructive fire in Colorado history up to that time, forcing some 32,000 people out of their homes and destroying 346 homes.(A. Eric Knapp, US Forest Service; B. © RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post via Getty Images)