A wildfire spreads quickly and is difficult to control. Other names of it are forest fire and vegetation fire. Every year nearly 1.2 million acres of land in America becomes the victim of wild fires, though wild fires occur throughout the world. Such fires which are mild in nature are considered beneficial because several species of plants depend on it for survival. But large forest fires are dangerous and difficult to control. They spread very quickly in a vast area.

The causes of wild firescan be broadly categorized into two Categories, Man made causes and Natural causes.

It is seen that often human activities are behind the causes of forest fires. One estimate puts human causes behind 90 percent of wild fires.

When humans try to clear land with the help of fire it sometimes goes out of hand and spreads into a vast area, where it becomes difficult to control. Human negligence is behind a majority of forest fires. A camp fire or a lighted cigarette could be also a cause of forest fire.

Natural causes like lightening, volcanic eruptions, quick changes in weather are some of the natural causes of wild fires. Volcanic activities create conditions favorable for a wildfire.

However fires caused by lightening do not spread to large areas as lightening is associated with rains which do not allow to spread the fire widely.

Wild fires have a great impact on the environment as many full grown trees are lost in these fires. It results in an increase of green houses gases. Still wild fires are an important part of the ecosystem but too much of these firs can damage the fragile ecosystem.

Underground Coal fires are also a cause of wild fires. These underground fires are slow and flame less and continue below the surface of the earth. These fires could continue for several years resulting in huge losses of green cover over the land.