Why Do Forests Sometimes Catch Fire Without Any Help?

Sometimes forests catch fire all by themselves. It happens when the soil gets super dry and hot, like a big oven underground. The heat makes the plants and roots in the ground start to burn, it's like a match lighting itself on fire! The fire slowly spreads up through the trees until the whole forest is burning. This kind of fire isn’t caused by people or lightning, just the forest being extra dry and hot.

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Examples

  1. A forest in California slowly caught fire after a long, hot summer, no one was there to start it.
  2. A tree's roots began burning underground before the fire reached the leaves above.
  3. The ground felt like an oven under the sun, and then everything started to smoke.

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