Fire Power

Reading time: 3 minutes

The forest knows what to do after a fire – Danny Popovici (The Fox and the Forest Fire)

You could be forgiven for thinking of fire as a mainly man-made innovation which was gradually harnessed for humanity’s collective advantage sometime in the Neolithic Period. Granted, at some point early humans discovered the usefulness of fire for cooking, warmth and clearing swatches of land. However, fire existed long before we first encountered it, and its critical place in the global ecosystem was always inherent.

In some contexts, we may view fire as ‘problem’ – rightly so, but the reality is that we have encroached ourselves upon fire as much as it has made life difficult for us. For example, some global cities sit in terrains in which wildfires are a completely natural and expected occurrence.

The point, therefore, is that it is not altogether helpful to see fire as a problem, but rather, we should understand its intrinsic qualities, and how we can, in a sense, ‘work with it’ in a way that aids our responsible development and growth as a species. Fire can burn our houses and buildings down, but it is also essential for cooking, powering machinery and such.

There is a subtle beauty about the way fire works. Some fauna and plants only grow in response to the intense heat created by forest blazes. In fact, certain pinecones only open in such a situation, and the South African Fire Lily only sprouts in the fertile aftermath of fire-stricken lands.

Now, as with all things, there is of course a sensible balance to be struck. We must recognise and harness the intrinsic qualities of this natural phenomena, whilst also safeguarding and responsibly progressing our collective development. This is a joint responsibility, one borne out of knowledge, respect and admiration, sprinkled with a healthy recognition of how2behuman.