WSU researchers found that recent wildfires have been getting hotter, occurring more often and burning more acreage.
In some of the areas the researchers studied, climate change caused fires. In other areas, the cause was fire suppression, said Erin Hanan, lead author and postdoctoral researcher at WSU.
When people, such as firefighters, suppress forest fires, this results in a buildup of plants on the ground. Without fires burning and clearing away the plants, the plants continue to grow and amass. These dry plants are at a higher risk of burning, which causes larger forest fires, said Jennifer Adam, WSU civil and environmental engineering professor.