FIRE plays an important role in maintaining woodland ecosystems but fire introduced to undergrowth too often destroys too much; as humans remain the leading cause of wildfire, the responsibility to minimize the damage done falls on our shoulders. Here are four man-made fires that highlight the mission to fight fire and help to replant the world’s forests to counter the effects of deforestation.

One of the largest fires ever to occur in history, the Heilongiiang Fire devoured three million acres of forest in the Greater Khingan Range. Reports attributed the fire’s easy spread to dry conditions in the area-but it was excessive logging activity without any effort to let the forest regrow that really let it rage unhindered. 34,000 soldiers were deployed to put the fire out, and 33,000 people were left homeless.

Still the largest wildfire in Arizona’s history, Wallow got its name when two men accidentally started it while camping in the Bear Wallow Wilderness. Their campfire blew out of control and burned through over half a million acres of land, costing $72 million to extinguish, and a further $37 million to clean up and rebuild after the damage. More than 6,000 people had to be evacuated.

Throughout the year, man-made fires plagued the pine forests of the Uttarakhand Region. Widespread media coverage eventually spurred the government on to intervene, sending Indian Air Force helicopters to put them out. It’s suspected that these increased numbers could be the result of honey or seed collectors trying to frighten off animals.

Largely thanks to longer, dryer summers than usual—the forested area of Brandenburg, Germany, caught alight. Results of investigation suggested that evidence pointed to arson (纵火). Brandenburg lost nearly 1,000 acres of its forested land and three nearby villages had to be evacuated. A choking, smoky haze drifted twelve miles to Berlin, causing residents to have to shut themselves in their home.

Thomas James Hanson will remember for a long time the snowstorm that hit the state of New York on November 22nd. The 47-year-old man from Niagara Falls was stuck in his car on the highway for almost eight days after his vehicle was accidentally pushed to the side of the road and covered with snow by workers employed to remove the snow from the streets.

Driving on the Interstate Highway190 during the worst of the snowstorm, Mr. Hanson decided to pull over his old 1993 Volkswagen Passat to the side of the road and wait for the weather conditions to improve. He remained motionless for approximately five hours before a snow plow arrived to clear the way. Unfortunately for the poor man, the driver of the gigantic snow removal vehicle did not see the small car, pushing it into the ditch and covering it with more than 2 meters of snow.

Fortunately for the father of two children, the snow that was stacked over his vehicle was not very dense and allowed for enough fresh air to get through to enable him to survive. He was able to drink water that he obtained by melting snow with his lighter in an aluminum coffee cup, and he ate the few items of groceries he had bought before going home.

“If I had known I would be stuck for eight days, I would have bought more than a jar of dill pickles(咸菜), a bottle of ketchup and two sticks of beef jerky(牛肉干),” said the survivor with a smile.

Thomas Hanson had almost lost all hope of being rescued when his car was hit once again this morning by another snow plow, which revealed the poor man’s location.

Every Christmas,the firm I worked for raised money for disadvantaged kids in the area,and every Christmas I'd drive out with colleagues to deliver gifts.Some years ago,   we were returning to work and stopped at an intersection as the lights turned red.

We were in the middle lane and I became aware of an SUV(越野车）coming up behind us at speed;at the last moment,it switched to the righthand lane and carried straight on past the red light into traffic moving west to east.It crashed into another vehicle,causing it to veer off(转向），then they both skidded to a stop.

There was a loud"Bang"and flames leapt from the SUV 's front.I had been a volunteer firefighter for many years and had attended automobile accidents before.As the flames grew fiercer,I knew the car's battery had exploded and that there was no time to lose.I dashed round to the passenger side.The door was locked,but by pulling on the window frame,I managed to tear it open.I leaned in,unbuckled the driver's belt and pulled him across to the passenger side.

Other than some cuts,he was fine.I left him with my workmates and went to check on the driver of the other car,who was also unhurt.Then I headed back to the intersection, where I directed traffic around the burning vehicle until the emergency services arrived.

On the way back to work,I said to my colleagues:"What you saw,keep it under your hats,OK?"But an hour later I had a call from a friend on a local TV station."Brad,"he said,"I have a picture here that someone's sent in of you helping out at a traffic accident."

I hoped that would be the end f it,but the story was to have an unexpected ending. A couple of weeks after the accident,I agreed to a televised reunion with Michael Walker, the guy I'd pulled from the car.He thanked me,and then he introduced me to his daughter, Amber.It turned out she had been separated from her mum and dad,but returned home after the accident.Knowing this family had been reunited was greatly comforting to me-a real Christmas gift.