Forest fires are an entirely natural phenom­e­non in many regions of the world. There, they have a posi­tive influ­ence on the affected forest area - for exam­ple, when the extreme heat gener­ated during a fire releases seeds from which new trees grow. But there is an extremely worri­some down­side to forest fires, which this study addresses: When­ever forest fires occur too violently, in the wrong place, at an unusual time, or too frequently, it is a sure sign that the ecosys­tem is out of whack due to human inter­ven­tion. In these cases, forest fires pose a seri­ous threat.