Introduction Fire is a topic on which most people can comment. Fire is a widespread phenomenon. Most of us have seen fires in natural vegetation, or their effects; stark, blackened vegetation or a smoke pall. Because fires such as these can have damaging economic and social effects, can spoil forestry timber, can burn down houses and farms, and can kill people and animals, there has been a lot written about wildfires. Added to this wide perception of the damage that can be caused by wildfires, there has been increasing publicity given, since the 1950's, to the active use of fire as a management tool, particularly in protecting against severe wildfires. The introduction of a policy of delib