Forest fires are judged to be nasty, especially when one's own house or life is threatened, or when grave harm is being done to tourist attractions. The popular conviction that fires are an unqualified evil reached its zenith after a third of Yellowstone Park in the US was destroyed by fire in 1988. Nevertheless, conventional wisdom among forest managers remains that it is best to let natural forest fires burn themselves out, unless particularly dangerous conditions apply. Burning appears to be part of a natural process of forest rejuvenation. Moreover, intermittent fires burn away the undergrowth that might accumulate and make any eventual fire uncontrollable.
在人們看來，森林大火非常險惡，尤其是當它威脅到自己的家園或生命，或者嚴重危及旅遊勝地時。火是徹頭徹尾的禍害，這種普遍看法在1988年美國黃石公園有三分之一被燒燬後達到了頂峯。儘管如此，森林管理員一般仍認爲，除非發生了特別危險的情況，否則最好讓自然林火自生自滅。燃燒似乎是森林新陳代謝這一自然過程的一部分。此外，間歇性的林火還會清除林下的灌木叢。否則，這些灌木叢越積越多，一旦發生大火，會導致局面失控。