of a wildfire might make you think

that no good can come from it.

After all, it demolishes homes,

displaces thousands of people and animals,

and incinerates millions of acres of land.

But, believe it or not, there are more benefits

to wildfires than meets the eye.

For example, some wildlife don't just survive the flames;

they actually thrive in the fire's wake.

In 2001, wildfires in New Mexico destroyed

the endangered Jemez Mountains salamander's habitat.

But the population survived by hiding out

in nooks and crannies of rocks.

It turns out many amphibians and smaller animals

who can't outrun the flames take cover in logs,

under rocks, or by burying themselves in the dirt.

At the other end of the spectrum, large animals

like elk and deer flee to streams or lakes for protection.

Other animals aren't so lucky.

Koalas, for example, will instinctively crawl up trees,

trapping themselves in the flames.

But wildfires aren't just a threat;

they're also an opportunity, especially for predators

like bears, raccoons, and raptors

who hunt down creatures trying to escape.

In fact, it's even been reported

that raptors will intentionally spread fires

to flush out prey.

However, the real benefits of fires come

after the flames die down.

Pine trees, for example, open up their waxy cones

and release their seeds during the fire.

But it's the ashes the fire leaves behind

that fertilize the soil so the seeds can grow.

Moreover, the fire removes debris as well

as dead and diseased plants, which exposes the ground

to more sunlight in the process.

This helps seedlings sprout and can sometimes

even spawn thousands of flowers in the fire's wake.

And many animals also take advantage

of a freshly-burned forest.

The charred remains of trees provide the perfect habitat

for insects and small wildlife.

Wood wasps, for instance, depend on the burned trees

to lay their eggs.

And other animals like black-backed woodpeckers

will actively seek out burned forests for a tasty snack.

They binge on bark beetles that live in the dead trees

and make their homes in the blackened bark.

And while this delicate balance between destruction

and new growth has been a way of life for millennia,

human interference is changing that.

Over the last century, we stifled wildfires

so forests became unnaturally overgrown

and contained plenty of deadwood just waiting

to ignite like a ticking time bomb.

This, along with increased temperatures

and more droughts, has made wildfires more devastating

and frequent than ever before in places like California,

making it harder for plants and animals

to rebound like they used to.

So if we don't start clearing dead vegetation

and helping fires run their natural course,

we may end up threatening forests and wildlife

more than any fire ever could.