Lesson 3.1.5.6

3.1.5.6 Fires in nature Quiz: AQA Geography, Unit 1

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 3.1.5.6, Fires in nature: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA Geography (7037), Unit 1: Physical geography, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which combination of conditions most favours an intense wildfire?

    • Wet vegetation with high humidity and no wind, which prevents ignition and limits the spread of fire
    • Waterlogged soils, cool temperatures and calm air that keep vegetation damp and slow any spread of flames
    • Dry, dense vegetation, high temperatures, low humidity and strong winds that push flames forward
    • Sparse, moist grassland in a cool, cloudy climate where fuel is rarely dry enough to burn

  2. Fuel characteristics that increase fire intensity include:

    • Dry, fine and highly flammable vegetation arranged in continuous layers from ground to canopy
    • Wet leaf litter that cannot ignite even under very high temperatures and strong dry winds
    • Thick, moist bark on large mature trees with no understorey, which resists heat and slows the spread of flames
    • Deciduous leaves that are fully saturated with water and therefore cannot carry fire across the ground

  3. Which is a natural cause of wildfires?

    • Agricultural burning of crop residues that is carried out by farmers in the late summer months
    • Lightning strikes igniting dry vegetation during a dry thunderstorm in a forested area
    • Arson by a person deliberately setting fire to land in an area that is already prone to fire
    • Discarded cigarettes thrown from a car window onto dry roadside grass during a hot summer afternoon

  4. Which human activity is a major cause of wildfire ignition worldwide?

    • Coastal erosion exposing dune vegetation, which then dries out in the wind and becomes flammable
    • Volcanic ash fallout onto vegetation, which can slowly dry out plants and make them more flammable over time
    • Deliberate or accidental ignition from land clearance, campfires and agricultural burning
    • Heavy rainfall that washes away soil and exposes bare ground to the sun for several weeks

  5. A fire spreads rapidly through a forest. Which factor most strongly controls how quickly it spreads?

    • Wind speed, which pushes flames onto unburnt fuel and increases the supply of oxygen to the fire
    • The age of the nearest road, which determines how easy it is for emergency vehicles to reach the fire
    • The colour of the soil beneath the trees, which affects how much heat is absorbed by the ground surface
    • The number of animals living in the forest, which can influence how much vegetation is eaten each season

  6. Which primary impact of a wildfire is most immediate?

    • Political debate over fire management policy in the months following the event
    • Changes in regional house prices over several years as insurers and buyers adjust to the new risk
    • Destruction of vegetation and buildings in the path of the flames as the fire front passes
    • Long-term decline of tourism to the region as visitors avoid areas that have recently been burnt

  7. Which secondary impact of wildfire is most likely after a burn?

    • Soil erosion and flash flooding when heavy rain falls on bare, burnt slopes with no vegetation
    • Fast regrowth of crops in a single week, which provides food for affected farming families
    • Immediate death of most animals in the area as the fire passes through the vegetation in a few hours
    • Destruction of the fire's initial ignition source, which removes the cause of further fires in the area

  8. Some ecosystems are described as fire-adapted. Which adaptation is an example?

    • Leaves that lose all pigment in the dry season and become pale, which reflects heat away from the plant
    • Shallow roots that grow only in waterlogged soil, which allows the plants to survive long periods of flooding
    • Serotinous cones that release seeds only after exposure to heat, so that seedlings grow on cleared ground
    • Stems that store large volumes of salt water to withstand drought and reduce the risk of fire damage

  9. Which long-term response to wildfire hazard reduces fire risk by lowering fuel loads?

    • Evacuating residents as the fire front approaches, moving them to shelters outside the danger zone quickly
    • Prescribed burning and clearing of dead vegetation around settlements, carried out under controlled conditions
    • Counselling for residents after the fire has ended to help families cope with the loss of homes and livelihoods
    • Distributing relief supplies to burned communities in the weeks after the fire has been brought under control

  10. Which response is an example of prevention for wildfire hazards?

    • Rebuilding homes with insurance payments after the fire has damaged the community beyond repair
    • Dropping water from aircraft on an active fire to slow its spread and protect nearby settlements and forests
    • Evacuating a town after the fire reaches it, moving residents away from the flames in an emergency
    • Restricting campfires and open burning during high-risk dry periods to reduce the chance of ignition

  11. Building codes that require fire-resistant roofing and clear defensible space around homes are an example of:

    • Prediction of the timing of fires by monitoring weather and fuel moisture across the region
    • Mitigation of wildfire impacts through physical design and land management
    • Relief after the event, providing support to households during the rebuilding phase following the fire
    • Mitigation of storm surge along coasts, using structures designed to reduce the height of waves

  12. Which statement best evaluates the view that wildfires are always harmful to ecosystems?

    • Fires are harmless because soils recover within a few days, so ecosystems return to their previous state very quickly
    • Wildfires only affect human settlements, while natural ecosystems are almost always unaffected by burning events
    • Wildfires always destroy all life and never benefit ecosystems, leaving bare ground that takes centuries to recover
    • Many ecosystems depend on fire for regeneration, so wildfire impacts vary with frequency, intensity and the ecosystem

  13. Wildfire smoke affects people mainly through:

    • Causing tsunami waves along coasts when the smoke cloud is carried over the sea by strong winds
    • Creating earthquakes along nearby faults that are disturbed by the heat from the burning vegetation
    • Reduced air quality, causing respiratory problems and visibility loss
    • Direct damage to bones from heat that radiates from the fire front over distances of several kilometres

  14. In 2018, the Camp Fire in California destroyed the town of Paradise. Which factor was most important in its rapid spread?

    • Storm surge that pushed embers into the hills from the coast, igniting new fires in the dry scrubland
    • Strong dry winds driving flames across dry vegetation and into the town within hours
    • A volcanic eruption that ignited the forest and sent burning debris across the valley over several days
    • A tsunami that flooded the forest and dried it out afterwards, leaving the vegetation exposed to sun and wind

  15. Which secondary hazard may follow a wildfire in hilly terrain?

    • Pyroclastic flows from a volcano that descend the slopes and reach the valley floor within minutes
    • Tsunami waves reaching inland valleys after the fire has triggered a massive undersea landslide
    • Lahars from a nearby crater lake that overflow after the volcano has been quiet for several decades
    • Debris flows and landslides when heavy rain falls on burnt, unvegetated slopes with weakened soils

  16. Which feature of fire behaviour makes fires hard to control in forests with dense understorey?

    • Fire spreads only in water-saturated soils, where the moisture in the ground keeps the fire from reaching the surface
    • Fire climbs from ground fuels into tree canopies, creating crown fires that spread rapidly and are hard to contain
    • Fire is extinguished by dense understorey vegetation, which absorbs heat and prevents the flames from spreading
    • Fire stays on the ground and never reaches taller plants, so it is easily contained by firefighters on foot

  17. Which mitigation approach is often used to reduce wildfire risk around settlements?

    • Removing all firebreaks to limit human access and reduce the chance of people starting fires in the area
    • Creating defensible space by clearing vegetation within a set distance of buildings to slow the fire
    • Building settlements directly on top of dense forest, so that houses are sheltered by the trees around them
    • Increasing dry fuel near houses for aesthetic reasons, such as planting dry grasses and shrubs by the front door

  18. A forest fire burns 500 hectares in a day. Another fire burns 2,000 hectares over the same day. Approximately how much larger is the second fire's burnt area?

    • Twice as large, since the second fire has double the area of the first fire over the same period
    • Ten times larger, which would be the case if the second fire had burned for ten times as many hours
    • Equal in area, since both fires were recorded on the same day and therefore have the same burnt area
    • Four times larger

  19. Why do responses to wildfire hazard often involve both prevention and preparedness?

    • Preparedness is only needed in areas that never have fires, so it is a low priority in most fire-prone regions
    • Prevention reduces ignitions and fuel, while preparedness improves warning, evacuation and response when fires do occur
    • Neither approach reduces risk once a fire starts, so communities must rely on chance to avoid major losses
    • Prevention is the same as recovery after the event, since both involve rebuilding and restoring the landscape

  20. Which evaluation best explains the increasing wildfire risk in some regions?

    • Hotter, drier conditions and expanding settlement into fire-prone land increase both fire frequency and human exposure
    • Wildfire risk only changes in regions with volcanic activity, where the heat from magma sets fire to vegetation
    • Wildfire risk declines when temperatures rise, because heat dries out vegetation and reduces the amount of fuel
    • Wildfire risk is unaffected by human settlement patterns, since fires are controlled entirely by natural weather systems

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