Wildfire Burn Scars: How Long Until They Heal?
San Diego Fire 2003 A Los Angeles County firefighter uses a flare to light a backfire to try and save a condominium complex from an out-of-control wildfire, October 27, 2003, in Chatsworth, Calif. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) When a wildfire is extinguished after days or months of torching trees and plants in the western United States, the scariest moments are often just beginning. What's left behind is known as a burn scar, a charred, barren strip of land annihilated by the...