How fires have spread to untouched parts of the world Fires are moving to places previously untouched by fire, a phenomenon that concerns scientists By Pablo Gutierrez, Ashley Kirk, Jonathan Watts and Frank Hu / The Guardian Wildfires are spreading to fuel-abundant regions of the world that used to be less prone to burning, a new analysis of 20 years of data found. While the overall area of annual burn in the world has remained relatively static in this period, the research indicates a shifting regional fire pattern that is affecting more forests and fewer grasslands. In recent years, f...