wildfire
n. C / Un. a large, destructive fire that spreads very quickly over a forest or grassland. These fires are often hard to control and can move faster than people can run.
n. an uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation occurring in rural areas. Often used metaphorically to describe the rapid dissemination of information or rumors.
The wildfire spread quickly through the dry forest.
Firefighters worked through the night to create a perimeter and stop the wildfire from reaching the nearby town.
As climate patterns shift toward prolonged droughts, the frequency and intensity of wildfires have increased, posing a significant threat to biodiversity and residential safety in the wildland-urban interface.
Inherited from Middle English wilde fyr, wilde fire, wylde fyre, from Old English wilde fȳr. By surface analysis, wild + fire.
Commonly used in the idiom 'spread like wildfire' to describe news or trends that travel fast.