There have been fires on this planet for 420 million years – especially since (a) the oxygen content of the atmosphere has exceeded 13% and (b) land plants have been available for combustion, with lightning strikes acting as the ignition source. Since then, vegetation fires have been the most frequent disturbance factor in terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. The long-term effect of fire thus became an evolutionary factor for many species. Where natural fires are frequent, species have developed characteristic traits of fire adaptation. Humans have greatly changed the geography of fire by burning vegetation to clear or fertilize the land; suppressing fires; and also land use and ecosystem fragmentation. A fire event depends not only on climatic and biological factors but also on cultural history. A thorough and systemic knowledge of fire and their medium- to long-term effects on the biosphere is a prerequisite for the appropriate management of vegetation fires.