Claim: A video shows the fluff of poplar trees burning across a field in Spain. 
Verdict: SUPPORTS

Retrieved passages:
title: Alt Empordà fires of 2012
text: 51% were trees, 22% crops, and 19% brush. Of the 14,000 hectares, 3,000 (containing agricultural crops) were not burned. The fire threatened the towns of Llers and Capmany reaching homes and burning some in Jonquera and Agullana. At points, the flames reached five meters in height. The increasingly strong southwest and eastern winds created fears that fire would enter into the Garrotxa region and affect the Garrotxa Volcanic Natural Park, thus making it more difficult to combat the fire on land due to the dense forest and the topography of the land. According to Felip Puig, Minister of Interior of

title: 2009 Mediterranean wildfires
text: burning. Isolated cases of areas in Spain affected by fires caused by lightning strikes include Aragon (Spain), as reported by "El Pais" and Mojácar, as suggested by the Spanish Forest Fire Organisation (INFOCA). The wildfires outside of Marseille, France were reported as being caused by military training using tracer bullets. The local government of Corsica believed the fires were caused by arson. 2009 Mediterranean wildfires The 2009 Mediterranean wildfires were a series of wildfires that broke out across France, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Turkey in July 2009. Strong winds spread the fire during a hot, dry period of weather killing

title: Davie Poplar
text: damaged by Hurricane Fran. A fire was set and a small device was detonated at the base of Davie Poplar on November 2, 2017, producing a small fire ball and scorching the side of the tree. The explosion caused minor injuries to Dr. Daniel Reichart who tried to stomp out the fire. Davie Poplar Davie Poplar is a large tulip poplar tree located in McCorkle Place on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Named in honor of Revolutionary War general and university founder William Richardson Davie, the tree is approximately 300 to 375 years old.

title: October 2017 Iberian wildfires
text: and the peninsula, and helped fan wildfires in both Portugal and Spain. In Portugal, on its worst day, firefighters battled over 440 fires. The country sought assistance from European neighbours and Morocco. The Portuguese Minister of Internal Administration Constança Urbano de Sousa, who resigned as a consequence, said "We have all our firefighters out there doing everything they can". The arrival of Ophelia brought Saharan dust to parts of the United Kingdom, giving the sky an orange or yellow-sepia appearance, and the sun a red or orange appearance. A strange 'burning' smell was also reported across Devon, also attributed to

title: Cyclone Tini
text: enough and had to call in trained professionals to use chainsaws. Police declared a major emergency in County Kilkenny. Between 5,000 and 7,000 hectares of forest have been blown down, mainly in Munster. Across Ireland an estimated 7.5 million trees in total were blown down. In the early hours of 13 February the Irish contender for European Tree of the Year fell, a 200 year old Grey Poplar in the grounds of Birr Castle, County Offaly. Many roads across Wales were closed by falling trees, several railway lines also affected. Anglesey wind turbines burst into flames. Porthmadog railway station part

title: Populus grandidentata
text: by gypsy moths is followed by a fungal infection by "Armillaria" spp. The ambrosia beetle ("Xyleborus saxesceni") attacks fire-damaged bigtooth aspens. Commonly, it occurs in areas that frequently burn, such as large upland areas distant from water and upwind of natural fire breaks, such as lakes. The wood is light-colored, straight-grained, fine-textured, and soft. It is used primarily for pulp, but can be used to make particle board and structural panels. Minor uses include log homes, pallets, boxes, match splints, chopsticks, hockey stick components, and ladders. The bark is pelletized for fuel and supplemental cattle feed. Populus grandidentata Populus grandidentata,

title: Septoria musiva
text: of the pathogen on "Populus deltoides". Population genetics approaches suggested that dissemination of the pathogen appears to be associated with the natural distribution of wild "P. deltoïdes""." More recently, anthropogenic activities like plant exchanges and transportation of infected plant material also resulted in spread and introduction of the disease in naïve habitats. There is a major concern to make sure it does not reach Europe, as it will likely take over the native poplars very quickly there. Cankers appear on branches and new shoots off poplar trees, these are relatively weak spots on the tree and often break. This is

title: Philippe Pastor
text: United States. It was also shown at the 2007 Vienna Biennale. His work has been auctioned by Christie's. Since 2003, Pastor has collected burned wood from the forest of La Garde-Freinet and made sculptures with them to draw attention to the fact that every year, forests are caught on fire on Southern France, Italy and Spain. As part of the United Nations Environment Programme, these sculptures, called "Burned Trees", have been exhibited permanently at the United Nations Office at Nairobi since 2006, and at the Nice Côte d'Azur Airport in Southern France. They were also exhibited in Singapore in 2007.

title: October 2017 Iberian wildfires
text: the dust, and smoke from forest fires in Portugal and Spain. Winds up to were observed in Orlock Head, County Down, at the height of the storm. Approximately 50,000 households lost power in Northern Ireland. Insurance claims from Northern Ireland, Wales, and Scotland are estimated to reach £5–10 million (US$6.6–13.2 million). In Tallinn, Estonia, a black rain occurred due to the fact that Hurricane Ophelia brought smoke and soot of fires to Estonia from Portugal, as well as dust from the Sahara Desert, Report informs citing the Estonian media. "We looked at photos from satellites and the Finnish weather service

title: Populus sect. Tacamahaca
text: the high heat. Their leaves tremble in the slightest breeze like the quaking aspen The balsam poplar "P. balsamifera" (= "P. tacamahaca", "P. candicans") is a native of North America, where it grows on alluvial bottomlands in the northeastern United States and Canada. It grows to a height of 30 metres and has yellow-grey bark, thick and furrowed, and coloured blackish at the base of the trunk. The twigs are yellow-brown to brown, the buds covered with a layer of balsam resin. The flowers and fruit are very much like those of the white poplar ("P. alba") which is a

title: Palmitos Park
text: in front of their food. On July 31, 2007 it was reported in the media that almost 65% of the park was burned due to ten forest fires, and that some exotic bird species - such as the toucan - may have been killed. The forest fires caused evacuations of certain parts of Gran Canaria and Tenerife. A local Forest Ranger was accused of starting the fires intentionally in order to keep him in employment as his contract was due to expire. Over 2000 people from the village of Mogán were evacuated, as well as El Salobre. No human lives

title: Populus
text: felled 1879". In Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit, she sings "Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze/Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees…". Poplars in Ukrainian folklore symbolise beauty or loneliness of a woman in love. The Odd Poplars Alley, in Iași, Romania, is one of the spots where Mihai Eminescu sought inspiration in his works (the poem "Down Where the Lonely Poplars Grow"). In 1973, the 15 white poplars still left (with age ranges between 233 and 371 years) were declared natural monuments. In Pakistan, poplar is grown on commercial level by farmers in Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provinces.

title: Earth Liberation Front
text: for Urban Horticulture, University of Washington, causing a total of $7 million in damages. The arson destroyed 20 years of research and plant and book collections. The ELF claimed responsibility based upon the incorrect belief that the University was involved in genetic engineering of poplar trees. No genetic engineering was being conducted. In the wake of the attack, an FBI spokeswoman in Portland, Oregon said "I don't think there's any doubt the ELF is ". On November 21, ELF member Ian Wallace planted incendiary devices outside of two buildings on the campus of Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan during

title: Populus nigra
text: been selected, these being propagated readily by cuttings: As a widely selected species chosen by golf architects in the 1960s, it soon became apparent that the Poplar's very invasive roots destroyed land drainage systems. Decades later the same courses were removing Poplars stands wholesale. At around 40 to 50 years this short lived variety starts shedding branches and are very likely to be blown over in high winds, each successive tree lost exposing neighbouring trees creating a domino effect. Black poplar has a large distribution area throughout Europe and is also found in northern Africa and central and west Asia.

title: Populus
text: are widely grown across Europe and southwest Asia. However, like willows, poplars have very vigorous and invasive root systems stretching up to 40 m from the trees; planting close to houses or ceramic water pipes may result in damaged foundations and cracked walls and pipes due to their search for moisture. A simple, reproducible, high-frequency micropropagation protocol in eastern cottonwood "Populus deltoides" has been reported by Yadav et al. 2009. In India, the poplar is grown commercially by farmers, mainly in the Punjab region. Common poplar varieties are: The trees are grown from "kalam" or cuttings, harvested annually in January

title: Populus tremula
text: seeds embedded in downy fluff. The fluff assists wind dispersal of the seeds when the capsules split open at maturity. It can be distinguished from the closely related North American "Populus tremuloides" by the leaves being more coarsely toothed. Like other aspens, it spreads extensively by suckers (root sprouts), which may be produced up to 40 m from the parent tree, forming extensive clonal colonies. Eurasian aspen is a water and light demanding species that is able to vigorously colonize an open area after fire, clear cutting or other kind of damages. After an individual has been damaged or destroyed,

title: Hokkaido University poplar avenue
text: 1959 typhoon caused greater damage still, felling more than 10 trees. As a result, people called for the removal of the remaining trees for safety reasons. However, after Kingo Machimura, the Governor of Hokkaido, received a letter from a 9-year-old girl who objected to the removal of the trees, and he ordered that more saplings be planted. The poplar avenue increased to a greater size; though afterward the avenue was placed off-limits due to the risk of falling trees. On September 8, 2004, the trees in Hokkaido University were almost destroyed by Typhoon Songda. Of the roughly 50 poplar trees

title: Populus ciliata
text: in China, Japan, the USA and New Zealand to bind soil in erosion-prone areas. During raining season, the leaves of the tree become extensively colonized by leaf defoliators such as "Pyragea cupreata" and "P. fulgurita". In India record show that this tree has been a victim of the plant parasite known as "Loranthus elatus". Other pathogens that cause premature defoliation in this species include "Bipolaris mydis", "Pseudocercospora salicia" and "Phorma macrostoma". Incidences of ganoderma root rot have also been reported in this species. Populus ciliata Populus ciliata, the Himalayan poplar, is a large deciduous tree with tall clean straight trunk

title: Desierto de los Leones National Park
text: oaks which are surrounded by meadows. Due to forest fires, new tree species were introduced in the park as a measure of reforestation; the original species that stands out in most zones is the "pinus patula" which can be found in small populations. One of the main problems the park faces, is the appearance of the "bark beetle", a 3 mm insect that attacks pines. This insect causes plagues in forests by attacking trees that were damaged by fire or lightening strikes, then it starts reproducing itself and attacks healthy trees. There have been 16 forest fires in the last

title: Populus sect. Populus
text: the colony may appear at up to 30–40 metres from the previous trees. Each individual tree can live for 40–150 years above ground, but the root system of the colony is long-lived, sending up new trunks as the older trunks die off above ground, spreading about a metre per year, sometimes eventually covering many hectares. They are able to survive forest fires because the roots are below the heat of the fire, and new sprouts can grow from the roots. One such colony of American aspen ("P. tremuloides") in Utah, given the nickname of "Pando", is estimated to be 80,000