How does succession occur after a forest fire?

more sunlight + more minerals in the soil from the ashes encourage seeds to sprout
year 1 annuals,grasses,native trees
2 perennials,pioneer species(pine,sweetgum)
3-5 weed trees and natives
5-10 natives return to original composition
10-25 natives dominate
25-50 natives > climax forest

glenn is correct except the chances of a forest recovering to its original composition is remote. There are many factors that can affect the final result. These include

* The composition of the original forest (seedbank potential)
* The composition of surrounding areas (recolonising species)
* The extent of the fire
* The nature (intensity) of the fire

In Australia, many of the modern Proteaceae species only evolved after the arrival of the Aboriginal people some 50000 years ago. They introduced regular fires to the landscape resulting in fire specialisation by many species to the extent that some species can only reproduce with the aid of fire. Many dense woodlands also changed into grasslands and open woodlands due to fire.

Also in Victoria, severe bushfires in the 1980's were so intense that many of the diverse forests that were there are virtual monocultures of Eucalyptus regnans as the seeds of this species were the only ones to survive. It will take 1000's of years of natural attrition before those forests regain half of their previous diversity.

So, textbook succession occurs in the manner set out by Glenn and don't get me wrong, it was a good answer, but in actuality, succession is far more complex.