@DanZfpv
I’m a midwesterner who has never really had to think about wildfires. Then on a trip to Oregon. I witnessed the start of a wildfire firsthand. And it was shocking to see how quickly it grew. I also got to witness how quickly fire crews sprung into action. They were amazing. Luckily, they were able to put out the fire before it got completely out of control. It was a pretty scary experience.
@19danielb
12:02 "It is on home igniting the next structure, igniting the next structure, so that the demand on the water service is enormous and the water service can't keep up. As structures get damaged or destroyed, the water pipelines break and the water is just pouring out onto the street. And the firefighters don't have enough water, because it was never designed to fight more than one fire on a city block at once." This is such an important point that a lot of people on social media didn't seem to understand. The water infrastructure is not designed for fighting such large fires.
@jonmattison3939
I survived the fires here in the Napa/Sonoma counties in Northern California over the last few years. I have friends who lost their home in Paradise, CA as well (they made it off the hill safely despite pulling out of the driveway with their front yard on fire). In both cases, as you described, the winds were so strong that they were blowing embers MILES ahead of the ground fire. At a certain point there is no "fighting the fire" it is only a matter of emergency evacuations and hoping the wind stops.
@AlinaTaylor-p4g
Your ability to convey such high-quality information through visual effects is astounding.
@skullkid913
When I subscribed to this channel 10 years ago I never could've imagined this course of evolution. The house I lived in then has since burned down in just another record breaking fire in norcal, the Dixie Fire. It achieved massive leaps over firelines and clearings using the wind.
@itseams
17:22 is really important. They used to remove dead wood and brush through controlled burns and forest management, but in the 70s and 80s there were the NEPA and ESA environmental acts which stopped/made this more difficult. Since then, there have been an increase in the number and severity of wildfires in Cali & the Northwest
@jbark678
Lots of former firefighters here. Thank you all for what you do!
@mycroft16
There is a further factor you didn't even get to... fires that get to this size and intensity start generating their own weather. That heat can generate pyrocumulus clouds. Massive updraft over the fire pulls in fresh oxygen at ground level directly feeding the fire. So even without external high winds a large fire can create its own winds. There is actual footage of fires that have created enormous pyrocumulonimbus clouds (thunderstorm) that actually spawn fire tornados. Not little flame whirls which is fire in a small little coil of air... but actually legitimate tornadoes from a fire created thunderstorm cloud. It is one of the most terrifying ideas... a massive 2,000 degree wildfire burning through everything and now there is a tornado in the middle of it. Forest fires burn really hot as well. They can melt cast iron with ease. Even steel starts to become very melty. Aluminum is just straight molten at these temps. Concrete has all the moisture baked out of it and it turns into brittle crumbly messes. Will fire is next level destructive. The Camp Fire a few years ago in Northern CA was moving at nearly 70 miles per hour at some times, driven again by very high winds through bone dry and heavily underbrushed forest. Its hard to remember often, but fires far larger than these have burned unchecked for as long as there have been forests. It is a completely natural and normal part of a forest lifestyle. It actually is what keeps forests healthy. Many species of forest trees can't reproduce except in the intense heat and smoke. Old trees get burned out, all the underbrush is cleared. The old stuff fertilizes the soil as ash. And soon a new section of young forest starts, healthy and growing. As we move into places like this we have to remember that we are just one part of this world and maybe we shouldn't be trying to prevent all natural processes. Perhaps we need to be smarter where we build and how. Or we just have to accept that there will be unbelievable losses at some point.
@LiarraSniffles_X3
The thing that made me understand just how dangerous wildfires can be: In Australia there were some particularly bad fires a few years ago. One piece of information that was quite horrifying to see was a convoy of fleeing cars that were overtaken by the fire. The front half of the cars, all driving about as fast as humanly possible with the incredibly limited visibility from all the smoke, made it out with only 1st and 2nd degree burns. The back half had their tires melt/explode and were completely overtaken by flame. There was a photo showing the remains of a skeleton that didn't even have time to take their hands off the wheel before they died, like something out of a schlocky movie. If a car isn't enough to escape a fire like that, then what the hell are you going to do on foot?
@madzak9847
12:23 build from rebar reinforced concrete, with roofing from zinc coated steel
@Gooberandthebois
Cheers for raising bushfire awareness! No matter where you are, it must be considered. Been through it a few times down here in Australia.
@Berelore
Didn't shock anyone who knows that LA has always been a tinderbox because of the winter winds and has burned down a bunch of times through it's history...
@kwxl
This was the video I asked for. Thank you!
@Vygo.mp4
Its crazy how much wild life dies because of even a tiny a fire
@dogf421
the wind factor is so terrifying. a few embers usually wont do that much but a continuous storm of embers is like something straight out of hell
@JesseWinford69
Id say fires by themselves are controllable but when other factors are involved is how they become uncontrollable. For example like wind, dried vegetation, accelerants, etc.
@blacklotus808
well done Jordon you absolute legend. great video sunshine.
@ProtusMose
It's kind of crazy that it didn't address the terrible fire management as a contributing factor to these disastrous fires. They skirted around it by referencing controlled burns as a way of mitigating, but the fact that we put out every single small fire that starts, and do nothing with years of undergrowth and dead fuel is HUGE. Forests burn and regrow periodically. They have for as long as they've been around. A lightning strike starts a fire, it burns up all the small plants, dead trees, etc depositing lots of nitrogen-rich goodies and the forest lives on. Natural pastures and fire breaks are preserved. Five - 25 years later, it happens again and the forest is maintained. Now, we fight every small fire. Under the canopy is filled with dead trees and woody bushes. The forests grow into each other. We've manufactured the worst case scenario.
@tomaikenhead
it would have been cool to see the fire in real time instead of 2x. it’s scarier and more impressive to see how fast it actually takes over a neighborhood
@oneofmanyjames-es1643