Fuel for the fire
Heat. wind. And a spark. That’s all it took for the Blue Cut fire to ignite Tuesday. The region’s rugged terrain and infrastructure — electrical lines, rail lines, high-pressure gas lines, a fiber-optic network — have made fighting this fire an incredibly difficult task. “You could throw the world’s firefighting resources at it and it's just going to keep going,” said Capt. Howard Deets of the Mill Creek hotshot crew. Los Angeles Times
Standing their ground
Officials ordered 80,000 people to evacuate their homes as the Blue Cut fire tore through 30,000 acres. But many refused to go. “People that evacuate late in a fire when the fire is reaching them are the most vulnerable to being killed,” said Scott Stephens, a professor of fire science at UC Berkeley. “Most people underestimate the fury that comes.” Los Angeles Times
Heat. wind. And a spark. That’s all it took for the Blue Cut fire to ignite Tuesday. The region’s rugged terrain and infrastructure — electrical lines, rail lines, high-pressure gas lines, a fiber-optic network — have made fighting this fire an incredibly difficult task. “You could throw the world’s firefighting resources at it and it's just going to keep going,” said Capt. Howard Deets of the Mill Creek hotshot crew. Los Angeles Times
Standing their ground
Officials ordered 80,000 people to evacuate their homes as the Blue Cut fire tore through 30,000 acres. But many refused to go. “People that evacuate late in a fire when the fire is reaching them are the most vulnerable to being killed,” said Scott Stephens, a professor of fire science at UC Berkeley. “Most people underestimate the fury that comes.” Los Angeles Times