I hope you guys enjoy this video! It's obviously quite an enormous topic that people will spend years studying condensed down into a ten-minute video so this isn't the comprehensive guide to stopping wildfires but for those that know nothing about wildfire suppression techniques I hope this will be interesting and informative!
A very timely video for my part of the world, the snow is starting to melt and in a few months the tall forests will start to dry out and then they will be vulnerable.
Is it important that you are a Californian? I'm not, I don't even live in a region where wildfires are a serious threat and I still manage to have respect and admiration for these men.
I'm an initial attack firefighter in Canada, and this video is great. The description of basic wildfire behavior and suppression tactics are pretty dang good. One thing about wildfire is that the tactics vary based on what your forests are made up of, as well as the resources your agency has available, so what calfire does is very different from how we might do things in the boreal forest, or what you might see in australia, etc.
@@VS-np3yq not really. We dont use smoke jumpers amd foot patrolling isnt that common either. We mostly use vehicle and air borne assests. Our terrains and fuel is quite unite and extremely dangerouse
Ah yes, us Californians are studying to put out fires around our homes, recently I’ve had eleven fires about a ten mile radius from my town, so it is helpful
I’m in Australia and currently we have a range of out of control bushfires(wildfires). I came across this video and it helped me understand the challenge we are facing. Fingers crossed the fires don’t get any worse here. Thanks for the video.
And don't allow the government to turn off the water supply like they did in Yarloop... (Western Australia. Google it) which almost wiped out an entire firefighting team.
After the 2019 fires in Australia, every bush that was burned looks way more lush and healthy now than it did before, driving through a forest of black, charred trees with bright green limbs is kinda surreal Way better than driving through a bush fire to evacuate, that was more like how you imagine hell would look
I've heard that Australian equipment and personel are shipped up for the fire season and then shipped back for our fire season. It's really quite something to see those magnificent people work. Their bravery is comparable to that of a soldier.
DarkSnake Nerdmaster can confirm that they are - FFV, CFA, SES and RFS all send staff over but they’re calling them back about now due to an early start to the fire season
@Madalyn Maree Australian bush firefighters are far better at Operations (they will usually deal with it faster and at less cost).. U.S. wildland firefighters are far better at Logistics (they will administer and support it better). Both could do Intel and planning better. Both often focus too much on politics and media image, and not enough on frontline substance. Australian fire stick farming was actually more to facilitate Aboriginal access and hunting. Rather than burning off large areas, it tends to create a patchwork of strategically burnt areas that limit major fire development, among other things. We still have much to learn about how they use bush indicators to judge when conditions were appropriate for burning. The Northern Territory of Australia probably uses such techniques to best effect, but its more limited in areas where people still have a traditional sentimental European view of "all fire bad!" and don't see fire as a natural and often essential part of the environment.
Hello Wendover. After watching this I showed my father who is a fire fighter for Kern County in California, This is his response. In your video you stated that the fire would immediately be transferred to Calfire's management when it is dispatched. This statement is however wrong. First it would be dispatched from the California Office of Emergency Services to the local OES station or station that has an OES engine. The fire would be then assessed by the team then more fire teams will be dispatched as CalFire or as a federal assignment. Federal would be managed at the federal level. Calfire would be state managed. Thank you for the amazing content and I hope you also learn something as have I.
It's fascinating that even in 2018 this is pretty much craftsmanship versus just leveraging technology. I remember that multiple tech entrepreneurs like Elon Musk want to work on more advanced machinery to combat fires since it's a battle we rarely win anymore like the last Californian fire.
There are Fire Tower Lookouts that help spot fires in many regions. Recently spoke with a couple of fire tower lookouts who explained how land, air, and towers work together to mitigate and manage large wild fires. They also said that forest fires are a natural phenomenon and not necessarily a 'bad thing' all the time...only when vital resources are at risk or the fire is at a massive scale. Great job highlighting the hard work of wild land firefighters in this video!
As a career wildland firefighter I am SO grateful that you focused on the importance of fire as a natural part of our landscape. We're still struggling to help people understand that. Our own agencies struggle to adequately implement fire to benefit the landscape. Pretty decent video. For anyone wondering, Smokejumpers are a Federal resource - USFS or BLM (land management agencies). They are not CalFire. Other wildland fire resources include heli-rappellers, hotshots, helitack, engine crews and handcrews, dozer and other heavy equipment operators, and other resources. All are considered firefighters even if their technical job title doesn't say it.
Living in Greece where forest fires are a pretty common thing each summer (although they do not compare to the massive fires in America), I immediately knew from the start that the fire you were describing was imaginary. This year 98 people died from a forest fire on the northern part of Athens. The truth fellas is that if the wind is strong and the fire has something to fuel it, any attempts to slow down are in vain. If nature herself does not decide to assist you (rain, the wind stopping, natural water like lakes to contain the fire on one side) you quickly realize you are just a small spec fighting against a giant.
Us Aussies know all too well about that, we have lost entire towns and sections of cities to fires, many have been killed both trying to escape and those fighting it
Ah indeed my friend I am perfectly aware of how devastating forest fires are in Australia. Such dry climate with the vegetation you guys have. Such a tragedy we go through every year.
Oh yes. But as soon as darkness comes, things stop being so easy I'm afraid. Plus as good as that 747 supertanker is, it seems like a plane that needs to take off from a runway. Meaning it needs a lot of time to do a second run. And time my friend is crucial. Also I am Greek, so we are poor and we must use water :P
G'day, Yay Team ! Thanks for posting this. I wasn't aware that the US still uses Parachute-Insertion to put Firefighters into burning Forests...(!). I'm a Basic Firefighter with the NSW Rural Fire Service, my son is Captain of a 2-Tanker Brigade, as well as a foundation-member of the local RAFT (Remote Area Firefighting Team) ; here in Oz the RAFTs are Helicopter Winch-Inserted from as much as 300 ft up, to cut Hand-Lines (down to Mineral Earth) from which to light Back-Burns... It's what they call "Dry Firefighting", and they take Chainsaws, Brushcutters, Rake-Hoes, and Drip-Torches with Backpack Leaf-Blowers ; and quite a bit of Fuel for all of the above. If they need Water then that comes from "Heli-Tacks" or "Firebombers", ie anything from Jetrangers to Hueys with Buckets and Erikson-Sikorsky Sky-Cranes or Turbo-Thrushes & Dromedaries. Which brings me to a point. You claim that Phos-Check is "very expensive" at $3 per (US) Gallon..., compared to Water... That isn't actually right..., y'see, because trucking Water to the Airstrip costs $21 per ton ($130 for 6,000 Litres, I bought a load of Water only last week..., we have a Drought here at the moment), and while the Heli-tack will indeed save $21 per Ton (500 Litres to 1,200 L. per Bucket, depending on the Machine...) by bucketing from Rivers - the RFS reimburses Property-Owners for whatever Water is taken from Dams, or the Water is replaced afterwards using Tanker Trucks. I've worked at the Airbase filling Firebombers with both Water out of Buoywall Tanks holding the loads brought in on a relay of Council Trucks, as well as mixing a 10,000 Gallon (Imperial) Buoywall of Phos-Check and pumping it into the 'Planes. Phos-Check consists of Phosphate (Fertiliser) powrered & dyed Red..., it's not any more expensive to make than the "Super-Phosphate" Pellets which Graziers have air-dropped onto their Pastures, to make the Grass grow better ("Aerial Top-Dressing" as they call it...). The NSW Rural Fire Service is an all-volunteer outfit, so there's no labour-cost in unloading the Bags & mixing the Powder into the Water, or pumping it - though I imagine that Cal-Fire in the US has to pay Wages (?). However, to drop a $21 Ton of Water onto a Fire costs the RFS $350 from fixed-wing Firebombers, & $550 from a Heli-tack...; because Water is heavy and Flying Machines are much more expensive to operate than the local Council's Water-Truck. My guess is that the "$3 per (US) Gallon of Phos-Check" is the cost of putting it onto the Ground, including the Jumbo-Jet Firebomber and the people mixing & handling the Water & Retardant on the ground at the Airbase. The Aircraft are chartered by the Hour, and there may be a Contract Clause varying the rate when using Retardant vs Water, because Phos-Check is heavier than pure Water - and carrying it will burn more Fuel...(?) ! One of the ways in which I've trained myself to feel good about tiny amounts of Rain, during this Drought, is to work out what it would cost to "replace the Rain with Technology" on the 100 Acres upon which I pay the Rates....; a Quarter of a Millimetre is 1/100th of an Inch, which we used to call a "Point", and 1 Point of Rain onto 1 Acre of Land (ie 66 ft by 660 ft..., which is to say a Spear-throw by a Bow-Shot !) is 224 Imperial Gallons of Water - at 10 Pounds to the Imp. Gal. that's 2,240 Pounds, which is exactly one Ton. So 1 Point of Rain onto the Land that I'm responsible for equates to being $2,100 worth of Water, delivered at a saving of somewhere between $35,000 & $55,000, for the Airdrop, depending on whether the Fantasy involved3 Fixed or Rotary-Wing delivery-systems ; and it's three & a half to five & a half million dollars to put a $210, 000 Inch of Water onto the Land... I dunno what Fertiliser costs, because I run an Endangered Species Sanctuary & I don't use the stuff (Kangaroos & Wallabies deposit their dung here, for free !) ; but Graziers use it by the Truckload, so it can't be particularly expensive. Such is Life, Have a good one...
Good on you and thanks for your service Hope you guys can help the current fires in NSW Down here in Victoria we also have some bad fires down in Gippsland and Bendigo where one of my cousins in fighting them
Yeah. Thinking of new ways & using existing technology to stop the fires. One way I've been thinking is using LAV25s by replacing the head canon with a high multi-purpose water/retardant hose head canon with a liquid tanker towed on the back. This simple design alone is vastly superior than using standard off-road firetrucks that can't do shit against firewalls.
@@alek488 Right now, yes. But an idea that should be pursued & invested in the next 5-10 years to fight the main massive ones. We can't keep using the same trucks, equipment & tactics anymore, we need to innovative & go on the offensive.
You know how fucking hard it is to fight multiple fires in the state hundreds and hundreds of thousands of acres all while dealing with wind high temps the whole time. It takes time to dig tens of miles of fire lines and clearing out ladder fuels out of countless miles of wilderness.
Eric Hobsbawm Transformer - ~120V AC to ~30V AC. Full bridge rectifier (4 diodes) 30v DC with large ripple. Capacitor smooth it out to a smooth DC voltage. Afterwards an IC generates a PWM with a MOSFET to generate variable voltage in parallel to a series of capacitors. Which finally generates a useable dc voltage.
I was visiting California and got caught in the middle of the Mendocino complex fire. My hotel got evacuated and while driving down the highway I saw these brave men and women fighting this fire coupled with air drops of fire retardant from the Boeing plane. It was definitely a surreal experience because this is unheard of on the east coast. Glad I found this interesting video!
I just barely left the CCC, and... I really wish they taught the crews more on how wildfires are fought. Knowing all that I've learned from TH-cam alone has given me far more respect for the guys and gals I worked with at the spikes I was activated to.
This kinda makes me want a wildfire stopping video game, in the style of a RTS. The frantic nature of stopping wildfires and the strategy used would make a fun gameplay experience.
There is also a board game called ‘fire tower’ where you try and stop the fire burning down your tower, and direct the fire towards your opponent’s towers. Its awesome!
There's also a smaller scale game on Steam called Incident Commander, where you run the reaponse to various emergencies and disasters in a town, including wildfires.
There is currently a 32,000 acre fire burning 45 miles to the west of my town threatening the small town of Dayton Wyoming. I was just near there watching those supertankers. Hints why I’m here. Learned so much from this video. Thank you!
New firefighting machines are needed, fleets of magnet-to-magnet powered hovercraft tankers don't need refueling, large fire net drones to captures crown flares like spinnakers & 24x7 all-weather comm. Tankers 1000gal each with nozzles & can mist large areas, made to fly among trees near the ground, power head works for mt. SAR & logging, 4500-5500hp class. So, with 50+ tankers & nets the basis to extinguish hillside fires in any wind by disrupting the volatile firefront with tankers both sides using drones. Ymmv, no funding.
I’m watching this on 9/10/2020 as 37 wildfires in Oregon have burned over 924,000 acres so far. Please keep us in your prayers as we deal with the fires and the massive amount of smoke in the air. I haven’t seen the sun in days and visibility is at best 1/4 mile. The amount of light from the sun reaching ground level is roughly 20% of normal. I have to use the headlights on my car to see where I’m going. It’s like driving in thicke fog during the day and impossible at night.
I’m watching this on 9/03/2023 as 2,047 wildfires in British Columbia have burned over 5,383,078 acres so far. 2023 is now the worst wildfire season in recorded history for Canada.
0:08 wendover predicts the california complex fires two years before they happen confirmed. Literally the time, 4:00 am. The date: mid-august. brief Lightning storm caused fire. (literally the exact circumstances as what started many of the california wildfires now). Damn that's freaky
I really liked this. I was affected by the Ute Park Fire in New Mexico this summer, and one of the most frustrating parts of it was that people don't really know how fires work, how they're dealt with, or why they happen/need to happen. You can't just stop a natural disaster like that. Very refreshing to see something like this that made sense and did a good job educating people about wildfires. Great video, very well said.
I don't write comments quite often but I rally like your videos. Thank you for what you're doing. All videos are so interesting and I learn a lot during them. It's a real treasure for those who learn English and need some interesting content to work on. Keep it up!
It was like that in California after the Camp Fire in 2018 for about a month until we got rain. I'm still grateful to be breathing clean air two years later
My Dad is a firefighter and he has to go out and fight them, so during fires I can never see him. (We live in Southern California so we always have fires
Awesome watch from BC, Canada. We had about more than 500 active wildfires burning in the province just a couple weeks ago. Now it's raining in most parts with surprising snowfall in northern areas like Fort Nelson. Mother Nature truly is amazing.
As a firefighter this is reasonably accurate, however, an anchor point is more often where you begin to start fighting the fire, it’s likely where you come in. Also most fires are contained quickly. Cal fire has a goal of 95% of fires contained under 10 acres. Some agencies go up to 98%.
MFramy there are some games similar to what you’ve described. The emergency series (just google emergency 4) involve coordinating fire departments, medical services, police, and technical services. I highly recommend it (and yes, there are forest fire missions)
There already 2 really good firefighting game emergency 4, and emergnyc, emergency 4 is more a strategie game than a simulator, but emergenyc is a simulator game
Firewatch is a story-driven game involving watching out for fires, which is different, but still cool. For such a realistic premise it's surprising how little games delve into it.
A lot of really good and accurate info in this video. Especially around the fact forests are resistant to fires and it's a natural cleansing of forests underbrush amd we are messing with that by trying to put wildfires out. While it was a self admitted "too simple" fire scenario, something that wasn't mentioned which heavily impacts fires and was a huge factor in the East Gippsland Complex fire (Victoria Australia, 2019/20) is the fact that embers can be carried by wind for hundreds of meters, which means that the fire fighting efforts to make containment lines all gets jumped, and within minutes the fire fighters are now surrounded by fire on all sides as the embers quickly become their own fire. Also the fact that large firea can create their own weather systems within them which mainly increase the effects to generate fire.
My father is a level 5 IC (Incident Commander) so it was kind interesting seeing a topic so close to home. I think you glossed over prescribed burns and preventative logging a little but most the information was great. The fire example was very well written. My only other critic would be about the logistics of fire crews and 'conscription' during severe fire seasons, although, this is probably a complex topic in its own right and would probably deserve its own video.
I live not far from the Richmond RAAF base on the outskirts of Sydney - there are at least 3 fire-fighting planes based there at the moment. Sydney has been covered in smog and smoke for the last couple of weeks due to all of the fires that are burning.
First in is either an engine crew, a wild land crew from local fire department, followed by a hotshot team. Smokejumpers are rarely first in unless fire is in extreme terrain. Even then, helitackers (wildland crews trained with helicopter operations and assigned to a chopper) will run the show until jumpers or hotshot crews arrive. As for fixed wing assets CALFIRE has a "cocked pistol" where their air tankers and even helicopters are sitting on the flight line with bellies full of retardant/water/foam. An air asset such as an S-2 airtanker, or a Bell 205 or a Sikorksy Firehawk will be assigned. Given the fact that CALFIRE does nighttime helo ops, I doubt it would be at nine am before first air asset is ready.
Great video, having had to evacuate my house in nor cal earlier this summer I appreciate the well presented and relevant info. Much respect for the difficult and dangerous work cal fire does every year.
My buddy is a Hot Shot Fire Fighter. He flys around the US fighting the craziest fires. Hes in Australia right now helping them out. Yet, he says my job as a police officer is more dangerous..... I tell him "99% of my job is talking to people. 100% of your job fighting one of the worlds most destructive forces" . I salute all those who run towards fires while everyone else is running away.
I think this video will be very helpful to Australia 🇦🇺 wild fires so please send this to the people who are in Australia so that they be aware of it and they help something up to their extent...
Whoa a topic I am knowledgeable on. One thing I can elaborate on. CalFire is not responsible for ALL wildfires or pre-planning in the state of California, they are only responsible for those in the SRA (State Responsibility area) or MTZ (Mutual Threat Zone). If a fire is in the LRA (Local Responsibly Area) or FRA (Federal Responsibility Area) the associated agency is responsible for it. For example a fire located on the Angles National Forest is in FRA and the USFS is the responsible agency. Most cities are entirely LRA, but portions near SRA may be in the MTZ, meaning CalFire will augment the local response or only respond upon confirmation of a wildfire. 1:44 Fuck that, all those thin leafy plants in front of him are Poison Oak. 4:55 I don't know if you knew/planned this, but for the area you described (50 miles away from Redding (presumably to the East based on the topography you showed)) you just named the Great Basin Outflow that occurs in the afternoon under the right conditions. A very hazardous wind shift that has caught many firefighters off guard. Overall though this video shows the main parts of fire behavior and how it is fought. Good job on the informative video.
Wish we had smoke jumpers here in Australia, if you can't drive in with a firetruck we just sit and wait for the fire to become gigantic and reach towns and farms before we're able to do anything about it.
@@RealCatWeekly So sorry to hear that, that must be really tough. One of my best mates is defending his place tonight in the tallangatta valley, his parents home on the south coast is likely gone or going today as well. These fires are just shocking. Hope the gov realises they need to get serious and invest in jumpers and far more and larger air assets. Wishing you and your family all the best.
Hehe, my family/area has a very rich history of wild-land firefighting... My unit commander spent many seasons (years) as a wild-land hotshot. My Grandfather, and many friends also spent time as hotshots and one in particular was a smoke jumper during the 60s-80s. There have been spike camps and actual fire-camps quite literally on my front lawn and in my backyard.
I was really apprehensive to watch this video. You make high quality videos, but wildfire is my day job. You did pretty well. You somewhat overstated the effectiveness of aviation assets, but not by as much as most people do. Aviation slows the fire, boots on the ground stop it. In 18 years, I've seen few retardant lines that held without being backed up by either handline or dozer line.
I hope you guys enjoy this video! It's obviously quite an enormous topic that people will spend years studying condensed down into a ten-minute video so this isn't the comprehensive guide to stopping wildfires but for those that know nothing about wildfire suppression techniques I hope this will be interesting and informative!
how can you create rainfall pls do this video.
edit : how can we transform the sahara desert in lush green land
i think you have two choices.
Can you do video about how power supply works, and how they regulate high and low demand issues....
Well, that one of many reason I subbed to you, wendover
Hey, Rodrigo how are you here? Don't you have poor junkies to kill?
A very timely video for my part of the world, the snow is starting to melt and in a few months the tall forests will start to dry out and then they will be vulnerable.
Great video, I learned a lot.
I read this in your accent
I LEEAAARRRNED ALOHT
How to stop a wildfire: Dig a trench around the forest. GENIUS!!
LMAO ME TOO!
@Anglo-Afghan Dutch Mapper
*carefully* dig a trench around a forest.
As a Californian, I have enormous respect for those employees by CalFire, both the firefighters and those in the administration portion.
Down under we feel exactly the same when it comes to our local Bushfire brigades! We get fires that are just as bad as yours every summer!
Is it important that you are a Californian? I'm not, I don't even live in a region where wildfires are a serious threat and I still manage to have respect and admiration for these men.
Troll Em' All same
Many of them being inmates! Crazy respect for these people.
@@madezra64 yep, and most of them aren’t given a choice either
This got patched in Australia
JLS Productions TH-cam algorithm
B B underrated? The comment is shite
The firewall was a bit too strong
JLS Productions sad I live here
That shit not even funny , lame ass internet clown
I'm an initial attack firefighter in Canada, and this video is great. The description of basic wildfire behavior and suppression tactics are pretty dang good. One thing about wildfire is that the tactics vary based on what your forests are made up of, as well as the resources your agency has available, so what calfire does is very different from how we might do things in the boreal forest, or what you might see in australia, etc.
Hard times for the people in Australia. Hope everything is going to get better and the fire stopped.
Still about 3 or 4 months of fire season to go. Includding the hottest part of summer
Im wondering if australian fire fighters are doing the same procedure?
@@VS-np3yq not really. We dont use smoke jumpers amd foot patrolling isnt that common either. We mostly use vehicle and air borne assests. Our terrains and fuel is quite unite and extremely dangerouse
valerie zipagan i think that their problem is that the fire is so strong they simply can’t control anything.
@@iliet5120 i ve read that it could also be the result of land mismanagement. Backburning in particular.
#1 trending in california
We gotta know what to do if we need to stop a fire on our own.
@@JaxTheCartographer 1. Be an elite firefighter
Well, yeah. It’s the hottest topic atm.
Lol
Ah yes, us Californians are studying to put out fires around our homes, recently I’ve had eleven fires about a ten mile radius from my town, so it is helpful
How to stop a fire?
SQUARESPACE
Yes, you cut and hack the fire's webserver and the fire will die out in a 404 error!
Who knew that tankers, firefighters were so outdated!
*SKILLSHARE*
As an ex woodland firefighter this is pretty spot on. Great vid.
Uno reverse card
CTECH 9 yes
I’m in Australia and currently we have a range of out of control bushfires(wildfires). I came across this video and it helped me understand the challenge we are facing. Fingers crossed the fires don’t get any worse here. Thanks for the video.
Australians in January: hello
Californians in September: hello
God said he will never punish the Earth by water anymore
Glacier Frost true.
my car in the summer is like 110 degrees and in the winter it’s -20 degrees lol
And now to Nepal 🇳🇵🥺
Iran in june : HELLO
How to Stop a Wildfire: very carefully.
Nah, just kill it with hellfire, hellfire kicks wildfire's ass any day
I bet that wildfire wouldn't survive a nuke.
And don't allow the government to turn off the water supply like they did in Yarloop... (Western Australia. Google it) which almost wiped out an entire firefighting team.
Pretty sure they didn't just "turn off the water supply" the system failed and I remember the fire was bigger than Samoa.
How to stop a wildfire: be named josh
What a hot topic
Jerry Rupprecht stop
No pun intended...
Leave plz
some try too hard
@Nightingale *fake emo
Wow fighting fires is like a turn based strategy game
Nice analogy.
except that the fire keeps playing while its your turn
Someone should create a game like that
Henry Cheng there is a game, it's called Firejumpers Sandbox. Free for android and iOS.
@@henrycheng8094 there's a cooperative board game called Flash Point where you play as fighfighters trying to rescue a family from a house fire.
I’m sending this to the Australian government
I'll second that👍
alpha penquin thanks its working
Scomo won't be able to see it because he will be on holidays 😂
Step 1: don’t leave your citizens while your country burns
Brace Pobo not really
After the 2019 fires in Australia, every bush that was burned looks way more lush and healthy now than it did before, driving through a forest of black, charred trees with bright green limbs is kinda surreal
Way better than driving through a bush fire to evacuate, that was more like how you imagine hell would look
Isn't this channel double as interesting
Half as interesting, twice the puns
twice as interesting
Ihate numbers used a number
rest half is ads
It was Walpole This is Wendover though.
I've heard that Australian equipment and personel are shipped up for the fire season and then shipped back for our fire season. It's really quite something to see those magnificent people work. Their bravery is comparable to that of a soldier.
DarkSnake Nerdmaster can confirm that they are - FFV, CFA, SES and RFS all send staff over but they’re calling them back about now due to an early start to the fire season
Our fire season is just starting in Australia people say we are the best at fighting wild fires
DarkSpawn and Aboriginals have been doing backburning for a very long time.
@@deanl4575 that's exactly right
@Madalyn Maree Australian bush firefighters are far better at Operations (they will usually deal with it faster and at less cost).. U.S. wildland firefighters are far better at Logistics (they will administer and support it better). Both could do Intel and planning better. Both often focus too much on politics and media image, and not enough on frontline substance.
Australian fire stick farming was actually more to facilitate Aboriginal access and hunting. Rather than burning off large areas, it tends to create a patchwork of strategically burnt areas that limit major fire development, among other things. We still have much to learn about how they use bush indicators to judge when conditions were appropriate for burning. The Northern Territory of Australia probably uses such techniques to best effect, but its more limited in areas where people still have a traditional sentimental European view of "all fire bad!" and don't see fire as a natural and often essential part of the environment.
Hello Wendover. After watching this I showed my father who is a fire fighter for Kern County in California, This is his response. In your video you stated that the fire would immediately be transferred to Calfire's management when it is dispatched. This statement is however wrong. First it would be dispatched from the California Office of Emergency Services to the local OES station or station that has an OES engine. The fire would be then assessed by the team then more fire teams will be dispatched as CalFire or as a federal assignment. Federal would be managed at the federal level. Calfire would be state managed. Thank you for the amazing content and I hope you also learn something as have I.
Christian Beeman I also feel that he should’ve mentioned NIFC too.
Yet guy yet huh 6ttr44544 ru UK kn ft5 tut Ltd is the one in kjgf7 it yiuhuii88yukk n
A fire is dispatched through which ever agency is responsible for the land it’s on. Fed fire = Fed dispatch, State fire = State Dispatch and so on.
It's fascinating that even in 2018 this is pretty much craftsmanship versus just leveraging technology. I remember that multiple tech entrepreneurs like Elon Musk want to work on more advanced machinery to combat fires since it's a battle we rarely win anymore like the last Californian fire.
Nonody cares
There are Fire Tower Lookouts that help spot fires in many regions. Recently spoke with a couple of fire tower lookouts who explained how land, air, and towers work together to mitigate and manage large wild fires. They also said that forest fires are a natural phenomenon and not necessarily a 'bad thing' all the time...only when vital resources are at risk or the fire is at a massive scale. Great job highlighting the hard work of wild land firefighters in this video!
As a career wildland firefighter I am SO grateful that you focused on the importance of fire as a natural part of our landscape. We're still struggling to help people understand that. Our own agencies struggle to adequately implement fire to benefit the landscape. Pretty decent video.
For anyone wondering, Smokejumpers are a Federal resource - USFS or BLM (land management agencies). They are not CalFire. Other wildland fire resources include heli-rappellers, hotshots, helitack, engine crews and handcrews, dozer and other heavy equipment operators, and other resources. All are considered firefighters even if their technical job title doesn't say it.
Living in Greece where forest fires are a pretty common thing each summer (although they do not compare to the massive fires in America), I immediately knew from the start that the fire you were describing was imaginary. This year 98 people died from a forest fire on the northern part of Athens. The truth fellas is that if the wind is strong and the fire has something to fuel it, any attempts to slow down are in vain.
If nature herself does not decide to assist you (rain, the wind stopping, natural water like lakes to contain the fire on one side) you quickly realize you are just a small spec fighting against a giant.
Us Aussies know all too well about that, we have lost entire towns and sections of cities to fires, many have been killed both trying to escape and those fighting it
Ah indeed my friend I am perfectly aware of how devastating forest fires are in Australia. Such dry climate with the vegetation you guys have. Such a tragedy we go through every year.
It's completely different story if you use 747 supertanker.
as a swede I can confirm that 300,000 swedes die each year from forest fires :)
Oh yes. But as soon as darkness comes, things stop being so easy I'm afraid. Plus as good as that 747 supertanker is, it seems like a plane that needs to take off from a runway. Meaning it needs a lot of time to do a second run. And time my friend is crucial. Also I am Greek, so we are poor and we must use water :P
Thank God, that you mentioned airplanes!
G'day,
Yay Team !
Thanks for posting this.
I wasn't aware that the US still uses Parachute-Insertion to put Firefighters into burning Forests...(!).
I'm a Basic Firefighter with the NSW Rural Fire Service, my son is Captain of a 2-Tanker Brigade, as well as a foundation-member of the local RAFT (Remote Area Firefighting Team) ; here in Oz the RAFTs are Helicopter Winch-Inserted from as much as 300 ft up, to cut Hand-Lines (down to Mineral Earth) from which to light Back-Burns...
It's what they call "Dry Firefighting", and they take Chainsaws, Brushcutters, Rake-Hoes, and Drip-Torches with Backpack Leaf-Blowers ; and quite a bit of Fuel for all of the above.
If they need Water then that comes from "Heli-Tacks" or "Firebombers", ie anything from Jetrangers to Hueys with Buckets and Erikson-Sikorsky Sky-Cranes or Turbo-Thrushes & Dromedaries.
Which brings me to a point.
You claim that Phos-Check is "very expensive" at $3 per (US) Gallon..., compared to Water...
That isn't actually right..., y'see, because trucking Water to the Airstrip costs $21 per ton ($130 for 6,000 Litres, I bought a load of Water only last week..., we have a Drought here at the moment), and while the Heli-tack will indeed save $21 per Ton (500 Litres to 1,200 L. per Bucket, depending on the Machine...) by bucketing from Rivers - the RFS reimburses Property-Owners for whatever Water is taken from Dams, or the Water is replaced afterwards using Tanker Trucks.
I've worked at the Airbase filling Firebombers with both Water out of Buoywall Tanks holding the loads brought in on a relay of Council Trucks, as well as mixing a 10,000 Gallon (Imperial) Buoywall of Phos-Check and pumping it into the 'Planes.
Phos-Check consists of Phosphate (Fertiliser) powrered & dyed Red..., it's not any more expensive to make than the "Super-Phosphate" Pellets which Graziers have air-dropped onto their Pastures, to make the Grass grow better ("Aerial Top-Dressing" as they call it...).
The NSW Rural Fire Service is an all-volunteer outfit, so there's no labour-cost in unloading the Bags & mixing the Powder into the Water, or pumping it - though I imagine that Cal-Fire in the US has to pay Wages (?).
However, to drop a $21 Ton of Water onto a Fire costs the RFS $350 from fixed-wing Firebombers, & $550 from a Heli-tack...; because Water is heavy and Flying Machines are much more expensive to operate than the local Council's Water-Truck.
My guess is that the "$3 per (US) Gallon of Phos-Check" is the cost of putting it onto the Ground, including the Jumbo-Jet Firebomber and the people mixing & handling the Water & Retardant on the ground at the Airbase.
The Aircraft are chartered by the Hour, and there may be a Contract Clause varying the rate when using Retardant vs Water, because Phos-Check is heavier than pure Water - and carrying it will burn more Fuel...(?) !
One of the ways in which I've trained myself to feel good about tiny amounts of Rain, during this Drought, is to work out what it would cost to "replace the Rain with Technology" on the 100 Acres upon which I pay the Rates....; a Quarter of a Millimetre is 1/100th of an Inch, which we used to call a "Point", and 1 Point of Rain onto 1 Acre of Land (ie 66 ft by 660 ft..., which is to say a Spear-throw by a Bow-Shot !) is 224 Imperial Gallons of Water - at 10 Pounds to the Imp. Gal. that's 2,240 Pounds, which is exactly one Ton.
So 1 Point of Rain onto the Land that I'm responsible for equates to being $2,100 worth of Water, delivered at a saving of somewhere between $35,000 & $55,000, for the Airdrop, depending on whether the Fantasy involved3 Fixed or Rotary-Wing delivery-systems ; and it's three & a half to five & a half million dollars to put a $210, 000 Inch of Water onto the Land...
I dunno what Fertiliser costs, because I run an Endangered Species Sanctuary & I don't use the stuff (Kangaroos & Wallabies deposit their dung here, for free !) ; but Graziers use it by the Truckload, so it can't be particularly expensive.
Such is Life,
Have a good one...
Good on you and thanks for your service
Hope you guys can help the current fires in NSW
Down here in Victoria we also have some bad fires down in Gippsland and Bendigo where one of my cousins in fighting them
I'm in QLD but I wish both of you guys the absolute best for the near future
Every Australian right now 👀👀👀
Yeah. Thinking of new ways & using existing technology to stop the fires.
One way I've been thinking is using LAV25s by replacing the head canon with a high multi-purpose water/retardant hose head canon with a liquid tanker towed on the back. This simple design alone is vastly superior than using standard off-road firetrucks that can't do shit against firewalls.
@@tristanbackup2536 the fire is absolutely massive right now its best to just let it burn out and stop it from reaching buildings
@@alek488
Right now, yes. But an idea that should be pursued & invested in the next 5-10 years to fight the main massive ones. We can't keep using the same trucks, equipment & tactics anymore, we need to innovative & go on the offensive.
alek good idea but the fire is going a lot faster then they can control it because of the bush and the shrublands
Tristan Backup very true
Guess this will recommended for everyone after the California wildfires
California Firefighters have been waiting for this video
How’d you think of a comment so fast, go up!
Saris this is what Californians needed. Not the fire fighters
Saris if they have Verizon, they’ll probably still be waiting.
You know how fucking hard it is to fight multiple fires in the state hundreds and hundreds of thousands of acres all while dealing with wind high temps the whole time.
It takes time to dig tens of miles of fire lines and clearing out ladder fuels out of countless miles of wilderness.
Can you do video about how power supply works, and how they regulate high and low demand issues....
Eric Hobsbawm Transformer - ~120V AC to ~30V AC. Full bridge rectifier (4 diodes) 30v DC with large ripple. Capacitor smooth it out to a smooth DC voltage. Afterwards an IC generates a PWM with a MOSFET to generate variable voltage in parallel to a series of capacitors. Which finally generates a useable dc voltage.
@@henryjiang9664 I'm not sure if that's english
AsCii_ it’s not. It’s another language that electrical engineer speaks
Henry Jiang Wtf does that have to do with AC power distribution? You just described an AC adapter
@@henryjiang9664 lol somebody did electronics 100
“In some places, being a firefighter actually means starting fires”
*Fahrenheit 451 intensifies*
I was visiting California and got caught in the middle of the Mendocino complex fire. My hotel got evacuated and while driving down the highway I saw these brave men and women fighting this fire coupled with air drops of fire retardant from the Boeing plane. It was definitely a surreal experience because this is unheard of on the east coast. Glad I found this interesting video!
I just barely left the CCC, and... I really wish they taught the crews more on how wildfires are fought. Knowing all that I've learned from TH-cam alone has given me far more respect for the guys and gals I worked with at the spikes I was activated to.
so ironic how this comes up in my recommended now
ikr
I got it now lol
How about now lol
It so, We all do our part to stop a fire.
"How to stop a wildfire"
"How to stop an epidemic"
Stop it Sam
Stop predicting 2020 >:(
"How to stop riots"
I'll be really scared if he posts a "how to prevent an apocalypse"
This kinda makes me want a wildfire stopping video game, in the style of a RTS. The frantic nature of stopping wildfires and the strategy used would make a fun gameplay experience.
Good news! FireJumpers Inferno is trying to do exactly that, but in real time instead of RTS. Check them out!
There is also a board game called ‘fire tower’ where you try and stop the fire burning down your tower, and direct the fire towards your opponent’s towers. Its awesome!
@@defconklaxon RTSes also happen to be real-time, hence "RT"
There's also a smaller scale game on Steam called Incident Commander, where you run the reaponse to various emergencies and disasters in a town, including wildfires.
There is currently a 32,000 acre fire burning 45 miles to the west of my town threatening the small town of Dayton Wyoming. I was just near there watching those supertankers. Hints why I’m here. Learned so much from this video. Thank you!
New firefighting machines are needed, fleets of magnet-to-magnet powered hovercraft tankers don't need refueling, large fire net drones to captures crown flares like spinnakers & 24x7 all-weather comm.
Tankers 1000gal each with nozzles & can mist large areas, made to fly among trees near the ground, power head works for mt. SAR & logging, 4500-5500hp class.
So, with 50+ tankers & nets the basis to extinguish hillside fires in any wind by disrupting the volatile firefront with tankers both sides using drones.
Ymmv, no funding.
I’m watching this on 9/10/2020 as 37 wildfires in Oregon have burned over 924,000 acres so far. Please keep us in your prayers as we deal with the fires and the massive amount of smoke in the air. I haven’t seen the sun in days and visibility is at best 1/4 mile. The amount of light from the sun reaching ground level is roughly 20% of normal. I have to use the headlights on my car to see where I’m going. It’s like driving in thicke fog during the day and impossible at night.
I’m watching this on 9/03/2023 as 2,047 wildfires in British Columbia have burned over 5,383,078 acres so far.
2023 is now the worst wildfire season in recorded history for Canada.
"Its a boy."
It’s*
Ugh.. yay 😬
@@koalaboygaming346 YOU HAVE A PROBELEM WITH BOYS?!?!
@@PAULOEDITS23 its called omitting apostrophes. Its very common in English.
Most underrated comment on TH-cam.
0:08 wendover predicts the california complex fires two years before they happen confirmed. Literally the time, 4:00 am. The date: mid-august. brief Lightning storm caused fire. (literally the exact circumstances as what started many of the california wildfires now). Damn that's freaky
Ok
I really liked this. I was affected by the Ute Park Fire in New Mexico this summer, and one of the most frustrating parts of it was that people don't really know how fires work, how they're dealt with, or why they happen/need to happen. You can't just stop a natural disaster like that. Very refreshing to see something like this that made sense and did a good job educating people about wildfires. Great video, very well said.
I don't write comments quite often but I rally like your videos. Thank you for what you're doing. All videos are so interesting and I learn a lot during them. It's a real treasure for those who learn English and need some interesting content to work on. Keep it up!
Wendover Productions:
How to stop an epidemic
How to stop a riot
How to stop a wildfire
2020:
THIS WAS SO EFFIN CAPTIVATING. Great work.
meanwhile in australia, i cannot breath and haven’t seen a blue sky in weeks...
Ava James we got some rain today :)
@@dystopic-q9m yeah, it rained where i am for like 12 mins, that was it :(
It was like that in California after the Camp Fire in 2018 for about a month until we got rain. I'm still grateful to be breathing clean air two years later
Welp. Cali is like that right now
@@imawesomepersonDERP Yeah, I take my comment back. It was really bad, got better.... ish, and then got worse 😪
I watch a lot of youtube videos and this is by far the best one i've seen this month.
Well done.
5:59 "Firefighters have to sometimes start the fires," That is why we, in the Czech republic, call them, loosely translated, firemen
Forest firefigthers are true badasses! Respect to all of them
Broooo i lived about a mile away from the nuns canyon fire in California last October. Wildfires are insane.
My Dad is a firefighter and he has to go out and fight them, so during fires I can never see him. (We live in Southern California so we always have fires
Awesome watch from BC, Canada. We had about more than 500 active wildfires burning in the province just a couple weeks ago. Now it's raining in most parts with surprising snowfall in northern areas like Fort Nelson. Mother Nature truly is amazing.
As a firefighter this is reasonably accurate, however, an anchor point is more often where you begin to start fighting the fire, it’s likely where you come in. Also most fires are contained quickly. Cal fire has a goal of 95% of fires contained under 10 acres. Some agencies go up to 98%.
Some indie developer should make a fire fighting strategy game
Well that's going on my Things_I_Didn't_Know_I_Needed list! This really NEEDS to be a thing!
MFramy there are some games similar to what you’ve described. The emergency series (just google emergency 4) involve coordinating fire departments, medical services, police, and technical services. I highly recommend it (and yes, there are forest fire missions)
For sure
There already 2 really good firefighting game emergency 4, and emergnyc, emergency 4 is more a strategie game than a simulator, but emergenyc is a simulator game
Firewatch is a story-driven game involving watching out for fires, which is different, but still cool. For such a realistic premise it's surprising how little games delve into it.
Currently in Oregon. Winds making the fire grow massively. I’m hope the wind dies down so they can start containing it
same :(
Me to in California
A lot of really good and accurate info in this video. Especially around the fact forests are resistant to fires and it's a natural cleansing of forests underbrush amd we are messing with that by trying to put wildfires out.
While it was a self admitted "too simple" fire scenario, something that wasn't mentioned which heavily impacts fires and was a huge factor in the East Gippsland Complex fire (Victoria Australia, 2019/20) is the fact that embers can be carried by wind for hundreds of meters, which means that the fire fighting efforts to make containment lines all gets jumped, and within minutes the fire fighters are now surrounded by fire on all sides as the embers quickly become their own fire. Also the fact that large firea can create their own weather systems within them which mainly increase the effects to generate fire.
My father is a level 5 IC (Incident Commander) so it was kind interesting seeing a topic so close to home. I think you glossed over prescribed burns and preventative logging a little but most the information was great. The fire example was very well written. My only other critic would be about the logistics of fire crews and 'conscription' during severe fire seasons, although, this is probably a complex topic in its own right and would probably deserve its own video.
Australians 8 months ago: *this aged well*
Cascadians And Californians now: *this aged well*
I live not far from the Richmond RAAF base on the outskirts of Sydney - there are at least 3 fire-fighting planes based there at the moment. Sydney has been covered in smog and smoke for the last couple of weeks due to all of the fires that are burning.
Graham Clayton we need more than 3 :/
I was a Helitack firefighter for US FS, good video.
First in is either an engine crew, a wild land crew from local fire department, followed by a hotshot team. Smokejumpers are rarely first in unless fire is in extreme terrain.
Even then, helitackers (wildland crews trained with helicopter operations and assigned to a chopper) will run the show until jumpers or hotshot crews arrive.
As for fixed wing assets CALFIRE has a "cocked pistol" where their air tankers and even helicopters are sitting on the flight line with bellies full of retardant/water/foam.
An air asset such as an S-2 airtanker, or a Bell 205 or a Sikorksy Firehawk will be assigned.
Given the fact that CALFIRE does nighttime helo ops, I doubt it would be at nine am before first air asset is ready.
This was one of your best videos! Thanks for the info! I really enjoyed it!
“While forest can survive wildfires, humans can not.” Thanks I didn’t realize
Who’s here during the California fires?
ayy me
@Vicky Caooh shit you're right
I can stare at the sun, there's so much smoke lol
Me
ITS A BOY
Send this video to everyone in the USA, Canada, Turkey, and Australia.
Great video, having had to evacuate my house in nor cal earlier this summer I appreciate the well presented and relevant info. Much respect for the difficult and dangerous work cal fire does every year.
Excellent video. I'm a Wildland Firefighter and I feel you covered all major points of how wildfires are fought.
3:28 Perfect tool to hide from your friends.
This video is so relevant now with the ongoing wildfires in Australia
Aye, its ser bronn
Australia: Am I a Joke to You?
Yep they are bad
Especially right now in both NSW and Vic
planes 4 me Queensland also has a few
Yooooo Redding is represented by one of my favorite TH-cam channels.
Thanks Sam!
My buddy is a Hot Shot Fire Fighter. He flys around the US fighting the craziest fires. Hes in Australia right now helping them out. Yet, he says my job as a police officer is more dangerous..... I tell him "99% of my job is talking to people. 100% of your job fighting one of the worlds most destructive forces" . I salute all those who run towards fires while everyone else is running away.
So much respect and appreciation to your mate. We need all the help we can get.
@@slaterrox23 I'll pass that on to him. ❤
I’m in 2019 and right now NSW is having A BIG BUSHFIRE
I hope I make it
ArtyTheGamer 19 you will our fireys know what they’re doing
LiamJames16 ツ our prime minister doesn’t tho
I think this video will be very helpful to Australia 🇦🇺 wild fires so please send this to the people who are in Australia so that they be aware of it and they help something up to their extent...
It’s like a small platoon that go deep into enemy territory to sabotage supply lines and inhibit enemy movement
Fantastic piece! I live in the heart of BC forest fire country, and have found this very extremely informative
I usually have a pretty short attention span when it comes to TH-cam videos but I watched every second of this. Very interesting
Who came after knowing about Amazon fire 2019🔥
Same
Sam must make an update video
2016 2017 2018 2019 or older *grass* fires?
Australia right now:
"WRITE THAT DOWN, WRITE THAT DOWN!"
JJJ not funny. Our country is burning, our people are dying, our wildlife is being decimated. And you are cracking jokes
@@geoffrogerson9937 memes always makes horrible things a little less heavy, that's why people make ww3 jokes.
Geoff Rogerson
What did you expect
It’s the internet
@@geohiekim8705 it's...just a meme. He doesn't make fun of any people that are dying, or the wildlife. Chill.
Our prime minister is useless
8 months ago: Australians: "Write that down!"
Now: Californians: "Write that down!"
Now: Canadian’s “Write that down!”
Does anyone love to see how the voice-over brings the unrelated Ads at the end of each videos? I love it! And that's the key of communication success!
Nobody loves Ads my dude.
Whoa a topic I am knowledgeable on.
One thing I can elaborate on.
CalFire is not responsible for ALL wildfires or pre-planning in the state of California, they are only responsible for those in the SRA (State Responsibility area) or MTZ (Mutual Threat Zone). If a fire is in the LRA (Local Responsibly Area) or FRA (Federal Responsibility Area) the associated agency is responsible for it. For example a fire located on the Angles National Forest is in FRA and the USFS is the responsible agency. Most cities are entirely LRA, but portions near SRA may be in the MTZ, meaning CalFire will augment the local response or only respond upon confirmation of a wildfire.
1:44 Fuck that, all those thin leafy plants in front of him are Poison Oak.
4:55 I don't know if you knew/planned this, but for the area you described (50 miles away from Redding (presumably to the East based on the topography you showed)) you just named the Great Basin Outflow that occurs in the afternoon under the right conditions. A very hazardous wind shift that has caught many firefighters off guard.
Overall though this video shows the main parts of fire behavior and how it is fought. Good job on the informative video.
0:08 Wendover predicted the future
Some body link this video to Scott Morrison RIGHT NOW!
I've always wondered this, great video.
Firefighter : what the fire catches up to me?
Just cover yourself with this blanket
Thanks for more awesome, polished content Wendover
You can say that wildfires are on a "HOT STREAK"
OK I will quit now
Vito Antonio Justisoesetya Delet this.
Anyone came here because of the Amazonian wild fire?
Domantas Jakaitis here
Waiting for other countries to pitch in and the UN to start pressuring Brazil into tighter regulations
Domantas Jakaitis Saw these comments coming...
@@liamweaver2944 indeed
I came here because I was curios
Of course this is recommended now -_-
Wish we had smoke jumpers here in Australia, if you can't drive in with a firetruck we just sit and wait for the fire to become gigantic and reach towns and farms before we're able to do anything about it.
TheRealUnconnected yes, I wish, my grandparents house gone and I got mildly burned.
@@RealCatWeekly So sorry to hear that, that must be really tough. One of my best mates is defending his place tonight in the tallangatta valley, his parents home on the south coast is likely gone or going today as well. These fires are just shocking. Hope the gov realises they need to get serious and invest in jumpers and far more and larger air assets. Wishing you and your family all the best.
i used to have an uncle who worked for cal fire. rest in peace uncle curt thank you for all your hard work ❤️
I hope this can help in the Amazon Rainforest Fire, save mother earth
January 2020: Give this to Australia
August 2020: Give this to California
Who else got this recommended amid the the Oregon wildfires going on now in 2020? Coincident i don’t think so !
At 9:22 you can see how much impact wind direction can have on a fire. It spreads very quickly compared to the areas around it
Hehe, my family/area has a very rich history of wild-land firefighting... My unit commander spent many seasons (years) as a wild-land hotshot. My Grandfather, and many friends also spent time as hotshots and one in particular was a smoke jumper during the 60s-80s. There have been spike camps and actual fire-camps quite literally on my front lawn and in my backyard.
Bro I live in Nor Cal and it’s honestly kinda scary about how close this fire is.
64k for 3 miles fire line is expensive? There are some Prada bags that cost more.
it's nothing compared to a single 1200 ft house that costs $1 million.
You can’t forget this doesn’t include the operating costs of a jet that big, which is tens of thousands of dollars an hour
I don't care, Use the goddman tax money instead of giving it to Israel every year
Well this isn’t doing much for the Australia wild fires...
This video has really sparked an interest in fighting wild fires.
I was really apprehensive to watch this video. You make high quality videos, but wildfire is my day job. You did pretty well. You somewhat overstated the effectiveness of aviation assets, but not by as much as most people do. Aviation slows the fire, boots on the ground stop it. In 18 years, I've seen few retardant lines that held without being backed up by either handline or dozer line.
Tim Delph Thanks for your service!
i want an x-com style game like this