How Fighting Wildfires Works

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!

Great video, I learned a lot.

How to stop a fire?
SQUARESPACE

This got patched in Australia

Australians in January: hello
Californians in September: hello

As a Californian, I have enormous respect for those employees by CalFire, both the firefighters and those in the administration portion.

How to Stop a Wildfire: very carefully.

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.

Wow fighting fires is like a turn based strategy game

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.

I’m sending this to the Australian government

#1 trending in california

What a hot topic

"Its a boy."

Every Australian right now 👀👀👀

Isn't this channel double as interesting

Thank God, that you mentioned airplanes!

so ironic how this comes up in my recommended now

Guess this will recommended for everyone after the California wildfires

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.

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.

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.

meanwhile in australia, i cannot breath and haven’t seen a blue sky in weeks...

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...

California Firefighters have been waiting for this video

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.

“In some places, being a firefighter actually means starting fires”
*Fahrenheit 451 intensifies*

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.

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

Australia: Am I a Joke to You?

Can you do video about how power supply works, and how they regulate high and low demand issues....

Wendover Productions:
How to stop an epidemic
How to stop a riot
How to stop a wildfire
2020:

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.

Great video! And good job on those metric conversions haha! You're the real MVP

You are part of the inspiration for the career I am now in - education. You methods of delivery, your focus on entertainment through education... that's what matters to me.

Some indie developer should make a fire fighting strategy game

Fantastic piece! I live in the heart of BC forest fire country, and have found this very extremely informative

I watch a lot of youtube videos and this is by far the best one i've seen this month.
Well done.

Broooo i lived about a mile away from the nuns canyon fire in California last October. Wildfires are insane.

"How to stop a wildfire"
"How to stop an epidemic"
Stop it Sam
Stop predicting 2020 >:(

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!

THIS WAS SO EFFIN CAPTIVATING. Great work.

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

This was one of your best videos! Thanks for the info! I really enjoyed it!

Awesome video with a lot of pertinent information on how a fire is fought and the thought process. Thank you.

Forest firefigthers are true badasses! Respect to all of them

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.

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.

Excellent video. I'm a Wildland Firefighter and I feel you covered all major points of how wildfires are fought.

I've always wondered this, great video.

3:28 Perfect tool to hide from your friends.

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!

Thanks for more awesome, polished content Wendover

“While forest can survive wildfires, humans can not.” Thanks I didn’t realize

Currently in Oregon. Winds making the fire grow massively. I’m hope the wind dies down so they can start containing it

Thanks for this knowledge!
I enjoyed this video a lot, and learned new things about the topic

Thank you! Just what I was searching for for hours and hours! Amazing video.

I was a Helitack firefighter for US FS, good 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.

I always enjoy your videos but I absolutely loved this one. Thank you!

5:59 "Firefighters have to sometimes start the fires," That is why we, in the Czech republic, call them, loosely translated, firemen

This video is so relevant now with the ongoing wildfires in Australia

It’s like a small platoon that go deep into enemy territory to sabotage supply lines and inhibit enemy movement

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 KRplus alone has given me far more respect for the guys and gals I worked with at the spikes I was activated to.

Hey man, love your content! Here are some ideas for a video:
-the News
-Amazon
-Mail
-Hospitals

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.

Australia right now:
"WRITE THAT DOWN, WRITE THAT DOWN!"

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.

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.

Who’s here during the California fires?

I’m in 2019 and right now NSW is having A BIG BUSHFIRE
I hope I make it

This was extremely helpful for my presentation, thanks :)

Excellent video. Worth watching a number of times.

0:08 Wendover predicted the future

Australians 8 months ago: *this aged well*
Cascadians And Californians now: *this aged well*

Thank you, this has been helpful to understand how firefighting works for these wildfires.

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.

very fascinating!

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%.

That was awesome. Great video dude!👍

I usually have a pretty short attention span when it comes to KRplus videos but I watched every second of this. Very interesting

Some body link this video to Scott Morrison RIGHT NOW!

Bro I live in Nor Cal and it’s honestly kinda scary about how close this fire is.

Such a great video thank you!!

This is one of your best videos so far

Who came after knowing about Amazon fire 2019🔥

You should have been sponsored by Tab for a Cause! It would fit this video so well!

Nice video
I trained in college to be a Wildlands firefighter up in Northern California. I might be starting next spring. 🇺🇸

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 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...

This is so impressive.

Yooooo Redding is represented by one of my favorite KRplus channels.
Thanks Sam!

So interesting and informative, this needs to be a TV show.

64k for 3 miles fire line is expensive? There are some Prada bags that cost more.

i want an x-com style game like this

Excellent video, the topic is very well explained. Very interesting too.

Another awesome video.
You could do a video on post offices. How a package goes through all of them, the logistics of the payment to each one and stuff like that. :)