The firestorm in the Los Angeles area has a mathematical explanation: on average, three engines and at least 16 crew members are sent to put out a two-story house that is on fire.
However, Jack Cohen, a research scientist who has spent decades studying fire dynamics with the U.S. Forest Service, stated that when homes in the Pacific Palisades started to catch fire on January 7, there were likely at least 100 structures completely burned within the first two hours.
He claimed that it is impossible to send and arrange enough engines to keep up, let alone accommodate that many cars on the area’s winding, hillside roads.
In other words, severe fires are inevitable and beyond the control of firemen when winds of 70 mph are pelting embers into suburban areas that are so painfully susceptible to fire. What starts out as a wildfire turns into an urban fire, with houses acting as the primary source of fuel.
Cohen believes it is absurd that there has been finger-pointing since the catastrophic fires in Southern California started, despite claims that fire hydrants ran out, a reservoir was empty, and additional firefighters were not stationed where the fires started.
The most recent drivel about pre-positioning what crock, having too few personnel, and having too little water. That is all irrelevant. He said that none of that would have changed the outcome in the slightest.
Instead, Southern California and other vulnerable areas need a paradigm shift away from a heavy reliance on firefighters to control blazes and toward an understanding that vulnerable homes are themselves the primary fuel for these kinds of fires, a dozen experts, including top fire officials, academic researchers, conservation advocates, and scientists, told NBC News.