Yup. We're seeing the type of fires that used to occur once in a generation occur 3 - 4x a year now.
I think it's hard to fathom what the situation is like without actually being in it.
Trust, people aren't dying in these fires because they're stubborn mules, or because they're trying to save material or personal items.
The descriptions given by survivors, ecologist and other scientist up here in Northern California these past two years are ****ing nuts.
1) You can't literally see the fire coming for miles like a tornado. The paths of the fires can be unpredictable. The rates at which these fires move, I still can't wrap my head around.
Fires burning areas the size of a football field every second - you can't outrun or outdrive that.
Wind can carry burning soot for miles causing fire to literally rain from the sky starting new fires unexpectedly.
Wild fires burn underground for years after they extinguish on the earth's surface. When new surface level fires start, the underground fires basically explode causing the area above to combust.
2) These rural areas are rural. Not very many roads, if there's even more than one. People get stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic for hours on hours. People get slowed down trying to care for the sick and the elderly and those who aren't mobile for any reason. Fires start and spread in the middle of the night when people are asleep, etc.
These are natural disasters that are fell less predictable or known than something like a hurricane.
