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With California experiencing two years of unprecedented wildfires that have left more than 20,000 homes destroyed and scores dead, the private firefighting business is booming. These brigades work independently from county firefighters; their job is to protect specific homes under contract with insurance companies.
Their work can vary from pushing back flames as they approach properties to reaching the site before the blaze arrives and spraying homes with fire retardant.
But the private forces have generated complaints from some fire departments, who say they don't always coordinate with local crews and amount to one more worry as they try to evacuate residents and battle the blaze.
"From the standpoint of first responders, they are not viewed as assets to be deployed. They're viewed as a responsibility," said Carroll Wills, communications director for California Professional Firefighters, a labor union representing rank-and-file firefighters in the state.
What began more than a decade ago as a white-glove service for homeowners in well-to-do neighborhoods has expanded in recent years as the wildfire danger has increased, said Michael Barry, a spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute, a not-for-profit organization that educates the public about the insurance industry.
https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-private-firefighters-20181127-story.html
(Score: 2) by edIII on Friday November 30 2018, @01:42AM (3 children)
Not a typo. I remember that the night the fires started there were +80mph winds going through the mountains and hills around us. With the winds at 80mph, the front of the fire was consuming everything and moving at 5mph. So, walking at a brisk pace, while everything around explodes into flames, was the way I heard it described. I know the +80mph winds is not a typo. I could be wrong, and it may have been moving at some points much faster than 5mph, and probably closer to the wind speed. The recent fire in Paradise I'm told, moved even faster. At some points, it must've been moving damn near wind speed, because people in cars couldn't make it out in time.
That's why a lot of people around here are full of shit today acting like armchair firefighters with plenty of assumptions. When something moves at even 5mph, coordinating and containing it is quite a task, and it won't be possible to save everything. 12 minutes per mile, or if you're correct, less than that.
What do you do with catastrophe moving that fast towards you? I don't think any number of firefighters could've stopped it quick enough, which is why these things last for weeks at a time now, and take out entire towns, and whole parts of cities.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 1) by deimtee on Friday November 30 2018, @04:29AM
You Die.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Saturday_bushfires [wikipedia.org]
Scroll down to Overall Statistics. Equivalent to 1500 Hiroshima bombs. Flames over 100 metres high. Pyrocumulous clouds. The fire was intense and energetic enough that it was causing lightning within the firestorm. The foliage on trees at the front didn't catch fire, it exploded and added to the rolling blast.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Friday November 30 2018, @06:13AM (1 child)
I'm not sure how it would work out in terms of miles per hour, but according to SFGate [sfgate.com]:
I might be wrong, but that sounds like it'd have to be moving more than 5 miles per hour.
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Friday November 30 2018, @08:26AM
Been awhile since I did this kind of math, feel free to correct if I messed up.
Lets say the fire burns outward in perfect circle to keep it simple.
time = 0 hr radius= 0 surface area=0
time =1 hr radius =5mi surface area =~78 square miles
time = 2 hr radius = 10mi surface area =~314 square miles
time = 3 hr radius = 15mi surface area =~ 706 square miles
time = 4 hr radius = 20mi surface area =~ 1,256 square miles
and the bigger the radius the faster the surface area goes up, so even a "slow" fire can eat up a lot of area in very little time.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."