Is there a way we can prevent them from occurring in the first place, or is it inevitable during the summer months?
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Lots of other good comments here, but to make this even more granular, a fire needs 3 things to burn (the fire triangle for anyone who has done S-130/1).
1. Oxygen
2. Heat
3. Fuel
Depending on the type of fire you attack it in different ways, but you’re always trying to take one of these away. With a grease fire you smother it to take away the oxygen. In a house fire you douse it with a lot of water to dissipate the heat.
With a forest fire, there is no way you’re ever going to remove oxygen or have enough water to cool the fire , so you’re left with pulling fuel away from the fire to shape it and contain it. Yes, you do use water, but you’re using it to control the fire more than douse it. Taking away the fuel takes a lot of time and manpower, especially once fires get big. Many big fires out West are controlled and only ever extinguish when winter snows/rains hit.
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