Amongst other things people have mentioned, large wildfires are a logistical nightmare. Most fire engines aren’t able to reach much of the fire, and even specialized brush trucks may not be able to reach a majority of it. You can’t hike miles of traditional hoselines through forest, up cliffs, and into ravines. A wildland firefighter, compared to a structural firefighter, has a whole different skillset to try to reduce fire spread. But, depending on how large the fire is, throwing more and more people at it may be ineffective.
Because we spent a century trying to suppress every fire as soon as they happened. With the result that dead trees and brush have built up to the point that when a fire does get a foothold, it can spread far and be very hard to contain. Plus, the droughts in recent years also make for a lot of dead or dried vegetation.
Simply because for all our resources, the fire moves faster.
Typically, when the weather has been cool and wet the fires can be contained fairly easily. It’s really just a situation where it has been dry for a long time, and so all the sticks and leaves and grasses on the ground are dry as paper and it takes nothing, no time at all, for fire to start and spread like it’s gasoline.
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