Wildfire Containment: Here’s Why It Sometimes Takes Long to Put the Flames Out

At almost all communities meeting about firefighting initiatives in the United States West, residents want to find out the reason for a challenging wildfire containment.

A Phys.org report said, wildfire managers are claiming controlling or putting the flames out to save homes and the valuable forests around them is not that simple, and there are many reasons for such a struggle, some of which, decades in the making and linked to climate change.

The cumulative outcome has been a rise in huge wildfires with extreme and erratic behavior that threatens communities that, in some situations, did not exist some tens of years ago.

Describing the challenge, a "Type 1" incident commander Evans Kuo, who's assigned to the biggest and most hazardous wildfires of the country, had asked the question, "How do we balance that risk," to enable firefighters to succeed without putting the public to danger? Kuo added, he wishes this was not the case," although it is a "zero-sum game."

'Containment' as the Main Objective

At present, over 20,000 wildland firefighters are combating some 100 large wildfires in the US West. Their main objective is to contain.

This means that a fuel break has been constructed around the entire fire through the use of natural barriers or lines made by humans, frequently developed with bulldozers or ground crews who use hand tools.

This report specified, estimated dates of containment for some of the wildfires currently burning are not until October or November this year.

What's Taking the Containment So Long?

Many have wondered why it takes that long to contain or put out the flames. According to Kuo, a big concern here is safety. He elaborated that there are times when residents would plead with him to send firefighters into sites that could be dangerous and kill them.

Kuo also said during a day off after 18 consecutive days of 5 am to 10 pm shifts on a Washington state wildfire, sending firefighters is a deal-breaker, and he's not putting people to danger.

A similar FOX40 report said, actually putting these large fires out or having them labeled "controlled," will need cold weather, along with rain or snow combined with it, which is weeks away from a lot of states.

Meanwhile, this week, Craig Foss, Idaho's state forester, told Governor Brad Little, as well as the other state officials in a discussion of wildfire season, he'd say "pray for rain" as that is the only thing that is going to get everyone out of the fire season.

Caused by Humans

Last month, The Hill reported the National Interagency Coordination Center data, which indicated that most of the wildfires, about 88 percent averagely, were ignited by human sources from 2016 and 2020.

In mid-July, utility Pacific Gas and Electric or PG&E stated in a disclosure it provided the California Public Utilities Commission that it believes its equipment was associated with the Dixie Fire's ignition, which has reached over 40,000 acres.

In addition, fires are started regularly as well, by people spending their everyday lives. In one of the rarer cases, a couple that same month was charged with involuntary manslaughter following their gender reveal party that ignited a wildfire in San Bernardino County in 2020, resulting in a firefighter's death.

A related report about the Dixie Fire is shown on ABC10' YouTube video below:

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