Devastating Los Angeles fires echo challenges of fighting Colorado's Marshall Fire
The destructive fires raging in Los Angeles have killed five people and burned more than 1,000 structures. Some of the largest challenges in battling these large wildfires were also seen in 2021 in Colorado with the Marshall Fire.
This week's fires in Los Angeles look familiar, says West Metro Fire Department's Mike Worcester.
"When you put more than one house in an area, now we're just overwhelmed," he told CBS Colorado. "The resources just aren't there for fighting that kind of fire."
He said the problem is what firefighters call the wildland-urban interface.
"The urban interface is where the houses mix with natural vegetation," said Worcester.
The way crews fight fires in urban environments and natural areas are completely different, making it challenging to fight wildfires that spread into urban areas.
"We can't turn and create fire breaks through neighborhoods," Worcester said. "We're just doing the best we can."
He said managing evacuations while attempting to contain the fire can be particularly challenging.
"The problem with roadways is when the fire is threatening an area like this, that roadway is also an evacuation route," he explained. "So, now you have firefighters that are trying to protect the evacuation. They're also trying to stop the fire from spreading and jumping that roadway."
When fires like these happen, many ask about air resources for neighborhoods. But, Worchester said, those resources aren't always available.
"You get to that point where there aren't enough aircraft to lay down that retardant line, or we got all the aircraft and line them up and there's too many houses to protect all at one time," Worcester said.
Worcester said the best way people can help fire agencies is by heeding warnings and not going back into evacuation zones. This can cause crews to spend fire resources and precious time to save lives instead of battling the fires and saving homes and businesses.
"We will do everything we can to try and save your property but we may not have enough resources to try and protect you as a person," Worcester said.
There's a brush truck and crew on standby, but officials said it's unlikely resources will be needed from as far away as Colorado. In the meantime, agencies will continue to monitor conditions in Colorado and do their best to prepare for the possibility that a situation like this might happen sometime in the foothills again.
