Fighting Fire with Fire: Lessons from Catastrophic Wildfires

Vast areas of Los Angeles have been destroyed since these fires began on 7 January. Thousands of homes and businesses have been lost, and tens of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate. We hear from Kelly, who had just minutes to gather a few possessions before her home was destroyed, and DJ describes seeing a nearby hillside glowing, the sky lit by flames, as he and his family fled. Teddy whose family had to abandon their house and lost their restaurant in the fire says “We landed in an Airbnb down in Mar Vista with our sons and grandkids,” Two firefighters from Los Angeles County Fire Department share their experiences of co-ordinating the response to the fires and explain why they are so difficult to put out.