World News – U.S. and California firefighters were seriously injured in setbacks

SACRAMENTO, California. (AP) – According to an investigation into the incident, two firefighters who critically burned while attempting to start a fire to slow the spread of a devastating fire in southern California in October were unlikely to have been there given the extremely dangerous conditions allowed to.

It appears, but is not certain from the Orange County Fire Authority report, that wind-blown embers spreading from the fire pits themselves are holding the agency’s firefighters captive. It is said that firefighters have been endangered by unburned fuel, increasing irregular winds and frequent sources of fire.

« Your burnout may have backfired, » said Timothy Ingalsbee, a former federal firefighter who reviewed the report at the request of The Associated Press. « That’s a terrible thought. ”

The wind was blowing so hard it extinguished the drip torches the crew used to light fires to create a wider buffer against the advancing flames by preventively burning the available fuel that fed the Silverado fire.

The speed at which the fire was able to spread under the conditions at the time was at « historic levels », almost three times as fast as the previous record for this location, and was « the main factor » in causing the crew of a Point fire was caught that skipped the security line, according to the report.

« These were explosive fire conditions – the classic we call ‘explosive conditions’ – and the crews really, really pushed the envelope, » trying to misfire, said Ingalsbee, executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and ecology.

The Silverado fire lit in early October. 26 near Irvine, a town of 280. 000 residents, about 35 miles south of Los Angeles, which eventually damaged or destroyed 14 houses and buildings. That fire, and another fire in the north, at one point forced 130 to be evacuated. 000 people.

Orange County Fire Authority spokeswoman Colleen Windsor said firefighters in the wilderness, Dylan Van Iwaarden, 26 and Phi Le, 31, remain in critical condition. She declined to comment or provide any further information or clarification beyond the report itself. The state fire brigade forwarded questions to the local authority.

The crew attempted to fight a point fire that went from the size of a living room carpet to a third in just five to 10 seconds. The 048-square-foot inferno exploded.

« Get out of here, there’s a place! » yelled one of the crew members, according to the report.

But they had no chance or time to deploy the portable shelters, which were designed as a last chance shield against the flames.

All eight crew members who tried to contain the fire with hand tools, chainsaws and fire hoses were overrun by the flames. Six reported scorched hair, eyebrows and eyelashes, while one firefighter “staggered out of the fire, critically burned” while the second critically burned firefighter was discovered 30 seconds later at the edge of the fire.

Graphic photos of their fireproof uniforms included in the report show that their yellow jackets are scorched and torn. While one firefighter’s pants are torn and discolored, the second pants are burned to the length of patchwork shorts.

« Human flesh burns long before the ignition point of this tissue. It was only because of the radiant heat and the convective heat of the hot winds that these crews were cooking long before the flames even reached their clothing, « said Ingalsbee. « I think it’s a bit of a miracle that they got safe and are alive. ”

The area is covered with grass and brush and will grow back quickly, he said. And since there were no houses in the immediate area, he wondered why the crews were trying to stop the advance of the fire in an area where it might be beneficial to keep it burning.

Southern California utility company Edison told state officials that it is investigating whether its equipment could have started the fire.

It informed utility regulators that a « lashing wire » connecting a telecommunications line to a support cable may have a separate 12. 000 volt conductor line came into contact with it.

The wire may have belonged to T-Mobile and not Edison, the utility recently announced in a report to state utility regulators. However, the company is also looking into other possible causes such as human activity or the construction, maintenance and design of overhead lines a few hundred feet from the scene of the fire, spokesman David Song said Wednesday.

Wildfire, Orange County, Southern California Edison