At about 3 PM on 7/24/24 and under red flag conditions, the Park Fire started in Upper Bidwell Park by an alleged arsonist and had a rapid Rate of Spread (ROS) of approximately 5,000 acres per hour during the first night. It quickly spread beyond Butte County and has currently consumed about 390,000 acres with approximately 4800 personnel on the line. Many dozens of homes along Cohasset Road and the community of Forest Ranch were lost.
It’s very important to remember that as fires are burning across the state, that reduces staffing levels available to assist with new fires in your area.
Wildfire Mitigation Advisors was allowed with permission into the mandatory evacuation zones to check on specific addresses that may need to be assessed for structure protection and to check on family pets, etc. After speaking with many fire survivors and fire officials, it was clear that several things were extremely beneficial to the preparedness and early evacuation during that event: The Watch Duty wildfire app, an awareness of predicted Fire Weather, and quickly preparing their property before departure.
If a resident is under an evacuation WARNING, they may have several hours or perhaps a couple of days before it switches to an ORDER. The WARNING stage is a good time to remove all combustibles from the perimeter of the home, especially within 30 feet, or put them in the garage. There is a long list of quick actions that should take place and all of these topics are issues that our consultants advise on during every wildfire consultation. Additionally, some people may choose to spray a fire retardant product on vegetation, because they had not handled their defensible space in time for the fire. To be clear, PLAN A is to physically modify the fuel on the property and a fire retardant is not a replacement for defensible space. But a product like Komodo Fire Systems can be an excellent option for a “just in time” application. This plant and water based product, which is made in California, has been 3rd party laboratory tested, is authorized by Cal Fire, and tolerates 3 to 4 inches of rain. A resident can apply the product themselves to vegetation around their property and it will dramatically reduce fire behavior. (Always pay attention to Fire Weather predictions from the National Weather Service, which are given before a Red Flag Warning). The private firefighting insurance affiliated company called Wildfire Defense Services exclusively uses Komodo during its structure protection operations.
The Park Fire is a massive conflagration and hopefully some positives will come from it, like people paying attention to Fire Weather, utilizing Watch Duty, and effectively preparing for wildfire when staffing demands will not allow firefighters to protect every home.
Stuart Mitchell—
Certified Wildfire Mitigation Specialist, NFPA
