When Wildfire Comes

Episode 12 - The Bear Fire in 2020 with Chief John Messina

The Bear Fire started in the Plumas National Forest of Butte County CA and became the North Complex Fire in 2020, killing sixteen people and destroying thousands of homes in the towns of Berry Creek and Feather Falls.  As the Bear Fire exploded in unprecedented size (burning 220,000 acres in one day) and intensity overnight on September 9, 2020, its plume of smoke eventually covered the entire Sacramento Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area, leading to the event called the "Orange Skies Day" in the Bay Area.  Follow along with Chief Messina as he describes 18 hours of the most intensive wildfire to burn in the recent history of the western US.  Views of the Bear Fire can be viewed at https://gis.data.cnra.ca.gov/maps/CALFIRE-Forestry::north-complex-structure-status-map/ [https://gis.data.cnra.ca.gov/maps/CALFIRE-Forestry::north-complex-structure-status-map/] and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GivCgdNzV2c

Episode 11 – The Palisades Fire in 2025 with Richard Thompson, NOAA

The Palisades Fire, which ignited on January 7, 2025, was a catastrophic wildfire in Los Angeles County driven by historically powerful Santa Ana winds.  NOAA incident meteorologist Richard Thompson describes how the humidity levels during this extreme wind event were driven down to critical levels and cast burning embers into the city of Pacific Palisades to ultimately burn nearly 7000 structures.  Listeners can see the progression of the fire into the urban zones of Pacific Palisades by going to the map found at https://the-lookout.org/2025/01/21/progression-of-the-palisades-fire/ [https://the-lookout.org/2025/01/21/progression-of-the-palisades-fire/]

Episode 10 - The Eaton Fire and Devastation of Altadena in 2025

Podcast host Christopher Potter presents a new analysis of the destruction of thousands of homes in Altadena, CA during the Eaton Fire of January 2025. Mapping shows how structure density, urban biomass fuels, and wind-driven fire behavior contributed to the intensity of this devastating urban incident. The findings are vital for improving future wildfire risk assessments and informing post-fire recovery and rebuilding strategies in densely populated environments. Listeners should go to https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.122127036741079001&type=3 [https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.122127036741079001&type=3] to follow along with the presentation slides.

Episode 9 – Extreme Fire Weather with Dr. Daniel Swain

Massive cumulonimbus clouds can form over wildfires in the western United States and are likely increasing with the intensity of the wildfires themselves.  Daniel Swain is a climate scientist at the University of California who focuses on the dynamics and impacts of extreme events, including floods, storms, and wildfires.  In this episode, Dr. Swain discusses the formation of firestorms and the climate science that explains them.

Episode 8 - The Dixie Fire in 2021 with Chief Sean Norman

The Dixie Fire was an enormous wildfire that burned almost 1 million acres in Butte, Plumas, Lassen, Shasta, and Tehama counties in Northern California.   The wildfire damaged or destroyed several rural communities in the Sierra Nevada mountains, including Greenville, CA.  This dynamic visualization (https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4993 [https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4993]) shows the spread of the Dixie Fire between July 14 and October 22, 2021, which enables listeners to follow along with Chief Norman, as he describes the fire’s nearly uncontrollable path of mass destruction.