This is what California could have had flying for it every 15 minutes

California Urgently Needs to Hand Controls to the US Department of Defense. Here's why:

Firefighting aircraft are the fastest and most effective means of initial attack. But they were not the first response in California. They are the weapon of choice in Europe & Australia, with great success.

You cannot - or should not - throw humans on the ground at a 3-story, Santa Ana-driven wildfire. There is nothing they can do but get killed. Surveillance and targeting can be done via drone, satellite, and AI; and the BEST weapon - water (not foam, according to Nato and Australian military teams and US data) - is delivered via helicopter or aircraft. The days of firefighters standing on the ground facing wildfires should be over.

California doesn't 'get' this yet; and has STILL not asked or allowed the US military - with offers from the NL and EU to assist - to do what needs to be done to stop the fires. Nor did it manage evacuation very well - or no one would have died. Officials had adequate warning. They just did not have an adequate emergency plan in place. 8 million people cannot evacuate themselves.

Everything California had put into place since the devastating Camp (Paradise) Fire in 2018, failed. $32 million in special firefighting funds, wasted. The civilian choices were wrong, outdated, and too slow.

California's civilian fire alert monitoring system was quickly overwhelmed. It's Los Angeles evacuation alert system malfunctioned and first sent out false alerts, then did not get the real alerts out to everyone in time. Even those who knew they had to evacuate did not always have the means - available car or mass transit, or were infirm or disabled, or trying to save pets - and California provided no evacuation transportation. No jeeps, helicopters or any real help.

A fire is like a battle. You don't wait 10 days to bring in the real manpower if civilians are at risk. If Israel had been run by California, the entire nation would have been dead. The response must be fast and aggressive. Aren't humans and animals worth this much?

That anyone should have died - or any animals be killed - NEXT TO A SEA FULL OF WATER - was inhumane. America must pay attention to what works in other nations. And that includes WATER as the first choice; and putting the military in control. No other nations let local authorities manage wildfire response. They don't have the training, resources, or expertise in combat that military forces do. A governor is not a battle-trained officer. A governor gets elected by shaking hands and being able to raise money, and speak well on tv. Putting an elected official in charge of a WILDFIRE, is like letting your councilman do surgery on you.

1. Inadequate manpower, or inadequately utilized manpower

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As of January 15, there were 14,000 trained firefighters deployed to the fires. And thousands of additional 'other' personnel. Still inadequate to contain the fires. US DOD is able to deploy as many troops, Reserves, or National Guard as are needed. And can manage the logistics, housing, and equipment needs long-distance. DOD does this all the time for troops in other nations. It is better equipped - computing and manpower - to provide this function for California, than Sacramento or Los Angeles are.

Calculating Fire Break Troop (Personnel) Strength Needed

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As of January 15, more than 75,000 civilian firefighters were deployed to the fires. And additional prisoners. With local residents joining in. That's a lot of people. But are they working 'smart' or just hard? Because in theory, that should have been enough to have built fire breaks around every fire and evacuated everyone in danger. And it is still not enough.

“The main function of any fuel break is to break the fuel side of the fire behavior triangle (fuels, weather, and topography). The only leg of that triangle that we can manipulate or control is the fuels.”

–Lance Okeson, Boise District BLM Fuels AFMO

Fuel breaks or fire breaks are less effective against strong wind-driven fires, especially when hot Santa Ana winds are involved, as with these January 2025 Caifornia fires. In  general, fire breaks improve success in putting out the wildfires from 40% to 80%. But when Santa Ana winds are involved - as with the 2019 Paradise, CA wildfire that killed 86 people - they are shown to be ineffective. And yet, that was what California spend $32 million on capabilities for, later in 2019.

Fire fighting formulae in general hold that 100 firefighters can build a 3-ft-wide fire break around a 100 acre perimeter in 1 hour. That guidance is based on a common grass wildfire, with flames only 3 ft high on average.  But for larger and hotter fires like these current wildfires, the flames may be 100 ft high. And the fire break must be 3 x in width of the height of the flames.  Other factors include the slope of the fire's approach, what type of fuel is in front of it, wind and weather conditions, etc. California has traditionally told residents to create a 100-ft 'safety' perimeter around their homes as a firebreak - called a 'defensible space.' (Clearly, this did not work.)

The fire break should be at least 3 x the height of the flames. Videos showed flames in the January fires  reaching higher than two-three-story buildings - putting the minimum fire break needed at 300 ' in width, around the perimeters of the fires. Multiplying the above equation x 100 then, arrives at: 1,000 firefighters needed to build a 300' - wide firebreak around 100 acres. But ... is that even adequate for these fires? As of Jan. 15, California reported that 14,000 firefighters, plus additional prison staff, were deployed to the fires.

2. Repeating mistakes from the 2019 Paradise wildfire: If Fire Breaks didn't work then, why should they work now?

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The town of Paradise, California, was almost completely destroyed in the 2018 Camp Fire — which scorched more than 150,000 acres, killed 86 people,  and was the deadliest wildfire in the state's history. it was caused by a frayed electrical power cable. Which is why many LA residents wanted power shut off.

4. AI & Infared USAF Mapping of Hotspots

The US Air Force RC-26 (right) provides  infrared images and video of  fires from above,  to map and detect emerging wild fires and hotspots in the western  United States. Drones also support this - and California is trying to use its drones. This mapping detects hotspots and emerging threats, and most vulnerable areas for water drops. First Air Force (Air Forces Northern), U.S. Northern Command’s Air Component,  is the DoD’s operational lead for the aerial military wildland fire fighting. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Airman 1st Class Thomas Cox)