Here's the NASA FIRMS fire map showing hot areas in red, where the fire is burning. Those are the "big blotches", where there's a collection of bright areas in infrared.

https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#d:24hrs;@-118.1,34.3,7.8z

The part that's burning is a very small part of what's visible on the submitted map.

EDIT: Note that the map server seems to be unusually overloaded right now, and is responding fairly slowly; the red infrared spots took a while to come in for me.

[–] JoeKis 9 points 2 weeks ago

That's a long selfiestick 😮

[–] Jimmycakes -5 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

Can't they just do controlled burns, dig lines, clear brush etc. ahead of time. It can't be cheaper to just burn down large swaths of your state all the time.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago

They had something like 100mph (161 km/h) gusts on this, as I recall from the news. You'd need an awfully large firebreak to stop a fire from jumping that.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Yeah like why don’t they rake the forests‽

[+] Jimmycakes -6 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

That's exactly what controlled fires do, they do them every year in Florida because we get so many lighting strikes. Notice how our state doesn't burn down every single month because we do maintenance to our forests.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Florida is very wet.

Southern California is semi-arid.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Yeah, nah mate.

From what I can tell you'se have no Eucalyptus and you're a colder state compared to Cali, by like 10 degrees on extreme (when fires are at highest risk), and from memory Florida is meant to be humid as fuck. I'm not at all surprised you don't have as many big fires.

[+] Jimmycakes -8 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

We don't have fires because the state spends money to ensure all preventive measures are being done and maintained. Meanwhile in la they cut the fireman budget by 20 million this year. We have small fires started by lightning and other sources often that get contained and dealt with easily because of those measures. Not because the air was so humid that lightning wasn't hot enough to start a fire Jesus fucking Christ listen to yourself.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Mate, you cannot stop the fires in those conditions. Your idea that it’s because you “maintain” natural environments and not the climate and environmental differences is frankly without any standing.

Much could be done to minimise the impacts of large fires, but they are bound to happen with frequency regardless of what you do do.

Bushfires can easily jump containment and embers can travel for 10-20km floating in the air before starting another fire nearby, meanwhile the trees are combusting at 1200 degrees Celsius.

Bushfires are fucked, you don’t get it because you don’t come from the right climate.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

My understanding is that Trump apparently tweeted something about how California doesn't maintain its forests, so that's probably what started spreading this all over.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Having been to Florida and living in CA:

You guys don't spend money to ensure shit is being done correctly when compared to CA except maybe making sure brown people and the gays are harassed as hard as possible

Keep comparisons of your 3rd world state away from us, you aren't even close to our level

[–] Jimmycakes -3 points 2 weeks ago

https://www.fdacs.gov/Forest-Wildfire/Wildland-Fire/Prescribed-Fire

Enjoy your bi monthly fires you fucking morons. Our fire fighters will be busy making sure we don't have to.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

They do. The problem is that controlled burns are by definition small so they can be controlled and there's a lot of forest.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Because wind carries the burning material through the air to go and start more fires.

[–] XeroxCool 2 points 2 weeks ago

Do you think wildfires are a result of state lines? Do you have any idea how big California is? Wait till you find out dry California weather is not 100% related the general state drought conditions because of the unregulated almond farming factor?