Chapter 1

• Paradise → founded during Gold Rush, very conservative, but the sort of place where people left their doors unlocked
• Natural ecology → forests, long managed by Native Americans, many tree species that were good with (small) fires
• 1930s → “10 AM policy,” to put out any wildfire by that time the next day; but less to unrecognizable forests incredibly susceptible to burning (much denser), people living where fire once freely flowed
  • Attempts to change this with prescribed burn, but hard to change
  • Now, less fires overall, but the ones that do burn are far worse; 8 of last 10 years have been worst fire years in CA
  • Leading to “shrubification”— smaller plants more adapted to harsh conditions replacing trees after fire

Chapter 2

• 2018: PG&E (utility company) → new policy of shutting off power supply in high risk fire conditions (high winds, low humidity)
  • A monopoly, but overseen by independent state regulators, expected to deliver profits to investors
  • One particular electric towers = very old, not inspected in a long time; part of profitable hydroelectrical region
  • Grueling work from workers to maintain all the electric towers and lines manage vegetation
• California = historically shaped by water; hierarchy based on unequal access and diversion of rivers, etc. to get fresh water; vast system of pipes, canals, dams
  • Infrastructure also exploited for power → big system of wires to bring hydroelectric power across the state
  • Huge hydroelectric system by PG&E
• Regulations around vegetation clearance— actually a very high risk; over 1000 fires started from PG&E lines 2014-2018
  • Company often sued for violations of regulations, not upholding safety standards
  • PG&E found to prioritize profits over safety
• Usually, winds in CA blow from west to east, from Pacific inland. But in fall, sometimes reverses → very dry winds blow the other way— Santa Ana, Diablo... very high fire risk
• PG&E’s one really big, old electric tower sparked the fire in Fall 2018– wouldn’t have mattered if they had decided to shut off power, bc only shuts off smaller distribution parts of system, not parts supplying whole regions

Chapter 3

• Firefighter leadership protocol
  • Usually, first person on seen (regardless of rank) = first to call in others, then taken over by higher up
  • Very chaotic fires → “leader’s intent” → each firefighter has lots of latitude on how to save lives
• Convection column = pillar of steam, smoke, CO2, etc.
  • Can be up to 45k feet, make its own clouds and thunderstorms
• Fire tornados formed, sucking up debris and throwing them into the air
• Moving much faster than expected, crossing rivers... people sheltering in lakes

Part 2: Hell

Chapter 4: Daybreak

• Lots of flaws with alert system → not a coordinated evacuation
  • Many people didn’t sign up, phone numbers out of date
  • Failures in cell service— towers down by fire or overwhelmed w alerts going out
• Intensity of fires taking a toll on firefighters— hard to go from that level of stress back home
• % fire contained = proportion surrounded by fire breaks cleared by bulldozers
• Evacuating hospitals, sending kids home from school, thousands trying to leave → huge traffic jam on roads surrounded by trees on fire
  • Emergency plans not meant to deal with a fire burning in all “zones,” unpredictable nature, spot fires (from burning debris falling down) starting in areas originally spared
  • Cars catching on fire on the road, abandoned vehicles & downed power lines blocking road, propane tanks exploding
  • Later during evacuation, bulldozers and firefighters had to clear these cars of victims to get through and save others
• Fire spread from forest to buildings → urban fire
  • Many older buildings, especially in lower income areas, crowded and very susceptible to flames
• Shifted strategy from containing fire → solely evacuation → unique case in which leader’s intent was active

Chapter 5

• People trying to escape by foot
• Firefighters/fire trucks forming a physical barrier around groups of people to protect them when impossible to flee
• So many elderly people in Paradise → often challenge in just getting out of their homes, let alone the cuty