Expert classifies Why can't the fires in Los Angeles simply be put out?

In Los Angeles, the fire is driving tens of thousands of people to flee. Entire houses are burning down. But why? @fire Switzerland sorts out the situation for blue News.

The fire in Los Angeles continues to spread. Tens of thousands of people have lost their homes and have already been evacuated to safety.

Peter Zbinden is team leader and chairman of @fire Switzerland, an international disaster relief team that provides emergency aid worldwide after devastating natural disasters. They specialize in forest and vegetation fires.

Zbinden assesses the situation for blue News and answers the most important questions:

"Basically, there are fires in California every year. Sometimes more, sometimes less," says Zbinden. The problem, however, is that we have very long dry spells. "It doesn't rain for months. The vegetation is completely dried out and is itself a big problem. There is a lot of coniferous wood in this area, much more than in Switzerland. And this is highly flammable. Just like the bushes in America, they are tall and very dry," he continues.

America also often has dry thunderstorms. This means that lightning strikes somewhere, but there is no rain afterwards. A fire breaks out. "In Switzerland, thunder and lightning are almost always followed by rain."

However, Zbinden cannot answer what caused the fire in Los Angeles at this point.

"The easiest way to extinguish such a fire is from the air. In other words, by helicopter or with fire-fighting planes. The problem, however, is the strong wind and the smoke produced by the fire. On the way down, the water disappears as it is blown away by the strong wind," Zbinden continues.

Nothing can be extinguished from the ground at the moment, it's too dangerous. "We can only hope that the wind will die down and we can work better with the fire from above," adds Zbinden. At the moment, they are more or less powerless: "The fire is now so big, so many houses are burning and there are simply not enough people to help. The fires are currently zero percent contained."

It could take several weeks before the fire is extinguished. "Extinguishing means there are no more hot spots. But no one can say until it is contained," says Zbinden. "It clearly depends on the weather. The wind has to die down, the humidity has to rise and the temperatures have to drop. These are major influences."

Before the people whose houses have not yet burned down can return, the fire must at least be under control.

"In America, there are areas where you shouldn't build houses because of the risk of forest fires. And the problem is that they do it anyway. You can see that in the current example. Not all, but many," explains Zbinden. This is also partly the case in Switzerland. The only difference is that in this country, some houses have been built in an avalanche-prone area. Zbinden continues: "If a fire is that big, you have almost no chance of protecting the houses."

You have to wait until the weather changes, says Zbinden. "Hopefully it will change for the better in the next few days. And as soon as there is an improvement with less wind, we will certainly fly again. You have the best chance of containing a fire from the air." He continues: "You have to imagine: Some of these are flames 50 to 60 meters high. The heat is so intense, the smoke is massive. You can't see the ground. You can drop as much water as you like. As soon as the wind dies down, you fly immediately. I don't know when that will be."

One reason could be flying fires: "This often happens with strong fires. Then so-called 'spot fires' develop, i.e. new sources of fire. The embers or sometimes even whole branches that are burning fly with the wind for miles to another area and start a new fire there," explains Zbinden. But: "In a wildfire, the pieces fly two to three kilometers, in Los Angeles there are many fires, but they are further apart. The cause is therefore not yet known." The very dry conditions and the wind certainly had a major influence. A spark alone is enough, explains Zbinden.